This qualitative, narrative study explored experiences of six successful African American male high school students. Findings suggested that barriers prior to high school were negative elements in the home and community. To be successful in high school, they overcame barriers of absent fathers, disruptive homes, negative community, and peers, and…

Living in a single-parent family is negatively related with children's educational performance compared to living with 2 biological parents. In this article, we aim to find out to what extent the context of the school's share of single-parent families affects this negative relationship. We use pooled data from the Organisation for…

Drawing from an ethnographic study on Mexican immigrant fathers and their second-grade children, this article examines the masked realities behind current immigration policies that equate "illegal" with "Mexican immigrant" and how the enforcement of these policies, which overwhelmingly target Mexican immigrant men, affect…

The purpose of this study was to examine correlates of non-residential father-child involvement with their children at age 2. This study utilized secondary analysis of data collected through the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study--Birth Cohort. Participants included 650 biological fathers who did not reside with their child at age 2. Significant…

The absence of fathers in the lives of children has a detrimental effect on children as a review of the literature consistently points to fatherlessness being a key variable in many of the dysfunctional psychological behaviors and poor academic outcomes of children. This research identifies the essential roles of fatherhood based on the biblical…

This paper explores the importance of the home and school environments in explaining the gender gap in disruptive behavior. We document large differences in the gender gap across key features of the home environment--boys do especially poorly in broken families. In contrast, we find little impact of the early school environment on non-cognitive…

This heuristic study involving seven coresearchers, which included the author, explores the experiences of women from mother-present/father-absent homes and their ability to form and maintain close female friendships. The heuristic research model was chosen to provide the opportunity to conduct research in a very personalized, collaborative way…

This report presents a summary of areas of progress, as documented in "New Jersey Kids Count 2006," and areas that must be addressed as the state moves into the second half of the first decade of the new century. Gained ground include: (1) The number of children immunized by age 2, screened for lead poisoning, dental problems and other illnesses…

This article examines how stereotypes operate in the social construction of African Canadian males as "at risk" students. Cultural analysis and critical race theory are used to explain how the stereotypes of the youth as immigrant, fatherless, troublemaker, athlete, and underachiever contribute to their racialization and marginalization that in…

The researchers examined childhood family structure, age, and race/ethnicity as correlates of paternal relationships using the Father Presence Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 788 adult women aged 18 to 88 years from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The most consistent finding was the effect of family structure on participants' evaluations of…

Little research has considered the nature of parent-child relationships in stable single-parent households that have not undergone transitions such as divorce and repartnering. This study explored how single mothers and their children negotiated their relationships in a context where the mother has been parenting alone continuously from early in…

The role of the on-going social father in America has received increased attention in the last quarter century. In some quarters, the U.S. father has been viewed as supernumerary or optional. In other quarters, the U.S. father has been perceived to be essential to the optimum development of his children. Still other factions have been intermediate…

The academy has given little attention to academically successful Black males and the factors that may lead to their successes. This multiple case study design, however, examined the ways in which single-Black mothers influence the educational success of their sons by focusing on the mothers of academically successful 11th grade Black males. Data…

The current study tested sex-specific pathways to early puberty, sexual debut, and sexual risk taking, as specified by an integrated evolutionary-developmental model of adolescent sexual development and behavior. In a prospective study of 238 adolescents (n = 129 girls and n = 109 boys) followed from approximately 12-18 years of age, we tested for…

Single mothers of adolescents with emotional disabilities (ED) have a unique and sometimes difficult childrearing task. Researchers in some studies concluded that these children have a significantly higher incidence of school aggression than their peers from two-parent families. A substantive body of research explores parenting in families of…