ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that father-absence, which occurs with unusual frequency among African-descended people in the Caribbean, is not attended by the apparent stigma and negative social and economic consequences that black-American families suffer. It focuses systematically at several arguments that have been advanced in support of the contention that father-absence is harmful to their offspring, and particularly so to the male offspring. The chapter determines whether father-absence is related to educational aspiration and performance for any socioeconomic/gender group of secondary school students in 1982 in St. Vincent. The results of several American studies suggest that father-absence may have no harmful effects on lower class black youths. Some of these studies are summarized by Herzog and Sudia. Studies of school achievement and related variables summarized by Herzog and Sudia also suggest that father-absence may have no harmful effects on lower-class black youths.
