Besides (1) the “absent father”
a “fatherless home” sometimes has
(2) an occupant-father but in terms of the children’s emotional and instructional needs is actually absent,
or sometimes the occupant father is (3) so bad (abusive, alcoholic, drug addict, criminal) that having that occupant-father is worse than a father that is not there at all.
So there are really three kinds of “fatherless homes”, each obtaining a different set of hurdles for the child.
But no matter which kind of “fatherless homes” a kid comes from, the complications for the child can (do not have to) lead the child astray, badly astray in their mental development.
Sometimes a kid has inner resources to get over the development deficits of a fatherless home. You all know who Ben Carson is. Well he grew up in a fatherless home.
We know this lady, who worked for 2 sheriff’s departments to monitor and help children in broken homes. She did this for 30+ years.
According to her anyhome without a father/male figure often put the kids at risk.
She said the most dangerous fatherless home, was one where a man, who was not the father and in particular at a home where the male was abusive and used alcohol and drugs on a regular basis. These so called adult males often hated the children of other men.
In summary:
Besides (1) the “absent father”
a “fatherless home” sometimes has
(2) an occupant-Male but in terms of the children’s emotional and instructional needs is actually absent,
Often the occupant male is (3) a bad (abusive, alcoholic, drug addict, criminal) person. Having that type of occupant-male/father was often worse than a father who was not there at all.
This woman blamed LBJ and his Great Society which destroyed more families than helping them.