ABSTRACT

Although all father-daughter relationships are difficult and challenging in their own ways, some situations are so damaging, devastating, or complex that they merit special attention. Some fathers’ emotional, behavioral, and psychological problems are so severe that the father-daughter relationship is destroyed without hope of reconciliation. In terms of damaging or destroying the largest number of relationships, the father’s incarceration has the most far-reaching impact. Given that most of these fathers are imprisoned for drug trafficking, many have drug and alcohol addictions that further contribute to the eroding relationships with their daughters. Drug and alcohol addictions, however, are certainly not limited to incarcerated, poor, or uneducated fathers. ese addictions exist at all socioeconomic levels, damaging the father’s bond with his daughter in myriad ways, as we will see. More serious still is the devastating experience for daughters whose fathers are physically or sexually abusive. Unlike incarcerated or drug and alcohol addicted fathers, these abusive fathers have terrified and terrorized their daughters, causing damage in ways that can seldom, if ever, be repaired.