Jacob Babb

English 1201

Professor Flores

14 April 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay is going to be attempting to explain how important having a father-figure is for

the rest of a child’s life. Just as importantly, how does not having a father-figure affect a child’s

life. Could problems such as mental-health issues, academic success, and/or legal issues could be

positively affected by increased rates of father-figures in children’s lives? If so, how drastically

does having a father-figure versus being without one affect that child’s life? Finally, does having

a father-figure (or not) affect a child’s life outcome differently than having (or not having) a

mother-figure in that same child’s life? I will be answering all of these questions in my essay.

Brown, Jerrod. “Father-Absent Homes: Implications for Criminal Justice and Mental Health

Professionals.” Minnesota Psychological Association, Minnesota Psychological

Association, 2007,

www.mnpsych.org/index.php?option=com_dailyplanetblog&view=entry&category=indu

stry%2Bnews&id=54%3Afather-absent-homes-implications-for-criminal-justice-and-

mental-health-professionals.

Jerrod Brown wrote for the Minnesota Psychological Association the article “Father-

Absent Homes: Implications for Criminal Justice and Mental Health Professionals” in which he

addresses the statistics surrounding children who grow up in homes without both parents. In

recent years, more children are growing up in single-parent households as opposed to two parent
households. There are countless studies that show that children growing up in these single-parent

households experience more physical and psychological problems compared to those who grow

up in two-parent households. Specifically, this article investigates the affect that the lack of a

father-figure has on a child’s life.

This article was for the Minnesota Psychological Association. It was likely written for

professionals who are looking to learn more information about this social phenomenon that

affects thousands of children every year.

The Minnesota Psychological Association is a reputable organization which leads me to

believe that this is a sound article. Jerrod Brown has several different degrees from recognized

universities that lead me to believe that he is a trustworthy author.

I will use this article and the research fond within this article to address the topic of the

how having a father-figure affects a child’s chance to have run ins with the law. I will also use

this article to show the importance specifically of father-figures opposed to mother-figures.

“Father Presence.” National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse,

https://www.fatherhood.gov/content/father-presence .

This article titled “Father Presence” was written for the website www.fatherhood.gov.

This article discusses the importance of a fathers in children’s lives. The article addresses topics

ranging from a father’s affect on child poverty to improved school behavior and performance to

preventing crime and delinquency. The article is supported with both facts and statistics that are

able to support and strengthen the claims made throughout the article.

This article was written for the website www.fatherhood.gov . This was likely written in

an effort to inform the general public as well as professionals of the importance of father-figures

while also providing tangible statistics and facts.

 This article does not list a specific author. This leads me to believe that this article was

written by a team or writers and/or editors who combined their different specialties to write an

article that could address many different topics.

As I said previously, this article addresses a wide variety of topics pertaining to the affect

a father-figure, or lack thereof, has on a child while supporting the claims made with facts and

statistics. Because of this, I will likely be able to use this source in several different places

throughout my research paper.

Krisch, Joshua A. “Scientists Finally Know What Dads Do for Their Kids.” Fatherly, 27 Dec.

2018, www.fatherly.com/health-science/science-benefits-of-fatherhood-dads-father-

effect/.

The article “The Science of Dad and the ‘Father Effect’” was written by Joshua A. Krisch

for www.Fatherly.com . This article begins by discussing how the lack of a father-figure in a

home can very negatively affect a child’s life. The article then addresses the multitude of ways

that a father impacts a child’s life from the genetic information found in sperm to father’s being

actively involved in their children’s lives. Krisch uses a plethora of statistics and well-supported

facts to verify the claims he makes about the importance of a father-figure in a child’s life.

The author’s goal in writing this article was very clearly to convince people of the

importance of father-figures in children’s lives. The website this article was posted on,

fatherly.com, clearly has the same goal.

The author Joshua A. Krisch can be trusted for two main reasons. First, he is writing for a

trusted website that has a large professional following. While a large following is not in any way
the same as being a reliable author, the professional following he has leads me to believe that he

can be trusted. He also has written for many other news agencies such as the New York Times

which make me believe that he is trustworthy.

This article specifically shows from a scientific point of view the importance of father-

figures in children’s lives. He uses facts about father’s genetic material (sperm) as well as brain

chemistry in both the father and children to show the importance of the father. This emphasis on

the scientific aspect will be very helpful when writing my essay.

Parker, Kim, and Gretchen Livingston. “7 Facts about American Fathers.” Pew Research Center,

Pew Research Center, 13 June 2018, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/06/13/fathers-

day-facts/.

The article “7 Facts about American dads” was written for the Pew Research Center by

Kim Parker and Gretchen Livingston. This article seeks to explain and showcase seven

seemingly simple facts about American fathers that explain the huge importance of having a

father-figure for a child. This article does not look at the difference between having a father-

figure and not having a father-figure but more so statistics about how fathers and mothers differ

as well as highlighting what father-figure’s specifically can do to positively impact a child’s life,

The author’s purpose in this article was to show two things. The first is the importance of

a father-figure in a child’s life. The seven facts listed on their surface seem very simple.

However, when you begin to think about how children would be impacted if they did not benefit

from these things the fathers have to offer, it becomes obvious how essential fathers are.
 Both of these author’s have written many other pieces for the Pew Research Center as

well as other news sources which leads me to believe that this article can be trusted. The Pew

Research Center is also a reputable source which makes this article even more trustworthy.

This article’s information about the differences between fathers and mothers as well as

the large amount of statistics about this issue is going to make this article very valuable when

writing my paper. I will use these stats to show my having a specifically a father, not just two

parents, is very important to a child.

Stanton, Glenn. “The Involved Father.” Focus on the Family, 2004,

www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-roles/the-involved-father/fathers-matter.

The article “The Involved Father” was written by Glenn Stanton for the website

www.focusonthefamily.com . This article explains a few key differences between how fathers

and mothers parents as well as how fathers can specifically help children. A couple of the

specific areas addressed are how fathers prepare children for the real world and how fathers

provide a look at the world of men.

The author of this article very clearly was advocating for the importance of father-figures

as well as informing the reader of what they can do for children different from mothers. I believe

that this information is still to be trusted but I should read it with a discerning eye as the author

has a clear view they are advocating for.

This article can be trusted as a reputable source for two reasons. First, the website

www.focusonthefamily.com is a reputable website that is trusted generally across the board.

Additionally, the author Glenn Stanton is a nationally accredited author who has written several

books pertaining to topics similar to this one.

 This article will help generally to push the idea that having a father-figure is essential for

a child. The article is well supported and makes many unique claims that are very specific yet

none the less just as true about the importance of fathers within homes.

“The Changing Role of the Modern Day Father.” American Psychological Association,

American Psychological Association, 2009,

www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/changing-father.

The article “The Changing Role of the Modern Day Father” was written for the American

Psychological Association. This article attempts to explain the new and different roles that

fathers in today’s modern world are being forced to adopt. They explain different fathers such as

divorced and step-fathers, non-residential fathers, and stay-at-home fathers.

This article is attempting to inform the audience of how fatherhood is changing. There

are many societal norms on what a father is and how they should act. This article attempts to

explain how this is changing as the modern-day father adapts to our changing world.

I believe that I can trust this article even though it does not have an author. The article

was published for the American Psychological Association which is the leading psychology

organization within the United States. This leads me to believe that I can trust this article.

This article will be very useful to me as I discuss how fathers don’t have to act or be a

certain way, they just have to be present and be loving. There are many different ways a father

can act and one is not necessarily more valid than another as long as the father-figure is still

present in the child’s life.

“The Extent of Fatherlessness.” National Center for Fathering, www.fathers.com/statistics-and-

research/the-extent-of-fatherlessness/.

The article “The Extent of Fatherlessness” was written for the website www.fathers.com .

This article shows the extent of fatherless children as well as the impact being without a father

has a child through statistics and information. The article addresses statistics about fatherlessness

such as how it is related to race and economic status. The article also shows how the number of

children living with just a mother has changed over the past 50 years. The article ends by

explaining how children growing up in homes with only mothers are at a distinct disadvantage in

many ways compared to those who grew up with two parents in the household.

The purpose of this article was to present a large amount of information about fatherless

homes as well as the impact of fatherless homes. The target audience was likely the general

public as well as professionals as the information is presented in a very easy to digest format and

contains many links to further reading that can be done is someone is looking to do more

research on the topic.

There is no specific author listed for this article. Because the main girth of this article is

the statistics that are displayed, a team of authors and editors likely compiled them and did not

feel the need to put down their own names. The website www.fathers.com is clearly advocating

for the importance of fathers which likely makes this article slightly biased. However, the

amount of facts used makes this still trustworthy and completely usable in an academic research

paper.

This article provided a gold-mine of information concerning fatherlessness homes in

relation to race and economic standing. This information will be very helpful when advocating

for what can be changed as I plan to do at the end of my research paper.