According to the normal composition of a nuclear family, the general composition normally consists of a father, a mother as well as children. The two main principles are the father and the mother and this is acceptable almost globally. However, the number of children ranges from two to any number depending on the personal principles of a person as well as the cultural inclination of a group of people. The father, in almost all cultures and religions, is the acknowledged head of the family and most of the obligations that surround a family are usually upon the father. The most important of these obligations is the provisional obligations, in which the father is the sole breadwinner of the family in this cases the mother assumes the role of the home caretaker entirely. Others include the protection of the family members as well as the leadership role, which is viewed by the societies all over the world as one of the most desirable qualities for any person who portrays himself as the head of the family. However, the new era has seen this important part of the family fading away as most families’ are in a situation that is missing the father-factor. This paper investigates how the society today is becoming more tolerant to the absence of fathers in the family and how this factor is affecting the youth today, which is its impact on the society as a whole.
Family membership in the modern world. Statistics, carried out all over the world, continue to suggest that the most prominent problem undergone by families today is the absence of the father figure. The notion of the independent woman continues to develop day by day as more and more women are gaining financial independence (Miller, 1992). This comes with the fact that, the money factor has been discarded as the only reason that can make a family complete. All members of a family, from the father, mother to children are crucial for the completeness of a family. This demonstrates the frustration that some couples without children undergo in their quest to search for a solution for their problem. According to United States in 2003, out of three children in schools and other public gathering places is usually without a father, and this is in America only (United States, 2003). This translates to around 24 million fatherless children in America not considering other nations of the world.
The percentage of the figures continues to be more alarming as one transcends to the African-American families. These families, as statistics suggest, are prominent to the situations of absence of the father factor. Currently, the figures stand at a significant 70% of children, born without a father figure in these families. Most people understand the absence of fathers to be the complete absence of the biological father in the family. However, this notion can be quite misleading. This is because other than the family being based on single parenthood; the absence of the father factor in most families can be associated with the existence of a father who is not present physically as well as emotionally for his family due to the withdrawal behavior practiced by most irresponsible or perhaps frustrated members of the family (Miller, 1992).
The Acceptance of the Absence of the Father in Today’s World. In the past eras, the existence of a family, let alone the raising of the children, have and still is most disappointing thing considering the fact that most families undergo many problems on a regular basis due to the existence of the absent family factor in the society. Most of these problems are associated with the stigma accorded to them by the society. However, the modern world has seen this trend gain acceptable status in the societies despite the desirable effect the situation impacts on families involved. This is probably due to the numerous cultural changes as well as economic challenges associated with the modern world today. One of the main causes of this continuous trend is the economic changes in today’s world. Most fathers, due to the unequal distribution of resources in the modern world, travel far in their search for economic sustainability of their families. As a result, they become absent for the most part of the year as they maintain the trend of coming home only during holidays, after which they disappear again (Miller, 1992)
The focus is mostly on the strong link between the child and the mother with little focus on the presence of the father to the family. As a result, the bond, shared between the father and the child, has significantly weakened with time and is no longer in regard in accordance to the uttermost importance it deserves. As a result, the absence of the father factor in most of the families in the modern world is a normal situation that calls for no cause of concern at all.
A change in the view of marriage is another factor that has helped to distance the role of fathers in the families. In the past, a father was a fundamental component of the family, without the father, the family was in an incomplete as well as critical state. The commitment of the father to the traditional roles of fatherhood to the family was of very high importance in ancient times, when family meant everything to the society. However, today, the marriage institution is in actual sense, a way of life that most people pass through, as marriage is increasingly being steered towards the catering of the intimacy needs of the man and the woman. This, according to my opinion, is an extremely weak basis for marriage, since major problem that are associated with the intimacy needs of the adults in marriage, turn up more often than not to be the primary cause of many divorce cases all over the world. The result is that the society raises children out of wedlock hence the disintegration of the closely-knit family union. As a result, the father factor continues to face a downward trend and this is becoming more acceptable in the modern society.
Effects of Absent Family on the Youth and the Society. The unfortunate state of missing a basic member of the family is apparently bound to impact negatively not only to the immediate members of the family but also to the society as a whole. The youth in the society have suffered the effects of missing the pleasure of growing up under the care of both parents in their childhood. This unfortunate situation does not only affect one in the childhood stage but also as the person grows and becomes a young adult (Lamb, 2010). In addition, the youthful age is facing the most challenges; some of these problems involve the matters of love as well as complications that a person has to go through during the transition stage to adulthood.
It is actually an act of holding in confidence that the father has a great and a special impact in a child’s life, the role that the father plays in a family is completely different from the one that the mother plays and the two can by no means substitute each other’s value in the child’s life. The youths that grow up without the father have socially, morally as well as intellectual associated problems that manifest in the general behavior of the youth. In addition, the youth who happens to be victims of absent family have tendencies to exhibit such characters that suggest a sense of insecurity due to the fact that as a child the person lacked the basic feeing of being protected by a strong member of the family such as a father (Hubner & Ratzan, 2009). The mothers, in most cases, are put under the perceptions that view them as vulnerable members of the society, and instead of providing a sense of security to the child, the child is the one who is regularly placed in a state that they feel the need to protect their mothers.
A literature review on the effect of absent father figure in the family on the youths has confirmed the fact that, most of the youths from single parented families, where the mother is the only parent present, have had problems to perform well in their academics as well as in the overall social related sectors of their lives (Lamb, 2010). In addition, the affected youths might have problems in matters concerning establishment of healthy relationships with their fellow age mates. According to a research study conducted by Richter, Morrell and Human Sciences Research Council on the effects of growing up in families without fathers, the findings revealed the negative effects of growing up without a father. According to the findings of the research study, child brought up in this situation has a lot of negative outcomes on matters concerning all aspects of life in comparison to the child brought up by both parents (Richter, Morrell & Human Sciences Research Council, 2006).
It has, however, been established that the general undesirable situation that involves the absence of father in a family is most common among the perceived disadvantaged members of the society who are commonly affected with the social economic related problems, low level of education as well as racial related disparities. The youth, therefore, found within such circumstances are known to undergo different types of life related problems that either mold them into an irresponsible member of the society or perhaps impact the youths in such a way that they voluntarily participate in activities that are associated with trouble to an extent of involving themselves in potential life threatening activities. They expect nothing good to come to them, and so they exhibit a hateful attitude towards life that in more than enough cases the hateful attitude lands them in troubles (Harper, 2004).
The society, on the other hand, is bound to experience a negative effect due to absence of fathers within the family unit. In note with keen observation, most family ties are in a weak state due the fact that most families experience the absence of at least one member of the nuclear family unit (Harper & McLanahan, 2004). It is, therefore, a matter of common knowledge that all members of the family are important to the family unit and the fact that it is virtually impossible to substitute any member of the family is well known.
The impact on the society is most severe, when the members of that particular society are undergoing problems on such a personal level as the feeling of insecurity or perhaps possible loss of self-esteem due to the feeling of rejection by one’s own parent. Most of the children in the single parent family end up feeling abandoned, and so this affects their social character to a great extend, as they tend to withdraw socially. As a result, it directly affects the society in the sense that these affect directly the relationship of all the members of the society and they may end up relating in an undesirable way. In most cases, people have placed a little value on cooperating as well as the need of maintaining a tight family unit in the modern world where everyone does what best fits their personal interest. Family is no longer important to the people, although the majority of the same group of people is severely affected by absent family matter, in real sense, a family is still is the basic unit of the society. It is, therefore, mandatory for individuals to maintain a close contact as well as a sense of responsibility among the family members for the society to be functional. The matter that involves losing touch with the family members, be it positive co-parenting or perhaps a traditional type of family has a negative impact to the functionality of society as the members of the society lack the feeling of belonging as well as responsibility, leading to a messed up type of society
Conclusion
The roles of the father are clear in the traditional society. The modern world has seen a continuous absence of the father figure in the family and as a result, there are numerous and severe problems associated with the absence of a father in the family unit to both the youth and the society. The trend involving the absence father figure in the families today is a matter that the society accepts and the situation is bound to continue to gain roots due to many cultural and economic changes associated with the modern world.