AO3 - role of father

• One limitation of research into the role of fathers is lack of clarity over the question being asked.

  • Some researchers attempting to answer this question want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures
  • Whilst others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure
  • Makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as to the 'role of the father' as it depends what specific role is being discussed
• Studies understanding the role of the father as secondary attachment figures have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role
• Studies concerned with fathers as primary attachment figures have found that fathers can take on a 'maternal' role
• What did longitudinal studies by Grossmann et al. suggest about fathers?

  Fathers have an important role in development
• What role do fathers play in their children's development according to Grossmann et al.?

  Involves play and stimulation
• What expectation arises if fathers have a distinctive role?

  Children in single or lesbian parent families would differ in comparison to children in two-parent heterosexual families
• What do studies by McCallum and Golombok (2004) show about children in single-parent families?

  They do not develop differently from others
• What does the consistency of findings about children in single-parent families imply?

  Fathers' distinctive role remains unanswered
• What is a limitation of research into the role of fathers?

  Findings vary according to methodology used
• A counterpoint to McCallum and Golombok's argument

  • These lines of research may not in fact be in conflict
  • It could be that fathers typically take on distinctive roles in two-parent heterosexual families, BUT that parents in single-mother and lesbian-parent families simply adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers
  • This means that the question of a distinctive role for fathers is clear after all
  • When present, fathers tend to adopt a distinctive role, but families can adapt to not having a father
• What is one strength of research into the role of the father?

  It can offer advice to parents
• Why do parents sometimes struggle with decisions about caregiver roles?

  They agonize over who should be primary caregiver
• What pressure might mothers feel regarding their roles?

  To stay at home due to stereotypes
• What pressure might fathers feel regarding their roles?

  To focus on work rather than parenting
• What can heterosexual parents learn from research about fathers?

  Fathers can be primary attachment figures
• What can lesbian-parent and single-mother families learn from this research?

  Not having a father does not affect development
• How can parental anxiety be affected by research into fathers' roles?

  It can be reduced