The role of the father

• Traditionally fathers have been seen to have played a minor role in the parenting of their children

  • Bowlby believed that children have one specific bond (monotropic bond) which is usually the mother

  • Society has changed and most fathers go on to become important attachment figures

  • Schaffer and Emerson found that 75% of infants studied had formed an attachment with the father at 18 months

Grossman:

• conducted a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers and mothers in their children’s attachment experiences

• Reviewed at 6, 10 and 16 years

• Fathers play style was closely linked to the fathers own internal working model

• Play sensitivity was a better predictor of the child’s long term attachment than the early measures of attachment type that the infant had with their father

• She suggested that the role of the father is as a playmate and not as a nurturing role

Fathers as primary caregivers:

• mothers have traditionally been seen as more able to show sensitive responsiveness, but it seems that males can quickly develop this ability when assuming the position of the male caregivers

• Field filmed 4 month old babies interacting with their father, finding a difference in interactions when the father was the primary or secondary caregiver

  • Fathers that were primary caregivers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding their babies than the secondary caregivers

  • It seems fathers can be more nurturing attachment figures and the key to attachment is the level of responsiveness and not the gender of the caregiver

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