Foster Fatherhood: The Untapped Resource

Research on family roles has long neglected the father, and foster care has similarly focused on the foster mother. This paper defines and explains foster care as it relates to the foster father and his special problems, attempting to differentiate foster fatherhood from ordinary fatherhood, and to suggest important qualities of the interaction between foster fathers and their professional casework supervisors. Certain data indicate that despite the unfavorable setting, foster fathers often do take the initiative to achieve a meaningful place in the fostering situation, and they do help socialize the foster boys. Practical implications are touched upon at the conclusion.