Father Involvement With Young Children Among the Aka and Bofi Foragers

Abstract

In this article, the nature of father involvement with young children (1-4 years of age) among the Aka and Bofi foragers of Central Africa is examined. Human behavioral ecology predictions about fathering indicate that father involvement is associated with cultural values, such as lack of warfare, non-violent ideology, flexible gender roles, the high evaluation of both male and female children, residence patterns, and the kin resources of fathers (i.e., number of brothers). Furthermore, human behavioral ecology predictions posit that father involvement increases in early childhood around the time of weaning and that low father involvement is related to postmenopausal female kin involvement. Informed by these predictions, the present cross-sectional study of father involvement with young children will evaluate the role of residence patterns, age of children, the presence of fathers' brothers and postmenopausal female kin, and cultural and ecological contexts among two forest forager groups in the Congo Basin rainforest.

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