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ABSTRACT
This qualitative study of the roles and functions of Black noncustodial fathers explored the fathers perspective on fatherhood In the context of the traditional view of fatherhood in the United States. Thirty-eight adult Black noncustodial fathers participated In the study. Black fathers based their perception of what noncustodial fathers should do as fathers on their childhood experiences with their own fathers. Their perspective on the roles and responsibilities of fatherhood contrasted sharply with that of the dominant culture.
Fatherless is how researchers and policymakers characterize the disproportionate number of Black children residing in female-headed households. However, no child is born fatherless. Nevertheless, Black, unwed, separated, and divorced fathers are generally relegated to an obscure position within the family system. They are "considered somewhat like phantoms or villains and alleged to have demonstrated little or no real feelings for their families' wellbeing" (Hall, 1981, p. 159).
Current evidence provides little insight into how Black noncustodial fathers perceive their roles, function, and responsibilities as fathers or on how they perform in the roles that they define. We know little about how Black noncustodial fathers perceive their relationship with their children and the emotional, social, and economic choices they make regarding that relationship. Precisely, how do the noncustodial fathers of these children perceive their fatherhood? What standards do they use to judge their conduct? And why has Black noncustodial fatherhood assumed its current form? This exploratory study investigates how noncustodial Black fathers perceive and define their roles and responsibilities as fathers.
Current statistics and the majority of past research seem to confirm the vague parental and familial position of Black noncustodial fathers. More than half of all Black children reside in homes in which the father is not present. Between 1960 and 1989, the proportion of Black children living in fatherless, female-headed households more than doubled as the result of both increased divorce rates and more out-of-wedlock births (Angel & Angel, 1993; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1989). Currently, 68% of all Black births are out of wedlock-the highest proportion ever recorded (Angel & Angel, 1993). This portrait becomes more disheartening when we consider that if current trends continue more than 85% of Black children will spend some portion of their childhood without their father (Angel...