outline and evaluate the role of the father (8) Flashcards
outline
Schaffer and Emerson found whilst the primary attachment was first formed with the mother in 65% of infants studied, 3% formed the primary attachment with the father and 75% of infants had formed an attachment to their father by 18 months.
However, this part of the theory has been criticised by more recent research that shows the importance of the role of the father in the development of infant attachment behaviour.
research has shown that mothers and fathers provide different types of care with fathers providing active, physically stimulating play such as chasing, and wrestling.
This supports infants in their confidence and their ability to assess risks.
Mothers however, provide more nurturing, affectionate and emotional care.
She’s more likely to engage in educational or imaginative play such as dressing up and acts as a source of comfort when distressed.
they also engage more in caretaking activities such as brushing hair, supporting infants in their emotional, social and cognitive development.
strength
The idea of the role of the father as important in children’s development has supporting research from Verissimo (2011) who found that the quality of the attachment between infants and fathers positively correlated with the number of friends a child has at pre-school.
The father’s attachment seemed to be more important than the mother’s attachment in this respect, suggesting that the father has a unique influence on an infant’s development.
limit
the idea of the role of the father not being important in children’s development has supporting research from McCallum and Golombok (2004) who found children in same sex or single parent families develop no differently to those in traditional two-parent households.
This suggesting that the father is not a unique influence on an infant’s development or can be substituted by another “father figure” who is not necessarily a man.
