Date
12-17-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Human Services: Emphasis in Trauma, Resilience, & Self-Care Strategies
Department
Human Services
First Advisor
Dr. Jerrod Brown
Abstract
This capstone examines the interplay between father absence, marginalization through economics, and larger structural factors in shaping youth crime and intergenerational patterns of risk. This review synthesizes studies in family instability, neighborhood disadvantage, and barriers to paternal involvement in demonstrating the interplay between larger forces in shaping developmental outcomes. Father absence correlates with diminished protective factors, increased exposure to stressful contexts, and elevated dangers of system contact. Larger structural factors of concentrated poverty levels, resource scarcity in neighborhoods, and inconsistent levels of support upon return from incarceration exacerbate dangerous outcomes and intergenerational patterns. The applications analysis in this capstone evaluates common areas in human service delivery of family stability initiatives, paternal involvement strategies, support in incarceration release and return reunification support, and community-developed preventative methods. This review connects recommendations in trauma-informed care approaches in responding to paternal absence outcomes with culturally relevant levels of engagement, emphasizing early childhood interventions in high levels of risk contexts. This capstone determines that mitigating outcomes of father absence needs multilevel approaches combined in family-contextual, community-level, and policy-informed meta studies. Improving support systems access and diminishing larger structurally based inequities are key strategies in improving developmental outcomes in perpetually underprivileged populations.
Keywords: father absence; structural disadvantage; economic marginalization; youth crime; reentry support; human services; intergenerational risk