The role of the father Flashcards
(9 cards)
What did Schaffer and Emerson find about fathers as attachment figures?
Majority of babies first became attached to their mother around 7 months.
3% cases the father was first sole object of attachment
Most fathers become important attachment figures.
75% formed attachment with their father by the age of 18 months
What did Grossman et al study about father’s role in child’s development?
Longitudinal study
Attachments were studied until they were teens.
Both parent’s behaviour and relationship to the quality of their babies later attachments to other people.
What did Grossman et al find?
Quality of fathers play with infant was related to quality of attachment in adolescence
Concluded that father and mother are both important, but mother has a role centred around nurturing whereas father has a role centred around play
What did Tiffany study about fathers as primary attachment figures?
Filmed
4 month old babies
Face to face interaction with primary care giver mothers
Secondary caregiver fathers
Primary caregiver fathers
Fathers have potential to be more emotion focused primary attachment figure
They can provide the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but perhaps only express this when given role of primary caregiver
What is meant by father?
Father is anyone who takes on the role of the main male caregiver.
This can be but is not necessarily the biological father.
What is an evaluation for the role of the father in attachment?
Confusion over research questions
Lack of clarity over the questions being asked.
‘What is the role of the father?’
More complicated than sounds.
Attempting to answer this question actually want to understand the role of father as secondary attachment figures
Others more concerned with fathers as primary attachment figure
Tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role
Others found fathers can take on a maternal role
Making it difficult to offer a simple answer as the role of the father
Really depends what specific role is being discussed.
What is an evaluation of Schaffers stages of attachment?
Conflicting evidence
Findings vary according to the methodology used
Longitudinal studies - fathers as secondary attachment figures have an important and distinct role in their childrens development.
If father have distinct and important role then single mother and lesbian parent - see children turn out different from two parent heterosexual families
Studies show children do not develop differently from children in two parent heterosexual families
Means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered
What is an evaluation of Schaffers stages of attachment?
Counterpoint to conflicting evidence
May not be conflict
Could be that fathers typically take on distinctive roles in two parent heterosexual families
Parents in single mother etc simply adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers.
Meaning that the question is clear after all
When present fathers tend to adopt a distinctive role, but families can adapt to not having a father
What is an evaluation of Schaffers stages of attachment?
Real world application
Can be used to offer advice to parents
Sometimes agonise over decisions like who should take on primary caregiver role
Mothers may feel pressured to stay at home because of stereotypical views
May not want children at all
Can be informed that fathers are quite capable of becoming primary attachment figures.
Parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced
