In the aftermath of the Uvalde tragedy, we find yet another criminal from a fatherless home.
“In discussing the tragedy of mass shootings, the emphasis is usually on guns, mental health, ‘red flags,’ or law enforcement. What’s invariably missing is any serious discussion of family breakdown, specifically, father absence and its impact on adolescents,” said Ruth Institute president Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
“We’re reaping the consequences of generations of young men raised with relationship chaos in their families and without their biological fathers in the home. The social toll is enormous.”
“You can start with Salvadore Ramos, the Uvalde, Texas, mass murderer,” Morse observed. “He was raised by women: his mother and grandmother. He rarely saw his father, who lived with a woman to whom he wasn’t married.”
“We see the pattern repeated over and over again,” Morse explained. “A boy’s parents divorce when he’s young. He’s raised by his mother and a succession of her live-in boyfriends. Even if he isn’t physically or mentally abused, the adult male influence in his life is negligible.”
“There’s no one to model his conduct after, no one to teach him the lessons that only a father can teach. Often, he grows up emotionally detached or angry, susceptible to drugs, violent media, and the influence of his peers.”
Dr. Patrick Fagan, Director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute, demonstrates that drop-out rates, juvenile delinquency, adolescent drug and alcohol abuse, and premarital sex all are substantially higher for boys and girls raised without their father.
“The Ruth Institute has been sounding the alarm since our inception,” Morse said. “We were one of the first groups to publicize the consequences of no-fault divorce, including the injustices to faithful spouses and innocent children. We do not scapegoat men or ‘deadbeat dads,’ in general. Rather, we call attention to the unjust social policies at work, including the misbegotten incentives of our welfare programs and the divorce law, family court leviathan.”
The Ruth Institute’s Fatherhood Resource Center contains a wealth of data, as well as inspiring stories, on the ways good fathers benefit their children throughout the child’s life.
“We’ve seen the negative impact of the absence of the father from the home,” Morse said. “Let’s work toward the opposite by encouraging fathers to be good role models for their children.”
The Ruth Institute’s Summit for Survivors of the Sexual Revolution, June 24-25 in Lake Charles, LA, will cover the impact of the Sexual Revolution on children, as well as defending traditional Christian sexual ethics, which encourages strong families.
About the Ruth Institute
The Ruth Institute is a global non-profit organization, leading an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build a civilization of love.
Jennifer Roback Morse has a Ph.D. in economics and has taught at Yale and George Mason University. She is the author of The Sexual State and Love and Economics – It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.
To get more information or schedule an interview with Dr. Morse, contact media@ruthinstitute.org.
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