Date of Award

2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Since the divorce rate in the United States began to rise dramatically in the 1970s, researchers have studied the impact of divorce on those involved. The research indicates that children whose parents divorce are more likely than children whose parents remain married to suffer from a lower level of well-being and are at greater risk for a myriad of ills including poorer school performance and increased behavior problems. While few researchers have focused on the impact of divorce on male adolescents specifically, studies of adolescent males in general indicate they are at risk for a variety of problems including poor school performance, accidents, and involvement in crime. Recent research also indicates the importance of fathers in the lives of male adolescents. However, divorce frequently results in boys being placed in the custody of their mothers, which may disrupt their relationship with their noncustodial fathers. A modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen phenomenological method was used for interviewing and methods of analysis (Moustakas, 1994). A qualitative investigation of the perceived experience of eight male adolescents of divorce and their relationships with their noncustodial fathers was conducted. The findings indicate that the experience of male adolescents (in this case all college students) regarding their relationship with their noncustodial father (a) impacts their perceptions of fathering, (b) creates a desire for a closer father-son relationship, (c) affects their definition of self, (d) results in a crossing of generational boundaries, (e) informs their lifetime meanings, (f) requires them to rely on others to meet their needs, and (g) confirms prior research findings that children are resilient and most do not carry debilitating psychological effects of divorce into adulthood.

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