Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.
To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser.
Evangelical Journal (EJ)
Gregory E. Lamb, "Fatherlessness: The Implications for God's Word, Church, and World," EJ 33.2 (2015): 89–96.2015 •
What are the implications of fatherless families, be they single-mother households, same-sex marriages, or matriarchal cultures? While some see the role of “male” fatherhood as superfluous, this essay will argue that fatherlessness is a pervasive problem, an epidemic—chiefly arising from two root causes: divorce-on-demand and unwed pregnancies—that has severe implications regarding God’s word, church, and world.
Largely as a result of the breakdown of nuclear families in Western society, rates of fatherlessness are increasing. The purpose of this research is to investigate what impact growing up with an absent or dysfunctional father has on faith development and the perception of God. Although there is a large body of scholarly material which addresses the influence of one’s father on the perception of God, there is no consensus as to how this influence is exhibited. Nor has there been any significant inquiry into the impact of fatherlessness on faith development specifically. Researchers have tended to ground their investigations in the contradictory views of either Attachment Theory or Projection Theory and then find support within their research for whichever developmental perspective they sought to prove. Attachment Theory suggests that in reaction to an absent father a child may exhibit a compensation response, perceiving God to be a perfect father figure and an attachment substitute. Conversely, Projection Theory posits that a negative perception of father will result in the child demonstrating a correspondence response and transmitting these negative feelings onto their view of God. This research investigates the impact of fatherlessness on the image of God as Father and seeks to demonstrate the existence of both compensation and correspondence responses within a fatherless population. Quantitative surveys were collected from 505 respondents in seven separate church congregations of various denominations in the greater Waikato region. Additional qualitative information was collected from an open ended question on the survey form and by interviewing three survey participants as representatives of key population groups. By analysing the participants’ perceptions of their father and their comparable perceptions of God, I was able to identify similarities and differences in their answers and distinguish correspondence and compensation responses. Although I found strong support for Attachment Theory in the fatherless population, with 49.4% of those who were fatherless demonstrating a compensation response, the most significant influencing factor on the perception of God was a negative perception of father. Respondents with a negative perception of father, whether fatherless or not, had a higher rate of compensation responses (61.1%) and viewed God as more distant and less nurturing, involved, or accepting than did participants with a positive view of father. Despite the strong evidence of attachment substitution amongst those with a negative perception of father, lower overall scores for attributes of God and larger standard deviations in those scores suggested that some who were affected by an absent or dysfunctional father exhibited a correspondence response. This was further reinforced by the interviews and the comments written on the survey forms, which suggest that although some of those affected by fatherlessness may naturally demonstrate a compensation or correspondence response, others’ responses may change over time. It appears that some may begin by transferring a negative perception of father onto their image of God, but as their faith develops, evolves, and matures, they may come to view God as the perfect Father they had lacked. The thesis concludes with a discussion of some of the implications of this research for congregational ministry.
2010 •
Early adolescence is a difficult and turbulent time for early adolescents as they progress through puberty and undergo rapid physiological, neurological and emotional changes. Educators have recently turned their attention to this age group and revamped their approach to middle school aged children, which they designate as grade 6- 8, or age 11-14. Because it is such a turbulent time for children, one would assume that the experience of their parents’ divorce would be particularly hard for this age group. This paper will attempt to discover the empirically verified impact of parental divorce on early adolescents, or Middle–School aged children (MSAC). Christian Churches have been attempting to deal with the increasing incidence of divorce not only in society at large, but within their own ranks. There are effective and widely acclaimed divorce recovery programs such as DivorceCare® and more recently a DC4Kids®, a biblically based program to address the needs of children of divorce aged 5 -12. However, at this time there are very few resources available for a Christian ministry to early adolescents whose parents are separating and divorcing. Since educators insist that younger adolescents have different needs and learning styles than older adolescents, this paper will focus on how the Christian Community can address the needs of MSAC who are the victims of their parent’s separation, divorce and remarriage.
Multi-Country Analytical Study of Policies, Interventions & Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa
Multi-Country Analytical Study of Policies, Interventions & Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa.pdf2019 •
his report presents a Multi-Country Analysis of Legislation, Policies, Interventions and Cultural Practices on Child Marriage in Africa. The study assessed the state of child marriage in Africa from practice to policy and interventions towards its eradication with a focus on ten countries with a comparatively higher prevalence of child marriage in the continent and globally. A critical emphasis of the study was on the nexus between the existence and implementation of the policies/legislation, and the dominant cultural and religious practices that affect the outcomes of the interventions in those countries, especially in identified hotspot areas within the countries. By focusing on the socio-cultural conditions, policy environment and eradication initiatives, the study provides critical information and perspectives, effective and appropriate programs/investment and policies in Africa to delay the age of marriage and end child marriage as a practice. The study confirms a decline in the prevalence of child marriage in the ten study countries (Democratic Republic of Congo - DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria and Tanzania) over the last three decades. Efforts have been intensified in eradicating child marriage, but it remains a persistent problem in Africa, with the study countries included in the 17 African countries ranked among those with the highest rates of child marriage globally.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.
2012 •