Infant-Father Attachment

Paper Summary:

This paper examines, through a literature review, the infant-father relationship. It looks at how most research has illustrated the importance of infant-mother relationship, without an equal consideration of the role of the father in infant-father relationships even though with the changing family structure and social beliefs, more fathers are spending time with their infants. It evaluates how expectant fathers want to be a part of the birthing experience and how the surge of interest by fathers has given rise to many studies that have sought to establish the impact of early father-infant bonding on their relationship later on.

From the Paper:

"The renewed scientific interest in the early seventies explored the stereotypical perception of fathers who were regarded as harsh disciplinarians and could not interact intimately with their infants (Rosenblith, 1992, p. 484). A study conducted on Australian fathers revealed that only 34 percent of the fathers believed that they could take care of their children (in Rosenblith, 1992, p. 484). However, another study revealed the complexity of some fathers' feelings toward these stereotypical notions. In the study, although most of the fathers' conceptions of their roles cohered with the stereotype, they also believed that fathers should be emotionally responsive and play with their infants (Rosenblith, 1992, p. 484). Therefore, even though they shared some stereotypical beliefs, they also possessed ideas that veer radically away from stereotype."

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