Father Presence: An Enhancement of a Child's Well-Being

Abstract

For the last quarter of a century, American academics and literati have assumed that the traditional father figure was supernumerary and rather optional. This perspective viewed a child's life-space trajectory as little perturbed if a father was present or not. The present paper argues against this assumption. Available evidence clearly indicates that fathers do enhance their children's well-being. The problems aligned with fatherlessness are analyzed, and modest proposals are proffered to re-establish fathering as central to a child's growth and development within American society.