Role of the father

• LIMITATION

  • lack of clarity over the question being asked
  • The question 'What is the role of the father' in attachment is more complicated than it sounds
  • Some attempt to answer want to understand the role as secondary attachment figures
  • Others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure
  • The former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role
  • The latter have found that fathers can take on a maternal role

  Makes it difficult to offer a simple answer as to the 'role of the father' It depends what role is being discussed
• LIMITATION

  • findings vary according to the methodology
  • Longitudinal studies Grossmann et al suggests fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important role in childrens development involving play
  • BUT if fathers have a important role we would expect that children growing up in single-mother families would turn out different from those in two parent heterosexual families
  • Studies McCallum and Golombok consistently show that these children dont develop differently from those in two parent heterosexual families

  Means question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role is unanswered
• COUNTERPOINT:

  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.