The Role of Father in Psychoanalytic Theory

Abstract

This paper presents psychoanalytic ideas about the father's role in child development, organized into six different categories: (1) the father as an attachment figure; (2) the internalized “good” and “bad” father; (3) the father of the first separation-individuation period; (4) the father as selfobject; (5) Freudian notions of the pre-Oedipal and Oedipal father; and (6) the father of the second separation-individuation period. Extensions of the father's role are then explored, drawing from the work of D. W. Winnicott. An integrated framework is presented in an effort to synthesize the varied and complex functions attributed to the father, followed by reconsiderations of the father's role within the context of: (1) recent father-child research; and (2) current economic and familial patterns.