Spousal Role Differentiation and the Socialization of Severely Retarded Children

Aspects of the Parsons-Bales theory of socialization processes provide a basis for propositions pertaining to the father's role with severely retarded children. Data are presented which tend to support hypotheses predicting that fathers of severely retarded children are less adaptable than are mothers and are apt to be more vulnerable to socially imposed criteria and extrafamilial influences. Additional hypotheses are proposed which suggest a number of consequences of fathers' sensitivity to extrafamilial pressures.