Multiple attachments/ role of the father

• Bowlby proposed that children have one primary attachment figure - usually the mother - and that this is the most important attachment figure
• Schaffer and Emerson propsed the theory that children can have multiple attachments- as they found in the Glasgow babies study that:

  • most babies formed attachments to their mothers at around 7 months old (specific attachment stage)
  • however secondary attachments e.g to the father formed shortly after
  • suggesting that, instead of one main attachments, infants can form multiple
• multiple attachments may be advantageous:

  • babies who for multiple attachments are suggested to be better at conduction social relationships
  • as they have the experience to do so
  • as if one attachment figure is lost, they have more to turn to
• the traditional role of the father:

  • fathers would go to work and mothers would stay at home with children
  • however society has moved on from this traditional view
  • and it has become the norm for mothers to work and more common for fathers to stay at home
  • therefore theorys of attachment - such as bowlby who claimed that’s mothers were the primary caregiver - have moved on also
• the three researchers associated with the role of the father are

  • grossman
  • Geiger
  • lamb
• grossman

  • investigated the quality of either genders attachment on adolescent relationships
  • he conducted a longitudinal study on parents behaviours and how they linked to the quality of attachments the child went onto form

  Found:

  • the quality of attachment with the mother affected the adolescent relationships of the child
  • the quality of attachment with the father did not
  • ultimatley suggesting that attachment to the father was less important
  • the quality of the fathers play however, did affect
  • suggesting fathers hold a playmate role and mothers hold a caregiver Role
• Geiger

  • followed the fact that fathers play influenced babies adolescent attachments
  • showed that fathers play interactions with babies were more stimulating and pleasurable than ones with the mothers
  • further highlighting the role of a father as a playmate
• lamb

  • contradicted grossman and Geiger who portrayed the fathers attachment as less important
  • lamb found that fathers who assume the position of main caregiver are able to répond sensitively to children’s needs and become a safe base for them - suggesting a secure attachment is formed
  • this shows that sensitive responsiveness and nurturing behaviour is not biologically limited to women
  • and attatchment is based on the level of responsiveness to needs and not the gender of the parent
• Role of the father: — research into role of the father is inconsistent

  • Grossman, Geiger and lamb are investigating different questions
  • so it would be expected they have different findings
  • grossman and Geiger are investigating fathers as secondary attachment figures, concluding they have a distinct secondray playmate role
  • whilst lamb investigated fathers ad primary attachment figures concluding that men can act in the same way
  • this leads to an overall, unclear role of the father as the findings are heavily dependent on the area of investigation
• role of the father: +importance of the role of the father is highlighted by negative developmental outcomes when absent

  • children with more secure attachments to the father are seen to have less behavioural problems and good peer relationships
  • whereas children who grow up without are seen to be more agressive and not perform as well at school
  • highlingting how influential the role of the father is in development
• role of the father :— studies into absent fathers and the effect that they have mostly investigate single mothers from poor-socio economic backgrounds

  • so the negative developmental outcomes of the children may be because of social and environmental influences
  • rather than their absent father
  • this undermines the research stating that the role of the father is influential
  • as it is unclear where negative developmental outcomes actually originate from