The role of the father

Question 1

In attachment research who is the father ?

Answer 1

The father is anyone who takes on the role of the male caregiver

Question 2

Who did schaffer and emerson find babies usually attach to first and when ?

Answer 2

With their mothers around 7 months

Question 3

What percentage of babies were fathers first sole object of attachment?

Answer 3

3%

Question 4

What percentage of babies were joint first object of attachment with mother?

Answer 4

27%

Question 5

What percentage of infants formed an attachment to father at 18 months?

Answer 5

75%

Question 6

What did Grossmann et al carry out to find out whether fathers hold specifically value in child’s development ?

Answer 6

A longitudinal study

Question 7

What did Grossmann look at?

Answer 7

Parents behaviour and it’s relationship to the quality of baby’s later attachments

Question 8

What did Grossmann find about attachment with mother?

Answer 8

Quality of baby’s attachment with mother was linked to children’s attachment in adolescence

Question 9

What did Grossmann find about attachment with father?

Answer 9

Quality of fathers play was related to quality of adolescents attachments

Question 10

What does Grossmann findings suggest?

Answer 10

Fathers have a different role more to do with play and stimulation rather than emotional development

Question 11

What did Field et al observe?

Answer 11

Face to face interactions between infants and primary caregiver mothers, fathers and secondary caregivers father

Question 12

What did Field find based on observations?

Answer 12

Primary caregiver fathers spent more time like mother smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers

Question 13

What does Fields findings suggests?

Answer 13

Shows that father can have be more nurturing and can adopt an emotional role - gender is not key but level of reposiveness

Question 14

Why does research on the role of father lack clarity?

Answer 14

The question ‘what is the role of the father’
is complicated, some researchers interpret this as looking at SAF others PAF - makes it difficult to offer a simple answer

Question 15

What conflicting evidence is there for fathers having a distinct role ?

Answer 15

We would expect children growing up in single mothers and lesbian parent families to turn out some way differnet from those in heterosexual families but they don’t.
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Whether fathers have a Distinct role is unanswered

Question 16

What is a counter of conflicting evidence weakness?

Answer 16

Research may not be in conflict with eachother, could be that parents in single mother and lesbian parent families adapt to accommodate role played by fathers,

Question 17

what is a strength of role of father research ?

Answer 17

It can offer advice to parents, inform heterosexual parents that fathers are capable of becoming PAF and single mother families can be informed that not having a father around does not affect child’s development

Question 18

If fathers are capable of being PAF, what does this mean for mothers?

Answer 18

They can feel more relieved about going back to work and not pressured to stay home because of stereotypical views