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Research on Fathering: Social Policy and an Emergent Perspective
Author(s) -
Fein Robert A.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1978.tb02544.x
Subject(s) - premise , perspective (graphical) , affect (linguistics) , psychology , identity (music) , sociology , social psychology , developmental psychology , epistemology , philosophy , physics , communication , artificial intelligence , computer science , acoustics
Three historical conceptualizations of fathering are described: the traditional perspective, marked by the model of the aloof and distant father; the modern perspective, concerned with child outcome variables of sex‐role identity development, academic achievement, and moral development, all of which may be furthered by father‐child contact; and the emergent perspective, exploring the premise that men have the capacity to be effective nurturers of their children. It is suggested that social science has lagged or run parallel to society's discussions about fathering. With increasing social attention on families and the relationship between family life and work life, social scientists have an opportunity to rethink understandings of fathering and to contribute to evolving social policies that affect families in the United States.