The Father in Contemporary Culture and Current Psychological Literature

The review examines the opinions of a number of sociologists and psychologists on the child-rearing assumptions of Western industrial society: To many of these our practices appear to be decidedly matricentric, and there is a relative lack of studies of the father and his role. While conclusive demonstration may be lacking, the assumption that our society is matricentric may reasonably be adopted as a hypothetical device. Possible historical and social reasons for this are discussed, and the evidence on the effects of this on the psychological development of boys is reviewed. It is concluded that the relative neglect of the father may have distorted our understanding of the dynamics of development and have adversely affected the rearing of males. Some hypotheses about the fathers' role are suggested.