In Part I of this book the authors Michael Connor and Joseph White study how African American men have played the role of father to children over the generations and the effects fathers have on the lives of their children with the introduces the terms social father and Fatherneed.
Throughout part one of this book there are two terms are echoed continuously and they are social father and Fatherneed. The first is the term Fatherneed. According to Pruett (2001) Fatherneed is the powerful physical, psychological, and emotional force that pulls men to children (related or not) and vice versa. This process can shape enriches and expands the lives of the child and the father figure (p.9). When Fatherneed is not meet by the father,