Role of father

• Father


  Anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver, not necessarily the biological father
• Primary caregiver


  The person who spends most time with a baby, caring for its needs
• Primary attachment figure


  The person to whom the baby has the strongest attachment
• The primary caregiver and primary attachment figure are often the same person but not always
• Lifestyle choice


  • Jacob and Kalwant deciding whether Jacob should be the primary caregiver
• Attachment to a father

  May be more about play than 'nurturing' (emotional care) but this makes an important contribution to development
• Most attachment research has focused on mother and baby attachment, and the role of the father in the development of attachment has often been neglected
• Fathers are much less likely to become babies' first attachment figure compared to mothers
• However, most fathers go on to become important attachment figures, with 75% of babies studied forming an attachment with their father by 18 months
• Attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers for later adolescent attachments
• But the quality of fathers' play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments, suggesting fathers have a different role focused more on play and stimulation
• When fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver, they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers
• The research on the role of the father is based on the assumption that babies have two opposite-gender parents, which is not always the case
• There is no suggestion from respectable psychologists that having a single parent or two same-gender parents has any negative impact on children's development
• Limitations of research on the role of the father


  • Lack of clarity over the specific research question being asked
  • Conflicting evidence from different methodologies
• Studies consistently show that children in single-mother and lesbian-parent families do not develop differently from children in two-parent heterosexual families
• The question of a distinctive role for fathers remains unanswered, as families can adapt to not having a father present
• Research into the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents, such as that fathers are capable of becoming primary attachment figures
• Parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced by this research
• Preconceptions about how fathers do or should behave may cause unintentional observer bias in this research
• Observational research


  • Observing mothers and fathers with their babies at a soft-play centre
• Jasper, the father of a 9-month-old girl Emily, is upset that Emily only accepts comfort from her mother when distressed


  Research into the role of the father in attachment can advise Jasper about his important role in Emily's developing attachments