Critical Summary for "Fathers Are Parents, Too!" Paper Example

Introduction

The article "Fathers are Parents Too!" by Cabrera et al. seeks to establish the role of fathers in the outcomes of children both in resident and non-resident father arrangements. Parents play a significant role in the development of the children by influencing them socially and mentally. Research has previously focused and given greater attention to the mother's role in children development, and the role of the fathers has been neglected. The authors of the article are scholars in the field of fatherhood, and it was inspired by a meeting in 2016 that was sponsored by the Society for Research in Child Development. The main correspondence in the article is Natasha J. Cabrera who is the professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology in the University of Maryland. The article will assess the reason why fathers are less included in parenting research and the roles of fathers in parenting which can help to bridge the gap in research.

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Article Summary

Cabrera et al. (2018) seek to sensitize researchers on the importance of including paternal parents in the studies of the parent's influence on childhood development. The article seeks to sensitize researchers on the importance of adopting a family system approach in the research of parents influence in children development because current studies are based on mothers role while neglecting the role of fathers in the development of children. The authors use a literature review approach to assess the trends in parent's impact on childhood development from different researchers. The article authors found out that the researcher's overdependence on the attachment theory, primary caregivers and the social role theory to focus more on the maternal parents leads to inconsistent conclusions because resident and non-resident fathers have a direct and indirect impact on the development of children. The article encourages researchers to take a family system approach and new research methods to carry out more conclusive research on how parents impact the development of children and how the father and the mother impacts compare. Qualitative research approaches that involve the use of focus groups and observations can help improve the quality and reliability of research on the impact of parents on children development (Cabrera et al., 2018). Therefore, the article finds out that child development researchers should avoid paternal or maternal parent's role bias and create a family systems approach in the assessment of both parents influence in children development simultaneously and not independently.

Discussion

Adoption of the Family Systems Theory

I agree with the authors that children development researchers should adopt the family systems theory in carrying out comprehensive research on the role of both fathers and mothers in the development of children. The authors notes that the attachment theory which is based on the premise of the primary caregiver which is the mother is biased because it fails to acknowledge the direct and indirect impacts of fathers' to the development of their children (Brown, 1999). The family systems theory developed by Murray Bowen indicate that families are closely knit and interrelated (Haefner, 2014). This theory can be used to support research on parent's influence on children development because it advocates for a whole family assessment in research instead of putting more preference on mothers at the expense of fathers. Even though mothers are the primary caregivers and spend more time with the children compared to the fathers both parents have a significant impact on the emotional, social, and intellectual development of the children. Children interact with both parents as they grow which helps them to learn from their parents as they grow.

Changing Social Roles

Changing social roles means that mothers are not the only caregivers as perceptions of fathers as only financial provider's changes. Fathers today are more involved in the bringing up of their children as more mothers also provide for their families financially because both sexes enjoy equal employment opportunities. As men and women roles in the society become fluid and less specific parents, share responsibilities in the upbringing of their children. Researchers in parent's impact on their children development should shift towards a family systems approach that advocates for both parents role in bringing up the children instead of the attachment and the social roles theory which is becoming biased as more fathers are being involved in taking care of their children. In the article, the authors note that fathers are excluded from research on parent's impact on childhood development due to the social roles theory. Due to the changing society roles and high involvement of fathers in the upbringing of their children I agree with Cabrera et al., that children development researchers should adopt a more comprehensive research approach that involved both the fathers and the mothers. As paternal and maternal roles in the family changes, fathers will have a significant impact on the development of children, and it is important for researchers in the field of childhood development to adjust and create more inclusive and comprehensive research on both paternal and maternal impact on childhood development both mentally and socially.

Neuroscience Role in Understanding Psychosocial Development

According to the article research, neuroscience technology has been used to understand the differences between fathers and mothers and their orientation towards engaging with their children. The neuroscience research indicated that the father's brains responded differently to the daughters and sons which indicate with most fathers being more sensitive to the daughters compared to the sons. This research shows that paternal and maternal fathers have varying impacts on their sons and daughters development and should be taken into account by child development researchers.

Resident and Non-Resident Father's Influence their Children

I agree with the authors that fathers can influence the development of their children whether if they live with them or non-resident fathers such as those who have separated with their children mothers. The authors reiterate that what matters is not the presence of the father all the time but quality interactions with the children (Poole et al., 2013). Quality interactions between a father and the children can be once in a month but can have a significant role in influencing the behavior and psychological development of the children. The article has found out that children who are brought up without the presence of fathers are less socially competent and aggressive. On the other hand, children who are brought up with resident and non-resident fathers who engage them regularly and provides the children with some time to be with them have more healthy relationships and friends (Whyte, 2017). These findings prove that children's development is affected by the presence of the fathers and as parent's researchers should change from the attachment theory and social roles theory-based research on parent's impact on the children develop to more family systematic which is more comprehensive and addresses the needs for the paternal and the maternal parents.

Social Learning Theory

The authors note that children can learn from the interactions with both their parents. Parents have different behaviors and traits which children emulate as they grow up. As such, the study on the impact of parents on their children development should use social learning theory to assess how fathers impact the knowledge and behavior of their children through quality interactions. Social learning is one of the many approaches through which children can acquire knowledge. As such, social learning should be incorporated as one of the main assessments to record on the impact of parental interactions with the development of the children (Woodrow, 2001). Fathers who have a good relationship with their children mothers have the greatest influence on the children behavior. Aggressive fathers made their children aggressive and violent just like their fathers (Woodrow, 2001). Besides, through social learning approach children can imitate the financial and other important financial skills from the parents which makes it easy for such children to surpass their fathers in emulating their behaviors.

Conclusion

Fathers like any other parent have a significant impact on the development of their children. Research has previously proved that parent's participation in the upbringing of the children affects the children behavioral and psychological development. I agree with the article authors that children development researchers should change their maternal based approach to parental influence on children development. Adopting a comprehensive approach in parent's impact on childhood development can help sensitize the role of parents on children development. The family system is one of the approaches that involves the inclusion of the maternal and the paternal parents in assessing their role in child development.

References

Brown, J. (1999). Bowen family systems theory and practice: Illustration and critique. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 20(2), 94-103.

Cabrera, N. J., Volling, B. L., & Barr, R. (2018). Fathers Are Parents, Too! Widening the Lens on Parenting for Children's Development. Child Development Perspectives.

Dunn, J., Cheng, H., O'connor, T. G., & Bridges, L. (2004). Children's perspectives on their relationships with their nonresident fathers: Influences, outcomes, and implications. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 45(3), 553-566.

Haefner, J. (2014). An application of Bowen family systems theory. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35(11), 835-841.

Poole, E., Speight, S., O'Brien, M., Connolly, S., & Aldrich, M. (2013). What do we know about non-resident fathers. London, UK: Modern Fatherhood and Economic and Social Research Council.

Whyte, D. (2017). Non-resident Fathers: A Literature Review of Factors Influencing their World. Journal of Social Care, 1(1), 5.

Woodrow, A. (2001). Child development: A social learning theory perspective. Child Care in Practice, 7(2), 130-140.