Does Research on Children Reared in Father-Absent Families Yield Information on Father Influences?

Abstract

The mostfrequently employed research design for studying paternal influences on child development has been to compare children reared in father-absent families to those reared in father-present families. Although numerous statistically reliable differences have been reported, this research paradigm yields meager information on the psychological processes which affect development. In place of a deficit-oriented, global classification of environments, research should be directed to the study and conceptualization of the more specific components of experience in the father-child and husband-wife relationships within the nuclear family.