The Role Of The Father

Question 1

What is one variable that is important in formation of attachments?

Answer 1

• Quality of play with fathers in infancy do correlate with attachments in adolescence which suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment.
• Geiger found that father’s relationship with infants is focused around play contrasting with mother’s focus on nurturing.

Question 2

Father as a primary caregiver

Answer 2

• Field used an observation to compare the behaviours of 3 types of caregivers; primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers.
• Primary caregiver fathers behaved more like mothers showing reciprocity, interactional synchrony, nurturing, intimacy, smiling and face to face imitating. Showed the same heightened responsiveness of mothers suggesting it is sensitive responsiveness and not gender that is crucial for attachment formation.

Question 3

Evaluation of the role of fathers - inconsistent findings

Answer 3

• Evidence on how much fathers influence attachments is inconsistent so it is difficult to reach any conclusion about the importance of fathers as primary caregiver.
• Researchers have had different sims with some considering fathers as primary attachment figured and others though secondary attachment figures.
• Weakness - can not answer what is the role of the father.

Question 4

Evaluation of role of the father - primary attachments

Answer 4

• Predominantly the case that mothers are primary attachment figures.
• Could be due to social values and norms dictating that it is women who should be more caring and sensitive to infants needs. Alternatively there could be biological reasons such as hormonal differences ,produced in greater quantities in women, might make women more nurturing and better to suited to the role of primary attachment figure.
• Weakness - traditional role assumptions can mean that fathers simply don’t feel they should act caring and nurturing.

Question 5

Evaluation of role of the father - holistic approach

Answer 5

• looking at role of the father is vitally important. 400,000 families were headed by lone fathers in 2012.
• Parental care has changed considerably in recent years. More women go out to work and many fathers stay at home and are the main caregiver.
• Strength - undermine the role of the father as Bowlby’s monotropic theory did.

Question 6

Evaluation of the role of the father - support for father being the primary caregiver

Answer 6

• Much supporting evidence to show that the father has a very important role in child rearing.
• Caldera found that when fathers were heavily involved in care giving activists the infant was more likely to have a strong attachment to him.
• Strength - demonstrated support for the role of the father being the primary caregiver.