Citation

Munroe RL. Ethos 2001; 29(3): 315-328.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, American Anthropological Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1525/eth.2001.29.3.315

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Beatrice Whiting, together with John Whiting, pioneered comparative field research in anthropology. The present study builds on one of her Six Culture Project contributions, an analysis of the effects of early father absence as mediated by social- structural characteristics. In a four-culture comparison, we find that (a) high frequency of father absence and male dominance in the adult world (as among the Logoli of Kenya) seem to prompt those boys with fathers to allocate to their fathers a high level of attention; and (b) high frequency of father absence and nondominance of males in the adult world (as among the Black Carib of Belize) seem to prompt those boys with fathers to allocate to their fathers an extremely low level of attention. In all four cultures, however, those boys without fathers allocated to males a high level of attention. The attention levels of girls were unaffected by father absence. The findings extend and refine the original contribution of Beatice Whiting while introducing new complexities into the study of father absence and its effects.