WHILE THE socially accepted norm in Jamaica is the two-parent household, fathers engaged in visiting relationships do enjoy a high level of "emotional engagement" with their children, according to a local study.
Testosterone (the chief male hormone) and its role in the fathering process was the basis of a recent study conducted by professors Maureen Samms-Vaughan of the University of the West Indies and Peter Gray of the University of Las Vegas.
The surprising results showed significantly lower testosterone levels in visiting Jamaican fathers than in other Jamaican men. Lower levels of the male sex hormone would indicate that "these fathers are highly emotionally engaged when interacting with their children", says the study which was published in Mona News, January-March, 2009.
"One possible explanation," the researchers said, "is that because the visiting fathers spend less time interacting with their children than live-in fathers, the interaction time may be highly valued and fathering more intense."
Needs to be repeated
While Samms-Vaughan's study has been hailed as "ground-breaking", consultant urologist Dr Robert Wan cautions that the survey needs to be repeated and further validated, which means that the findings should not be viewed in a generalised context.
Wan, however, believes that the study has merit. "It is important because we do know that testosterone levels affect several areas of the male's development ... his mood, memory, motor strength, sexual desire and function, and so on.
Young men, Wan says, have much higher levels of testosterone than older men.
"In fact, the levels fall after the age of 30," he added.
A hospital-based investigation, the Samms-Vaughan study probed hormonal concentration samples of 43 Jamaican men, ages 18-40, who fell into one of three relationship groups: single men; biological fathers engaged in visiting relationships, and biological fathers living with their youngest child.
20-minute session
Samples were taken after a 20-minute behavioural session with the men and their children. During the session, the single men with no children (the control group) sat alone. The fathers interacted with their partner and youngest child.
"The findings from the study provided more insights into the psyche of the Jamaican father ... . There are well-known drawbacks to visiting relationships, but based on the findings of this project, we should look more closely at the visiting relationship from the parent perspective," offered Samms-Vaughan.
She admitted that the project, however, had the built-in bias of using visiting fathers who were in good relationships with the mothers of their children.
Previous testosterone-related behaviour studies conducted by Gray and his associates showed that "fathers had lower testosterone levels than men who had no children, mirroring phenomena observed in the wider animal kingdom".
The researchers had expected that the levels of testosterone in single men would have been higher than those of fathers living full time with their children.
Corporal Bloomfield, of the Engineer Regiment, is a dedicated husband and the father of two boys. Despite the demands of his job, he still manages to maintain a close relationship with his family.
"We are closely knit and most of the times when people see us together, they can't tell that one of the boys is not my biological child. I treat both boys equally," he said.
Bloomfield is cognisant of the challenges involved in rearing boys, but with his military background and his Christian faith, he is up to the challenge.
"Because of the training I received from the Jamaica Defence Force, coupled with my Christian background, I instil a lot of discipline in my boys. I teach them to respect people and to conduct themselves in a good manner at all times," he said.