Role of the Father

• what are the findings on role of the father

  the importance of active play: fathers especially secondary fathers engage babies in active play more than mother, encouraging risk taking behaviour

  as a primary caregiver: if fathers take on the primary caregiver role their interactional style changes to be more like mothers, increasing capacity for sensitive responsiveness
• research into role of the father

  Grossman: longitudinal study looking at both parents behaviour, the quality of attachment in adolescence came from mothers, suggesting fathers less important and quality of play came from fathers suggesting fathers role is around play not comfort.

  Field: observed primary caregiver mothers, fathers and secondary fathers interacting with 4 month olds, fathers in general focused on game playing but primary fathers were more sensitively responsible like mothers and took on the role of a mother
• role of the father evaluation

  negatives: socially sensitive, suggests children may be disadvantages with parents in certain roles e.g single mother/father may need to work more decreasing the likelihood of secure attachment

  research doesn't explain why children without fathers develop no differently, children with a a single mother still develop attachments similar to children with a mother and father, lack of validity