By David C. Dollahite
Special to the Deseret News

      In recent decades, a great deal of research has shown a powerful link between father presence, father behavior and the well-being of children and families. However, sociologist David Popenoe argues that if a culture were specifically designed to be unfriendly to strong father-child ties, it would look very similar to contemporary American culture.
      Although there are many cases of excellent fathering, there also are powerful forces that turn fathers and children away from one another.
      Research shows that the quantity and quality of father involvement — more than mother involvement — is strongly influenced by cultural expectations, marital status and social support. Religion influences these very factors in ways that promote fathering.
      Religious institutions have a long record of facilitating father involvement. Not surprisingly, research supports a link between religious belief and responsible fathering.
      Research documents that very religious fathers are more likely to be both highly involved and more warm in their relationships with their children than are only somewhat religious or non-religious fathers. This counters the stereotype often portrayed in the media of religious fathers as stern and distant.
      In a three-generation study of father-child relationships, developmental psychologist John Snarey found that father-child church attendance provided fathers with significant social and emotional child-rearing support. Sociologist Steve Nock found that religious communities strengthen the father-child bond by encouraging men to be committed to their families.
      My own research involving fathers with special-needs children shows that religious practices such as family prayer, church attendance, religious blessing of children and scripture reading give structure and meaning to family life and help connect fathers to children in profound ways that secular influences cannot match.
      I predict that ongoing research will establish that religion is the most powerful, meaningful and sustained influence for encouraging men to be responsible fathers who are fully involved in their children's lives.

David C. Dollahite Ph.D., is a research associate at the Family Studies Center in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University and father of seven children.

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