Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach

Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach are associate professors at the Farkauf Graduate School of Psychology at the Yeshiva University in New York. In the following viewpoint, Silverstein and Auerbach contend that youths raised in fatherless families are as well adjusted as youths raised in father- headed nuclear families. The authors oppose the assertion that fatherlessness contributes to juvenile crime and teen pregnancy. According to Silverstein and Auerbach, studies claiming to establish the relationship between fatherlessness and troubled youths are actually documenting the negative effects of poverty.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. As stated by the authors, what is the family values perspective"
2. According to the authors, how does trying to conform to the “myth of the normal family” affect parents...