When we take into consideration the fact that so many women are raising children on there own, ( sisters who are single parents, I got nothin' but love 4 ya' ) without the fathers in the home, and some who are there, but who are invisible, which in a lot of cases makes it worse, the boys can have a tendency to gravitate towards the mother, as he has to come to be her protector, over time.
There's the man / child whose life support depends on that single mother, who has to fight and scrap through this world to make a living in order to keep her family going, to make certain that they are fed, with a roof over there head. Momma has to do whatever it takes to get the job done, and sometimes her avenues of employment are slightly less than glamorous, to put it mildly.
That man / child at 17-25 may feel the need to be there as a protector of his mother's best interest. Daddy's not there to foot the bill, and junior doesn't want any other @$$holes, runnin' up in his mom, because he's been witness to them coming and going in and out of her life, with not much to show for it, other than a swollen belly with another mouth to feed on the way.