Although fathers cannot imitate a mother's nurturing care of her children, fathers have an essential nurturing function that is distinctly their own. This article discusses this distinct role fathers play in the life of their children and the impact that role has on the father, his children, and the family as a whole. Men and their children can affect each other as profoundly as any relationship they may ever have.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BillerH., & MeredithD. (1974). Father power.New York: David McKay.
2.
DeFrainJ., & EirickR. (1981). Coping as divorced parents: A comparative study of fathers and mothers. Family Relations, 30, 265–274.
3.
EriksonE. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis.New York: W.W. Norton.
4.
GaiterJ., & JohnsonA. (1984). Contact with intensive care infants: Fathers' sex type, infant preference, and frequency of visits. In CallJ.GalensonE., & TysonR. (Eds.), Frontiers of infant psychiatry (pp. 385–394). New York: Basic Books.
5.
GreenbergM. (1992, May). A fathers' support group for juvenile offenders in detention centers in Southern California. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, New York.
6.
GrossmanF. (1987). Separate and together: Men's autonomy and affiliation in the transition to parenthood. In BermanP., & PedersenF. (Eds.), Men's transitions to parenthood (pp. 24–39). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
7.
LevineJ. (1992, May). Discussion of Greenberg, M., A father's support group for juvenile offenders in detention centers in Southern California. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Association, New York.
8.
MaccobyE., & JacklinC. (1974). The psychology of sex differences.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
9.
ParkeR. (1981). Fathers.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.
ParkeR., & SawinD. (1975, April). Infant characteristics and behavior as elicitors of maternal and paternal responsiveness in the newborn. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver.
11.
ParkerH., & ParkerS. (1984). Cultural rules, rituals, and behavior regulation. American Anthropologist, 86, 584–600.
12.
PedersenF.ZaslowN.SuwalskyJ., & CaineR. (1980). Parent–infant and husband–wife interactions observed at five months. In PedersenF. (Ed.), The father–infant relationship (pp. 65–91). New York: Praeger.
13.
PruettK. D. (1983). Infants of primary nurturing fathers. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 38, 257–277.
14.
PruettK. D. (1985). Oedipal configurations in father-raised children. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 40, 435–456.
15.
PruettK. D. (1987). The nurturing father.New York: Warner Books.
16.
PruettK., & LitzenbergerB. (1992). Latency development in children of primary nurturing fathers: Eight-year follow-up. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 47, 85–101.
17.
RichmanJ. (1982). Men's experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. In McKeeL, & O'BrienM. (Eds.), The father figure (pp. 89–104). London: Tavistock Publications.
18.
YogmanM. (1987). Father-infant play with pre-term and full-term infants. In PedersenF., & BermanP. (Eds.). Men's transitions to parenthood: Longitudinal studies of early family experiences (pp. 97–114). New York: Erlbaum.
