The Role of the Father in Child Development. 5th Edition.

This compendium includes contributions from international experts on the state of fatherhood across cultures, classes, economic systems, and family formations. It begins with a review of the evolution of the role of fathers in family life and research findings on the influences of fathers on children. Chapter 2 then analyzes the widespread belief that fathers' roles and patterns of influence on children's development are intricately linked to their masculinity, and Chapter 3 explores reasons why the concept of paternal involvement was originally conceived and operationalized and the pressing need to understand paternal involvement differently in the future. Chapter 4 addresses the development and significance of father-child relationships in two-parent families. Following chapters discuss: the value of viewing fathers in the context of a network of relationships within the family system; the impact of divorce and parental separation on children's well-being; how children and adolescents experience psychological pains as a result of separations and practices that can minimize the extent to which fathers disengage; fathers in fragile families; the social context and interpersonal complexity of stepfather relationships; characteristics of fathers from low-income backgrounds; gay fathers; fathering in Japan, China, and Korea; fathers and families in Africa; the role of fathers in hunter-gatherer and other small-scale cultures; fatherhood in the context of immigration; including fathers in clinical interventions for children and adolescents; fathers of children with developmental disabilities; father involvement and public policies; fathers, work, and family policies in Europe; and changing policies regarding separated fathers in Australia. Numerous references.

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