August 14, 1999
Column #937
ARE FATHERS NOT ESSENTIAL?
In May this column denounced the American Psychological Association as
being ''irresponsible'' for publishing an article in its prestigious
journal, ''Psychological Bulletin'' which alleged that if a child is
''willing'' to have sex with an adult, it could be a positive experience.
Experts denounced the study as a first step on the road toward
normalizing pedophilia. APA protested, saying it believed ''child sexual
abuse is seriously harmful.'' Why then did it publish a study arguing the
opposite position? ''We publish studies not because we agree or disagree, if
it can pass our peer review process,'' said APA's spokesman.
That is irresponsible and destructive. When a pedophile get arrested for
having sex with a child, his attorney can cite the article suggesting it was
harmless, because the child was ''willing.'' To its credit, the APA later
apologized. Once again, however, the APA's ''Psychological Bulletin'' has
published an irresponsible study called ''Deconstructing the Essential
Father'' which alleges that fathers do not ''make a unique and essential
contribution to child development.'' OK, dads, now you know there is
no point in playing ball with your kids, or taking the time to talk with
them about morality or politics or money. You have nothing unique to offer.
What nonsense.
Twenty years of research were simply ignored by the article's authors,
Professors Louise Silverstein and Carl Auerbach at Yeshiva University.
Children living in fatherless homes are six times as likely as those with
intact parents, to be in poverty or to commit suicide, three times as likely
to become pregnant out of wedlock, and twice as likely to drop out of school
or to be arrested for crimes.
Yeshiva's scholars acknowledge that ''the presence of a father may have
some positive effects on the well-being of boys,'' but they dismiss this
research. Why? The culture's support of ''male dominance and negative
attitudes toward women may interfere with the ability of many single mothers
to establish an authoritative parenting style with male children.'' Good
grief! The authors allege, ''It is difficult to differentiate the
effects of father absence from the effects of low income,'' due to the loss
of the father's income.
Cornell Professor Urie Bronfenbrenner, a prominent developmental
psychologist disagrees: ''Controlling for factors such as low income,
children growing up in (father absent) households are at a greater risk for
experiencing a variety of behavioral and educational problems, including
extremes of hyperactivity and withdrawal; lack of attentiveness in the
classroom, difficulty in deferring gratification; impaired academic
achievement; school misbehavior; absenteeism; dropping out; involvement in
socially alienated peer groups, and the so-called `teenage syndrome' of
behaviors that tend to hang together - smoking, drinking, early and frequent
sexual experience, and in the more extreme cases, drugs, suicide, vandalism,
violence and criminal acts.''
What do Silverstein and Auerbach say about such findings? ''We do not
find any empirical support that marriage enhances fathering or that marriage
civilizes men and protects children.'' The authors make the preposterous
claim that marriage is harmful because of ''some fathers' consumption of
family resources in terms of gambling, purchasing alcohol, cigarettes, or
other nonessential commodities.''
It is wacko psychologists like these that give the profession a bad time.
They even assert that divorce is not all that bad for children, citing
the research of Paul Amato and Allan Booth, who wrote, ''...although
children from low conflict marriages are negatively effected by divorce, the
adjustment of children in high-conflict marriages actually improves after
divorce.''
That distorts the findings of Amato and Booth who estimate that only
about 30 percent of all divorces in America are the result of high conflict
marriages. For the 70 percent of marriages in low conflict situations, they
say ''future generations would be well-served if parents remained together
until the children are grown.''
Dr. Norman Lamm, President of Yeshiva University, was so embarrassed by
the study that though he defended the authors' academic freedom to publish
anything, he said, ''I take strong exception to many of the views expressed
in the article, including those that question the value of the traditional
family unit. The concept of the nuclear family is engrained in Jewish
history, law and culture, and it has sustained Western civilization for
thousands of years.''
Once again the APA is hiding behind what it says was a ''rigorous peer
review'' of the article, while adding that it, too, ''recognizes that the
family constitutes a basic unit of society.'' It is time for the Yeshiva
scholars to remember the commandment, ''Honor your father and your
mother...so that you may live long and that it may go well with you.''
Copyright 1999 Michael J. McManus. |
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