A staggering 85 percent of youths in prison grew up in fatherless homes. More precisely, prisons are centers for dad-deprived males- boys who never became men.”
? Warren Farrell PhD, The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (US Dept. Of Health/Census) – 5 times the average.
90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes – 32 times the average.
85% of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes – 20 times the average. (Center for Disease Control)
80% of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes –14 times the average. (Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p. 403-26)
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes – 9 times the average. (National Principals Association Report)
75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.
71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father
I agree with Adam Corolla. Imagine the difference it would make if most children had a stable home life with a Mom and a Dad that stayed together and actively participated in the lives of their children.
It's an example of where well-intentioned policies (the overly punitive "War on Crime" ) fail the communities they were meant to help. We need to test the outcomes of our policies to keep them from metastasizing to this point. It's worth considering that two imperfect parents are better than one parent or no parents at all. It's also worth considering that imperfect institutions (centralized gangs) are better than fragmented institutions or no institutions at all. Gun control advocates, for example, often point to Japan as an example, without also recognizing the legitimacy granted to organized criminal organizations there.
I have been in Prison Ministry for over 20 years. These numbers do not lie. There is a huge problem with children in a home with no male role model or a bad male role model. Why do you think the gangs have such a lure on teenage boys? Once a male goes to prison, he is really going to CRIMINAL college where he will learn to perfect his skills by the masters at the masters knee.
The govt social programs are set up to discourage marriage. This has to be changed. We have to encourage marriage and family. Society needs to do better in teaching people that "happiness" is not provided by the spouse. Too many divorces are simply because the woman says she is unhappy. Family court needs to make sure that the Father has equal rights to the children and not just make the father a paycheck for the EX.