AO3

• A weakness is that much of the research appears to give a contradictory picture.

  -This is because a limitation is that research has focused on different aims.

  -Research that has looked at fathers as a secondary attachment figure have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers, whereas research that has looked at fathers as a primary attachment figure have looked at fathers taking on a ‘maternal’ role.

  -This means that we cannot easily answer the question ‘what is the role of the father?’
• Another weakness is that there are certain preconceptions about fathers and mothers should behave

  -This could cause unintentional observer bias, whereby observers see what they expect.

  -It is argued that gender stereotypes and socialisation led us to hold certain expectations regarding the role of parents.

  -It is therefore difficult to disentangle social biases from conclusions regarding the role of the father.
• Another weakness is that if secondary attachment figures such as fathers play an important role in the child’s development, as suggested by Grossman (2002)

  -then why don’t children who do not have fathers develop differently?

  -MacCullum & Golombok (2004) looked at children in single or same sex parent families and found they do not develop any differently, this suggests a father is not important as a secondary attachment figure.
• Another weakness is that Brown et al investigated

  -father involvement, paternal sensitivity, and father−child attachment security at 13 months and 3 years of age.

  -Results demonstrated that involvement and sensitivity influenced father−child attachment security at age 3.

  -Involvement was a greater predictor of secure attachment when fathers were rated as less sensitive.

  -This indicates that the gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment types/ quality, rather it is the extent of caregiver involvement.
• A strength is that it has good real world application

  -can be used to help parents make decisions about who is to be the primary caregiver

  -this means families can make informed decision about which parents should return to work following childbirth which has applications for society in terms or maternity and paternity leave and custody of children in case of divorce