role of the father

Question 1

shaffer and emmerson findings for role of the father

Answer 1

in only 3% of cases the main attachment was to the father

in 27% of cases father and mother were joint attachment

75% eventually formed secondary attachments with the father by the age of 18 months

Question 2

what % of infants had a main attachment to the father?

Answer 2

3%

Question 3

what % of infants had joint attachment to father and mother?

Answer 3

27%

Question 4

what % of infants eventually formed a secondary attachment to their father by the age of 18 months

Answer 4

75%

Question 5

what are the 6 factors affecting role of the father

Answer 5

paternal involvement
cultural factors
biological factors
economic policies
social policies
the child ( age and gender)

Question 6

geiger at al

Answer 6

found that a fathers play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mothers

however the mothers play interactions were more affectionate and nurturing

this suggests that the role of the father is in fact as a playmate and not as a sensetive parent who responds to the needs of the child

Question 7

paternal involvement

Answer 7

men are less likely to spend time interacting with , or being available to their children and may act as a playmate

evidence: geiger et al

found that a fathers play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mothers

however the mothers play interactions were more affectionate and nurturing

this suggests that the role of the father is in fact as a playmate and not as a sensetive parent who responds to the needs of the child

Question 8

cultural factors

Answer 8

historically, it has been the norm in the uk society for men to take the role of a bread winner

this may not reflect modern parenting - mum may be the breadwinner, also doesnt represent family diversity e.g same sex marriage

there are differences when fathers are studied across cultures many societies expect men to take a role in the upbringing of children
e.g aka in african republic, men spend time helping their children alive. children are given considerable amounts of daily care from fathers

Question 9

economic factors

Answer 9

in many parts of the world e.g africa and asia fathers are working several miles away from their families to provide income, many others have to work long hours in order to keep their family afloat

in these cases hands on involvement with the child is impossible.

**the increase in the fathers involvement with the child in the uk is due to shifting labour force paterns that include an increase of the female labour force and increasing opportunities that allow both mum and dad to be active as parents and employees

this might help an attachment to be formed between the father and infant- we may see more attachment to fathers as society gets more equal

Question 10

social policies

Answer 10

in the uk, paternity leave was only introduced to fathers in 2003
without pat leave the responsibility of the child was given to the mum

fathers having no paternity leave could change the attachment a child makes with their fathers

if fathers are at work they may not see their father enough to form an attachment

however this might not be the case in every country so the pattern of attachment between father and child may be different

Question 11

biological factors

Answer 11

men seem to lack the emotional sensetivity to infant cues that women offer spontaneously this could be due to the fact that women produce the hormone oestrogen which increases emotional response to others needs

this suggests that the role of the father is to some extent biological determined and that the fathers role is restricted because of their biological makeup

Question 12

the child (age and gender)

Answer 12

more close with boys
more close when they are toddlers or older, not when they are newborn

temperament- fathers are less likely to be involved with their infant if the infant has difficult temperament

freeman- boys are more likely to prefer their father as an attachment figure
he also found that children are more likely to be attached to their father during childhood /early adolescence rather than infancy and young adulthood

Question 13

freeman

Answer 13

• boys are more likely to prefer their father as an attachment figure
  he also found that children are more likely to be attached to their father during childhood /early adolescence rather than infancy and young adulthood

Question 14

grossman et al

Answer 14

conducted a longtitudinal study looking at the behaviours of mothers and fathers towards their infants and its relationship to the quality of later attachments

it was found that the quality of mothers attachment to their infants was linked to the quality of the infant attachment in later life

it was also found that the quality of the fathers play with their baby was linked to the quality of attachments in adolescense

suggesting that fathers play a unique and distinctive role surrounding play rather than nurture

Question 15

applications for the economy

Answer 15

increasingly fathers remain at home and therefore contribute less to the economy however this frees up more mothers to return to work

changing laws on paternity leave- more government sanctioned time off for fathers change the way employers view working parents

gender page gap may be reduced if parental roles are regarded as more equal

Question 16

brown et al

Answer 16

Brown et al. (2012) 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.

The research from Brown and Field indicates that the gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment types/ quality, rather it is the extent of caregiver involvement.

Question 17

field et al

Answer 17

Field (1978) Conducted research which compared the behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers.

Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age.

Overall, it was observed that fathers engaged more in game playing and held their infants less.

However, primary caretaker fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces, and imitative vocalizations than did secondary caretaker fathers