Everybody knows that fathers, and father influences, are extremely important to our households, communities, and, therefore, to our entire society. The presence of fathers is known to significantly influence our crime levels. Worldwide studies have always supported this.

More recent research presented by Harper & McLanahan, 2004 (Father Absence and Youth Incarceration); Bronte-Tinkew et al, 2006 (Positive Father-child Relationships Associated with Decreased Risk for Adolescent Delinquency and Substance Use); Cobb-Clark & Tekin, 2011 (Fathers and Youth's Delinquent Behaviour); and Markowitz & Ryan, 2016 (Father Absence and Adolescent Depression and Delinquency), to site a few, reiterated this truism.

I recently acquired a deeper appreciation of how fathers affect their daughters. The presence of a father (or male influence) is one thing, but the quality of the father’s behaviour and his emotional intelligence is quite another. In a marriage, emotional disregard can be perceived as cruelty or abandonment. Such behaviour may constitute grounds for divorce because it is categorised as withholding emotional support and even emotional neglect. The same holds true for the relationship between a father and his children.