Fathers every year in Washington go to jail for nothing more than being broke (Deadbeat). They are called “dead beat dads” by their peers, scorn by society, and treated as subclass citizens (THE, ASSOCIATED). This is a very grim reality that men of every age range face daily. Both men and women make the choices which result in babies. However, women are given a choice at every stage of the child’s development to adopt out, abort, or even use contraception (Why). Thus, men and women share equal responsibility in the acts that conceive children. However, men do not have the same options women do (Why). Despite this, DCS hunts men down as if they are the answer to all of society’s problems, treating men like criminals until they lay a golden egg. Some men never do lay the golden egg, and these are the truly “dead broke” dads (Miller; Deadbeat). Ultimately, the question that we have to ask ourselves is, should we prosecute “dead-beat” dads? My stand on the issue is clear, and I believe I have the evidence on my side. I’ll tell you why this is a failure of society with statistics, testimony, experience, and court records. I should hope that once you have seen the evidence, and the pleas from the downtrodden fathers of society who have been forced to turn tail and run, endure endless nights in prison, and lose their jobs or even their licenses, you will see that this approach is not only a violation of their civil liberties; but, is a violation of their very rights to live.
First, I provide two interesting cases which clearly demonstrate my reasoning that prosecution of child support makes a man run by violating his civil liberties. My presentation begins with, Robin Miller. He’s what some would call a “deadbeat dad.” The story, as he ...
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According to many the custody of a child should be determined with the best interest of the child in mind. However, it is not easy for a judge to make such an important decision in such a short amount of time with limited information. Smith (2004) stated that, the simple fact of being a mother does not indicate a willingness or capacity to render a quality of care different than that which a father can provide. Some might argue that what Reynolds (2004) calls deadbeat dads, or in other words fathers who refuse to pay their child support, are often times confused with Turnips, who are ex-spouses who can not afford to pay child support. One example of a turnip is a father who is in prison; he is obviously not making money while he is on the inside. Now an example of a deadbeat dad is when the father is enjoying all the finer things in life and he cannot reach far enough into his...
“She may be unmarried or in a bad marriage. She may consider herself too poor to raise a child. She may think her life is too unstable or unhappy, or she may think that her drinking or drug use will damage the baby’s health” (126). The emotional appeal in this paragraph could make the reader think they are pro-choice. Apart from their use of pathos, the authors do a great job using a mixture of both ethos and logos. Page 130 is an example of both, which were used expertly to help the reader understand their point of view and the
Gender related issues within U.S. Prisons initially involve consideration of the family. Family bonds are often broken whenever a convicted parent is sentenced to jail, according to Nell Bernstein’s article “Relocation Blues.” However, as stated by Carol Fennelly, “There was an outcry about mothers being separated from their children, but nobody bothered to ask what would happen to the dads and their relationship with their kids,” (109). Due to overcrowding, Fennelly explains how convicted fathers are constantly being moved into prisons far from their families, mainly because they do not seem to share that special bond a mother shares with her children; however, this is not always the case. Fennelly’s contribution of using Microsoft Ne...
When I was introduced to this dichotomy between the two sections, the readings for that week included Donziger’s “Women in the Criminal Justice System.” This article shed more light on why the women in the jail might be hostile toward my classmates by suggesting that a high portion of the women might be incarcerated because of non-violent offenses, and odds are that the majority of them are mothers who have been separated from their children. Donziger states that “78 percent of the women in prison have children”...
The amount of child support cases in arrears would decline if a few things were changed, hopefully providing incentives to pay child support on time and regularly. There are also harsher consequences that could be carried out to prevent future mistakes. There are things being done, but is it enough? As it stands the noncustodial parent can face loss of visitation, probation, and even jail time for none payment of child support. By not enforcing court ordered child support and making examples out of those who are not in compliance, we are sending out a message that child support is more of an option than a legal obligation. Think about the ones who are really suffering here, the children involved.
Fatherless has been one of the most important challenges and epidemics in our generation. The effects of growing up...
Forty-one percent of a couple’s first marriage ends in divorce, according to mckinleyirvin.com. Also, Seventy-five percent of children with divorced parents live with their mother while forty-three percent of children growing up nationally, are raised without their fathers. Many factors leads to the decision of the child’s custody, although mothers usually win. However, what if both parents are capable of providing a decent life for the child? Unhealthy relationships between parents can question the true intent behind child custody. After reading Pop Quiz 7 in, “Octet”, from Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace, parents used money, vengeance, and love in the battle for child custody. Similar to the situation
The website that contains the above sentence is a site that discusses stories about some men that do not believe they should pay child support. In some of the cases, the man is unaware that he was the biological father of the child, but was ordered by court to pay to help support the child. Other cases were about divorced couples where the man is upset about providing for the children after the separation even if they are his biological children. In the view of Daniel Callahan, the author of the article “Bioethics and Fatherhood”, this website is nonsense. He argues that, “given the obvious importance of procreation in bringing human life into existence, fathers have a significant moral responsibility for the children they voluntarily procreate”. In the situations where the biological fathers just don’t want to give up their money for the children, Callahan’s argument can be directly applied. For the other cases, the argument can still be used because those men had believed that they were the real fathers at first. The fact that they aren’t obligated to take on the responsibility of caring for that child, does not mean that all responsibility should be taken off the real biological father and put on the man that thought he was. The website, Women’s Health Care Services, also agrees with argument and says, “The father of a child has a legal responsibility to provide for the support, educational, medical and other needs of that child.” Therefore the dad should at least be there financially for their child.
Maternal incarceration makes up just ten percent of all parental incarceration in America (Wright and Seymour 9). Although they are smaller in number, studies have shown that children whose mothers are serving time in jail or prison are more severely affected than children whose fathers are incarcerated (Parke and Clarke-Stewart 2). Mothers were most likely their children’s primary guardian and caregiver before their sentence, while many fathers in prison were not present in their children’s lives even before they were arrested(Parke and Clarke-Stewart 2). The loss of a father that they never knew does not seem to disrupt a child’s life as much as the loss of a mother does.
In American culture many people expect those within our society to strictly follow gender roles that have been set in place and anyone who does not follow these roles are often judged harshly. Recently, a friend of mine had a son; her and her husband decided that he would take on the responsibility of being a stay at home father. When I first heard about this I was perplexed by the situation because fathers are “bread winners” for their family, not nurturers. The idea that men cannot be nurturing and mothers cannot be the sole financial support system of the family is deeply ingrained in our culture. Due to society’s idea of masculine and feminine roles, many people struggle with the idea of men and women behaving in ways that do not fit our
Roe v. Wade and the Right to Abortion. (2013, January 18). Retrieved April 21, 2014, from
Every day, an overwhelming amount of human beings’ lives are terminated. The culprit: unwanted pregnancies. Many woman are (not by choice), becoming pregnant as a result of unsafe sex, rape, and other things. So what is one to do when they discover that they’re pregnant? They have some alternatives: (1) have the child and raise it (2) have the child, then give it up for adoption (3) get an abortion. Sadly, many women choose alternative three, unaware of what they’re getting themselves into.
The United States is a country that embraces people with disabilities, it welcomes immigrants from other countries with open arms, it provides safe houses for abused women, racism is not tolerated and we constantly seek equal rights for everyone. Yet, there is one group that is constantly pushed and forced to live on the margins of society, the single father. The single father is much different from the “dead beat dad” who makes the baby, then leaves without any sense of responsibility. The single father loves his children, yet because of the stigma of the “dead beat dad”, the single father is marginalized. This paper will prove how the single father is adversely treated by his employer, the judicial system and society in general.
As girls grow up we imagine our life to fit that mold that every little girl wants, which is the prefect family and life with a husband and children. Taking her children to soccer games and having the perfect house with the white picket fence to go along with it. We imagine our big fairy tale weddings and how our husbands are going to be our prince charming and grow old with. Now this may happen for some but in recent years the divorce rate has gone up. According to divorcestatistics.org, Forty percent of marriages with children end in divorce. Sixty percent of marriages without children end in divorce. Women are looked as a bad parent because they don’t have a male figure in their children lives. This is gender issue that women face in the world. Society says that women need a man to support them and their children. Women choice to file for divorce shouldn’t be view as a disgrace because women are able to support themselves and their children on their own.
“Fathers love their children as much as mothers. It’s offensive that a loving, caring father is labeled a “noncustodial parent” (Smith). In a New York City Family court, Watts v. watts was announced, “The simple fact of being a mother does not, by itself, indicate a capacity or willingness to render a quality of care different from that which the father can provide” 350 N.Y.S. 2d 285 (1973). Why does there seem to be a bias in child custody cases? “Dads want their day” states that many divorced fathers believe that courts have still not heard their message and that they believe they are fighting against an anti-father bias. Father’s rights advocates and other groups are influencing several states to give the father a chance or to at least support joint custody. The most effective advocates for father’s rights may be those situated outside the movement. As fathers rights groups rise case law is shifting and becoming more father-friendly in child custody.. There are actually statistics that show that “children raised by single mothers fare poorly compared to kids raised by both parents or by single fathers” (Smith). Also it states that if joint custody is not possible, “kids are generally better off w...