Volume 19 Number 2
January 1980

Nick Stinnett, Kay F. King, and George P. Rowe

THE ROLE of the father in the family had been largely ignored by researchers prior to the 1960s. Peterson, Becker, Hellmer, Shoemaker, and Quay (see note 13) in a review of American family research between 1929 and 1956 mentioned only 11 publications pertaining to the father-child relationship, but 160 concerned with the mother-child relationship. A review of more than 200 studies by Walters and Stinnett (see Note 17), which were reported in the literature during the decade of the ‘60s also documented the lack of studies concerning father-child relationships. Much of the current interest in the father’s role appears to be intensified by the growing awareness of the prevalence of fatherless families and the social, economic, and psychological problems that such families often encounter (see Notes 1, 2, 3, 8, 12, 14, 15).

There is far less research on the role of the American Indian father in the family. A computer assisted search of the Sociological Abstracts using the father as a descripter revealed 711 references with only one referring to the Native American father. The American Indian family’s efforts to maintain identity and function within a larger society warrants further investigation. Bunch (see Note 4) maintained that the social and psychological problems observed in Native American youth are often due to the fact that neither the white nor the Indian culture is fully meaningful and acceptable to them. Research examining the father-child relationship within the Native American family may provide insight into the problems of youth who are required to search for a functional life between two seemingly contrasting cultures.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of selected Native American adolescent boys and girls concerning their fathers, The study was designed to examine the significant differences in perceptions of Native American adolescents concerning their fathers, as measured by Itkin’s (see Note 9) Attitudes Toward Parents Scale (Form F: see Note 18). The independent variables correlated were: age, sex, tribe, persons with whom subject resides when at home, education of father, residence for major part of life, father’s occupation, happiness of childhood, source of parental discipline, frequency of discipline, masculinity of father, person making important decisions in family, amount of time spent with father, and number of siblings.

The sample consisted of 173 Native American adolescent boys and girls enrolled in Chilocco Indian School, Kay County, Oklahoma. Questionnaires were administered to the students during regular class sessions. The student body (200) at Chilocco Indian School represented 24 states distributed geographically across the country.

The subjects consisted of 93 males and 80 females. Their ages ranged from 13 to 21 with the greatest percentage (58) being 16-17 years of age. The respondents were in grades 9-12. Several tribes were represented in the study with the Ponca (18%) and Papago (8%) having the largest percentages. The majority (55%) of the students lived with both of their parents when at home. Nearly half had not lived a major part of their lives on a reservation. Many of the subjects (44%) reported having four to six siblings in the family and 33% of the subjects reported seven or more siblings in the family.

A majority (57%) of the respondents did not consider themselves very close to their fathers. Only 39% reported they would want to be the "same kind of parent" as their father, while 61% were uncertain or did not want to be the "same kind of parent."

Two-thirds of the adolescents believed that their fathers did not underestimate their abilities, were satisfied with them, had sufficient respect for their opinions and were sufficiently interested in whether or not they had friends. Likewise, the majority believed they were treated fairly by their fathers and that their fathers considered the rearing of children the most important job in life. However, subjects did not admire their fathers or consider them among their best friends.

In terms of getting along with their fathers, 35% responded "poorly" and an additional 24% stated "not very well." However, 29% reported that they felt free to ask intimate questions and 24% often asked intimate questions. Subjects generally thought their fathers did not like to spend time with their children, but that their fathers displayed pleasure in what their children did.

No significant differences were found to exist in respondents’ perceptions of fathers according to: sex, age, tribe, residence for major part of life, childhood happiness, masculinity of father, or number of siblings in the family.

The results of the analysis of variance indicated that each of the following independent variables were significantly related to the perceptions of Native American adolescents concerning their fathers:

1. Person with whom the subject resides when at home (significant at the .01 level). Those respondents who resided with both parents had the most favorable perceptions of their fathers. The subjects who did not reside with parents or grandparents had the least favorable perceptions of their fathers.

2. Education of subjects’ fathers (significant at the .05 level). Those respondents who indicated their fathers had less than an eighth grade education expressed the most favorable perceptions of their fathers.

3. Occupation of adolescents’ fathers (significant at .05 level). Fathers holding tribal related jobs were held in highest esteem. Perceptions of fathers were least favorable among respondents who reported their fathers’ Occupation as being farm related or professional.

4. Source of parental discipline (significant at .001 level). Perceptions of fathers were most favorable among those who reported that the discipline they received came from both parents. Perceptions of fathers were least favorable when the discipline came only from the mother.

5. Frequency of discipline received (significant at .003 level). Those respondents who were allowed to do most anything with little correction had less favorable perceptions concerning their fathers than those who were not allowed to do as they wished and were often disciplined.

6. Person making important decisions in the family (significant at .003 level). Respondents had most favorable perceptions of fathers when parents made decisions together. When mothers made the important decisions alone, perceptions of fathers were least favorable.

7. Amount of time spent with father (significant at .001 level). Those who indicated they spent "very much" time with their fathers had the most favorable perceptions of fathers and the group indicating "no time" with fathers had the least favorable perceptions.

1. The majority of American Indian fathers in this study were seen by their adolescents as distant elders with little involvement in their daily lives. Although they were respected, their children did not admire them or want to be like them when they become parents. This deference paid to fathers reflects an Indian cultural value identified as respect for the position of an elder (see Notes 5, 7, 10).

2. Perceptions of American Indian fathers were most favorable when fathers joined mothers to share discipline and family decision making. These adolescent children wanted their fathers to be more active participants in parenting but their expectations were not reached in the majority of families.

3. Fathers were held in highest esteem if they held tribal related occupational positions and if they had attained less than an eighth grade education. These factors may be interrelated in that fathers with little formal education would most likely be involved in tribal affairs because they would tend to remain involved in reservation life rather than to pursue advanced educational opportunities elsewhere. Since fathers with the least formal education would most likely refrain from pressuring their children to achieve in academic and vocational areas (see Note 7), adolescents would tend to be less antagonistic to these fathers. The reason that perceptions of fathers tended to be more negative when they held professional positions could have been due to the fact that these fathers had become integrated into white society.

There is clear evidence from this study that Native American adolescents want their fathers to become more involved in their parenting role. Martin (see Note 11) has shown from a study comparing American Indian and white students attending the same schools that feelings of self-esteem differed most widely between Indians and whites when they entered junior high school. He reported that Indian students in junior and senior high schools held significantly lower feelings of self-esteem than their white classmates. Could this lowered self concept be partially attributed to a lack of fathers’ involvement as children enter their adolescent years? Parent education for fathers appears to be greatly needed.

French (see Note 6) has called for an Indian adult extension program to encourage urban American Indians to be proud of their heritage. He stated that marginal Indians needed basic knowledge of "Indianism" to learn to identify with their own culture before learning techniques to survive in the larger society. Indian adolescents may be somewhat marginal as they search for a distinct identity in a pluralistic society. Could not the Indian father fill this void by instructing his own children in "Indianism"? Since they deeply respect their fathers, he is a natural to teach about the Indian culture. Adult education programs may be needed to help fathers in this important task.

Finally, it is apparent from this study that family life education is necessary both in public school education for the youth and in adult educational programs for the parents. The American Indian family needs strengthening as all families do in this period when families are pictured as inadequate and falling apart. Intergenerational relationships in particular can be enhanced by educational programs which stress the American Indian heritage as a part of pluralistic America.

1. Biller, H., "Father Absence and the Personality Development of the Male Child," Developmental Psychology 2; 1970, 181-201.

2. Child and Sex Role, D. C. Heath and Co., Lexington, Mass., 1971.

3. Biller, B., and Meredith, D. Father Power, David McKay Co., Inc., New York, 1974.

4. Bunch, B., "Perceptions of Indian Adolescents Concerning Their Family Relationships," unpublished Master’s thesis, Oklahoma State University, 1973.

5. Cooley, C. R., "Cultural Effects in Indian Education: An Application of Social Learning Theory," Journal of American Indian Education, 17, 1, 1977, 21-27.

6. French, L. "The Educational Dilemma Facing Urban Indians," Journal of American Indian Education, 18:2, 1979, 28-32.

7. Havighurst, R. The Education of Indian Children and Youth, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 1970.

8. Herzog, E., and Sudia, C. Boys in Fatherless Families, U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Child Development, Children’s Bureau, Washington, D. C., 1970.

9. Itkin, W., "Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Parents and Parents’ Attitudes Toward Children," Journal of General Psychology, 86, 1955, 339-352.

10. Linton, R. Acculturation in Seven American Indian Tribes, Appleton-Century Co., New York, 1940.

11. Martin, J. C., "Locus of Control and Self Esteem in Indian and White Students," Journal of American Indian Education, 18:1, 1978, 23-28.

12. Mueller, J., "The Effects of Father Absence on Work Analysis Skills Among Head Start Children," ERIC no. ED 104570., 1975.

13. Peterson, D., Becker, W., Hellmer, L., Shoemaker, D., and Quay, H. "Parental Attitudes and Child Adjustment," Child Development 30, 1959, 119-130.

14. Santrock, J., "Relation of Type and Onset of Father Absence to Cognitive Development," Child Development 43, 1972, 455-469.

15. Sciara, F., "Effects of Father Absence on the Educational Achievement of Urban Black Children," Child Study Journal 5, 1975, 45-55.

16. Towry, J., "Adolescents Perceptions Concerning Relationships With Their Fathers," unpublished Master’s thesis, Oklahoma State University, 1971.

17. Walters, J. and Stinnett, N., "Parent-Child Relationships: A Decade of Research," Journal of Marriage and Family, 33, 1971, 70-111.

18. The Attitudes Toward Parents Scale (Form F) developed by Itkin consists of 35 items, including 11 items answered either "true" or "false. " Eight items are multiple choice and 16 personality traits are rated on a five-point scale from "a very great degree" to "a very slight degree or not at all." The scale is composed of three sections. Two of the sections are concerned with measuring the respondent’s perceptions of the relationship with the father, while the third section determines perceptions concerning personality traits of the father. Towry (16) conducted an item analysis of the Attitudes Toward Parents Scale (Form F) utilizing a sample of 227 adolescents and found that all of the items were significantly discriminating at the .001 level suggesting a high degree of validity and usefulness with adolescents of the age groups represented in this study.

A chi-square test was utilized in the present investigation to determine which items on Itkin’s Attitudes Toward Parents Scale (Form F) significantly differentiated those subjects scoring in the upper quartile and those subjects scoring in the lower quartile on the basis of total scores. All of the 35 items in the Attitudes Toward Parents Scale were found to be significantly discriminating at the .001 level, suggesting a strong index of validity and usefulness with Native American youth represented in the present study.

Nick Stinnett, Kay F. King, and George P. Rowe received their Ph.D. degrees from Florida State University. All are now associated with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln: Dr. Stinnett is Professor of Chairman of the Department of Human Development and the Family, and Dr. King and Dr. Rowe are both Associate Professors in the department. All can be contacted at UN, Lincoln, NB 68583.