The concept of a father’s role has a lot to do with engendering a child. Men are known for a variety of qualities in society, including decision making, problem-solving, responsibility-taking, and conflict resolutions. Blending these qualities with family involvement yields an accurate conceptualization of the role of men as fathers. Concepts are constructs representing an agreed-upon meaning given to terms. On the other hand, conceptualization is the process of explaining in detail what is implied by the use of certain concepts.
Meaning of a Man’s Role as a Father
The role of a man as a father is described as the real, extensive, and active contribution to his children's lives (Lamb & Lemonda, 2004.) In other words, it is the contribution of a father figure in a family set up. A father's due to a child's life includes physical interactions between a father and a child through playing and chatting. Other responsibilities involve providing resources and needs of the child. Fathers also contribute to a child's life by providing social capital or child upkeep frameworks as they grow up and become adults. Father's role moreover, changes with time depending on the age of the children and the stage of life (Lamb & Lemonda, 2004). A father has different functions during a child's infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. For instance, the father leaves his nurturing role during a child's infancy and adopts a teaching role during toddler years. In summary, men's functional role as fathers refers to the fulfillment of co-parent obligations with the mother of a child. As a co-parent, fathers ought to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally involved in their children's lives so that the children have a sense of belonging, acceptance, and affection.
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Fathers Role as per the Attachment Theory
Attachment refers to a profound everlasting emotional bond that mutually ties two individuals over time and place. According to attachment theory, father-child attachments are portrayed by certain peculiar behaviors in kids, such as clamoring for the father's proximity when upset or in fear (Palm, 2014). A father’s sensitive and appropriate response to a child's needs further depicts father-child attachments. Palm (2014) affirms that attachment is a long-lasting emotional connection between two parties. Besides the genetic context, the provision of a child's security and safety by a father forms the basis of fathers' role as per the attachment theory. The attachment theory reveals that creating attachments is not about who hand-feeds and baths the baby but about who entertains, amuses, and communicates with him or her. Put, affinity, and responsiveness are core elements of attachment. Through particular behaviors of children, such as crying and smiling, bring forth the desired response from the parents, such as comfort and attention. Several repetitions of such actions by children and continued response from the caregiver yield connectedness and affection.
How to Measure a Father’s Role
A father's role is measured by how approachable, accessible, and available a father is when his children need him. All of which are outcomes of the amount of quality time a father spends with his children. The activities done during those times are especially significant (Target & Fonagy, 2002). The level of attention a father gives his child, the number of skills he passes to the child, presence in all the phases of a child's life, and the number of investments in time and energy in the child life hints on the specific ways to measure a father's role. Of significance is the realization that the functions of fathers are more than just provision but more of loving, caring, and involvement.
References
Lamb, M. E., & Tamis-Lemonda, C. S. (2004). The role of the father. The role of the father in child development , 4 , 100-105.
Palm, G. (2014). Attachment theory and fathers: Moving from “being there” to “being with”. Journal of Family Theory & Review , 6 (4), 282-297.
Target, M., & Fonagy, P. (2002). The role of the father and child development. The importance of fathers: A psychoanalytic re-evaluation , 54.
