Some years have passed since my article on “Father Absence, Father Deficit, Father Hunger:
The Vital Importance of Paternal Presence in Children’s Lives,” yet I
still hear from scores of fathers about the severe challenges they face
in maintaining their day-to-day relationships with their children.
Fatherhood involvement continues to be a major focus of my academic
research, and the forced alienation of fathers from children’s lives
remains a central issue of concern.
Amidst the many challenges faced by many North American fathers in
their efforts to maintain some semblance of meaningful involvement in
the lives of their children, six months ago, the American Psychological
Association issued their guidelines for "Psychological Practice for Boys
and Men." The guidelines were 13 years in the making and
consolidated 40 years of empirical research, mainly from a feminist
standpoint. The guidelines are based on the view that “traditional
masculinity” and a masculine sense of entitlement is the root cause of
men’s mental health problems, not structural factors such as misguided
family laws and policies and mean-spirited cultural responses to
men-at-risk. Abusive behavior is described in the guidelines as
male-typical behavior, and traditional masculinity is part and parcel of
a patriarchal ideology that fosters violence and abuse, sexual
harassment, and rape. Selfish, violent, and abusive behaviors of men are
not considered as pathological exceptions, but in line with masculine
norms.
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