Behavioral Differences Between African American Male Adolescents with Biological Fathers and Those Without Biological Fathers in the Home

Abstract

In 1995, approximately 24 million children-28% of the population of American children-did not live with their biological fathers, an increase of 17.5% over that population 36 years ago (shapiro, Schrof, Sharp, & Friedman, 1995). Forty percent of all children of divorced parents have not seen their fathers in the past year (Horn, 1995). In this regard, Brown-Cheatham (1993) asserted that 50% of today's children will spend at least part of their childhood in a single-parent female-headed household. In 1993, only 51 % of all children were still living with both biological parents, and 90% of Black children spent part of their childhood in a single-parent female-headed household (Brown-Cheatham, 1993). Statistics on living arrangements show that African American children are slightly more likely to live in a single-parent family (41 %) than they are to live in a dual-parent family (40%). The remaining percentage (18%) of African American children live with a parent and another relative (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1993). The explanation for this phenomenon is that the African American family structure is often extended and multigenerational and not limited to the membership of the nuclear family (father, mother, and children), to one household, or even to blood relatives (Beck & Beck, 1984; Beck & Beck, 1989; Wilson, 1989). In this