The Role Of The Father

Question 1

What is usually neglected when it comes to attachment

Answer 1

The role of the father

Question 2

What is the definition of father in attachment research

Answer 2

Anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver and this doesn’t always have to be the biological father

Question 3

Who are less likely to become the babies primary attachment figure

Answer 3

Fathers

Question 4

How does schaffers and Emerson’s research link to attachment to fathers

Answer 4

75% of the babies studied formed an attachment with their fathers by 18 months as they would protest when their fathers walked away

Question 5

Who conducted the research on the distinctive role for fathers

Answer 5

Grossmann et al 2002

Question 6

What did grossman study

Answer 6

He studies babies attachments until they were teens and looked at both parents behaviour and relationships to the quality of their babies later attachments to other people

Question 7

What type of study did grossman conduct

Answer 7

Longitudinal study

Question 8

What did grossman find out about attachments with fathers in comparison to attachment with mothers in adolescence

Answer 8

Fathers attachment was less important compared to the mothers attachment however he also found that the quality of fathers play with babies was related to the quality of adolescence attachments

Question 9

What was grossmans main conclusion from his study

Answer 9

His conclusion was that fathers have a different role for mothers , one that is more to do with the play and stimulation and less to do it emotional development

Question 10

Who studied fathers as primary attachment figures

Answer 10

Tiffany Field 1978

Question 11

Who studied fathers as primary attachment figures

Answer 11

Tiffany Field 1978

Question 12

What was the procedure of Tiffany fields study

Answer 12

She filmed a 4 month old baby in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers

Question 13

What did Tiffany Field find from her study

Answer 13

PG fathers, like PG mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding the babies more than the SG fathers

Question 14

What did the findings of Tiffany fields study mean

Answer 14

It shows that fathers do have the potential to be the more emotion focused primary attachment figure and that they can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but maybe only when given the role of a primary caregiver

Question 15

What is the limitation (without counterpoint) of the research on the role of the father

Answer 15

There is a lack of clarity over the question that is being asked as the question “what is the role of the father” is a lot more complicated than it sounds. There’s a struggle in studying the different secondary father figures and primary father figures and this makes it difficult to offer a simple answer to the question as it depends on the specific role in question

Question 16

What is a limitation (with counterpoint) of the research of the role of the father

Answer 16

There is conflicting evidence as the findings vary according to the methodology that is used. Grossmans study and McCallums and Golomboks study clash ans one says that that a father being a secondary attachment figure has a important t but different role for devolpment. the other says if that’s the case, single mother and lesbian parent families would turn out different but that’s nt the case as they turn out the same. This means that the question of if there are distinctive roles of fathers remains unanswered.

Question 17

What is the counterpoint of the limitation that there is conflicting evidence for the research for the role of the father

Answer 17

They may not actualy be in conflict with each other. It could be that the father takes the distinctive roles in 2 parents straight families and single mothers or lesbian families Simple’s adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers

Question 18

What is a strength of the research on the role of the father

Answer 18

There is real world application as the research into this can be used to offer advice to parents. Parents may struggle to make decisions on who should be th e primary caregiver. Mothers may fee pressured to take on this role and fathers may feel pressured into working rather than parenting. This research can help give reassuring advice to parents which means that parental anxiety about the role of the father can be relived