African American Girls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

African American Girls - Essay Example While studying the two contradictory family settings of African American girls, it was observed that the girls with father can enjoy healthier life than those who are fatherless. The paper focuses on discussing about two types of African girls, one is the girl with father and another is without father. For the healthy development of the child the presence of father in the family is very essential. In the family setting regarding this issue, the basic characters involved are the girl, her mother, father and sometimes other members of the family such as her siblings and her close relatives. The scope of the paper is African American girl with father and her counterpart, the girl of same race without father. Here also we have to take into consideration the status of the father, that means whether the father present in the family is a biological father of the girl or he is the social father (mother’s second husband) it makes a lot of difference in the girl’s life. While com menting on the relationship of father and daughter especially in African American family, Belgrave Faye states, â€Å"Father-daughter relationship is important in the shaping of a daughter’s body image, self worth, and other self attributes.† The setting in which the relationship of a father and his daughter shapes is the family. It is the centre point from which the personality starts shaping. The bringing up and the behavioural pattern are decided by the family and the overall surrounding he/she gets especially at home. The common view of a healthy family means the presence of both father and mother. If anyone of them is missing, the life of the children gets affected adversely. Our paper basically focuses on the importance of father in shaping the life of the Black American Girls. The study aimed at focusing on the major factors of African American girls’ lives and they are as follows: The physical and mental development of African American girls and the role s of their fathers, in shaping them The second theme was to study the behavioural pattern of African American Women in the presence and absence of their fathers. While studying it was hypothesized that: The African American girls having fathers live healthier life physically and psychologically. The behavioural pattern in African American girls having fathers is more balanced and normal as compared to the girls who are fatherless. African American girls with fathers are brighter academically than the girls without fathers The African American Girls with Fathers: Fathers’ role in the physical activities of their daughters is very crucial in the family. For psychological needs, they rely on their mothers but for physical activities, they get support, encouragement and motivation from their fathers. Taylor et al. (1999) studied African American and Letina middle school girls regarding physical activity and found that African American girls ages 14 – 18 reported biological fathers positively influence their physical activity levels. Bungum and Vincent (1997) also found that fathers are instrumental in physical activity promotion among African American girls. (Tara Blackshear P. 24) In the study of Thompson (2003) it was found that African American girls require additional social support to increase physical activity behaviours, especially from their fathers. The girls are so much close both to their fathers and mothers. When it is a question of spending time with the father, they like to engage in sports activities with their fathers (such as playing sports, attending sports events, or going for any amusement with their father. While engaging with their parents, girls are equally engaged with