NCJ Number
215919
Journal
Youth & Society Volume: 37 Issue: 4 Dated: June 2006 Pages: 423-452
Date Published
June 2006
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This study examined young African-American men and their reflections on coming of age and the meanings of father loss.
Abstract
Study findings provide important insights into the ways African-American male youth interpret and grapple with the meaning of father loss. The study suggests that adolescent males may be seeking ways to understand and find meaning in their experiences with nonresidential and absent fathers. Based on focus groups, the study found that it was through autobiographical narratives of loss, survival, and redemption that young men positioned themselves ideologically and constructed the type of man they wanted to become. The narratives reflect the complex ways young men worked out the meaning of father loss and the defining intergenerational and intergenerational lessons about manhood learned from their relationships with fathers and others. This study turned its attention to young men who, on their journey to becoming men, reflected on the meaning of father loss. Through autobiographical narratives they reflect on the meaning of father loss and they position themselves ideologically to create cautionary tales, and construct the type of man they want to be. References