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3 1293 00640

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF THE FATHER IN
FAEILIES SEEN IN TREATMENT AT THE LANSING CHILD
GUIDANCE CLINIC DURING THE YEARS 1953 THROUGH
1955 IN WHICH BOTH PARENTS
PARTICIPATED IN TREATHENT

by
Philip Leon Clark

A PROJECT REBORT

Submitted to the School of Social Work
fiichigan State University
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
of

MASTER OF SOCIAL NORK

May 1956

Approved:

 

 

- rec or O c 00

'HESIS

ACVNOJL“ GIENTS

The author wishes to exgress his sincere appreci-
ation for the aid and encours5ement given him by Miss
Marjorie Ross in the writing of this project. Apprecia-
tion is also due Dr. Gordon Aldridge end Mr. Manfred
Lilliefors for their valuable ess istenoe and su55estions.

Grateful acknowledgment is also extended to the
entire staff of the Lansin5 Child Guidance Clinic for
their 5ene crou s assistance in the yrocurment of ease ms—
teriel. Earticuler appreciation is due hiss Ruth Koehler
and miss Sally Sell for the 5enerous assistance 5iven in
jud5ing seventeen case records as well as for their help-
ful su55estions.

Finally, sincere thanks to my wife who labored
long and dili5ently on the typing of this paper and who,
to Uether with my son, relinquished the attentions of their

husband-father while he completed this project.

11

TABLE OF COLTLNIS

Bags
IRCI‘ZNO III-4:336]; :::IS a o o o o o o. o o o o o o o o o o 11
LI: T OF TABL28 o o o o o o o o o c o o c o o o 9 iv

Chapter

I. 1512'? vLI‘J'x “IIION’ o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1

II. IiQWULIJAL BACKGROUND AND CURRENT OPINION 10
III. IDZN<ES A33 333'33U133 . . . . . . . . . 16
IV. l?;““NIATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA . . . . 20

V. SUIKARY 1-33 )0301331033 . . . . . . . . . 32
AEPEHEIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
III.'LI Liiegli' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

iii

LIST OF TABLE”
Table
1. Education of Parents . . . . . . . .
2. Father Participation with Family . .

3. Asyects of Authoritative Control . .

iv

CHAETER I

During the past few years there has been an in-
creasing emphasis on the consideration and treatment of
the "total family situation" in attempting to assist in-
dividuals in personal adjustments. Along with this trend
there has also been considerable concern about the chang—
ing role of the father in the American family and the
modification in the structure and functioning of the
family. It is generally agreed today that both garents
play responsible parts in the healthy emotional develOP-
ment of children. More and more it is being stated that
"Father, as well as Mother, must be a participant in the

1 On the basis of this principle

child's develOpment."
there has develoyed a conscious attempt on the part of
some treatment facilities, garticularly psychiatric

clinics and family agencies, to involve the father more

in the process of helping individuals and families who

. 2
are suffering from emotional stress.

 

1O. Spurgeon English, ”The Esychological Role
of the Father in the Family," Social Casework, XXXV
(October, 1954), 326.

2"Father Comes of Age," J. B. G. Spotlight,
November, 1950, p. l.

In the writer's contacts with the Lansin5 Child
Guidance Clinic durin5 his assi5nment to the a5ency for
his field work placement, it has become apparent throu5h
staff confe noes and meetin5s th at there were nany in-
dications of an attempt to involve the fa her alon5 with
the mother and Child in treatment. As the writer in»
quired further it was learned tiL: t this eff ort had become
an increasing rart of clinic 5o olicy durin5 the p::st hree
to four years. a discussion of father particigation by
the Ckiief isycniatric Eocia orke r at cared in the 1954
Sixteenth annual Report of the clinic in which the imgor-
tance of tile father’ s role was stressed, the ghilosoghy
of the clinic in re5ard to father participation stated,
and some gercenta5e figures 5iven of the amount of father
participation in that year.1 In 61 yer cent of the total
cases seen durin5 the year 1354 the father larc_cl5atcd
to some extent. In an additional 13 ;e r cent of h-
cases t e father Was unavcilaole be ea se of divorce or
oeath. In 55 fer cent of the treatment cases the father

an

was seen on a re5ular continuous basis; ac per cent were

se: n occasionally.

 

lRuth T. Koehler, "Fatuer Participation in Clini-
cal Child Guidance," Lansin5; Child Guiuence Clinic
Sixteenth Annual Regort, January 1 to necemher 3i, 1954,
pp- 8-9.

As the writer considered these developments he
wondered:

1. How large a group of families has the clinic
seen in which the father participated?

2. What were the characteristics of these fami-
lies in terms of social class and type of
problem?

3. What was the basis of selection of these
families for treatment? ,

4. How much did father participation affect the
outcome of treatment?

5. Were these fathers more motivated toward par-
ticipation and, if so, why?

It was believed that these fathers were more mo-
tivated, and it was felt that one of the possible reasons
for this was that they were predominantly middle-class
families in which there existed not only more social
pressures in terms of cultural expectations but also
more re005nition of emotional disturbance and knowledge
of community resources available for help. Further in-
vesti5ation revealed that a study had been conducted at
the clinic of the rates of utilization of its facilities
for the five-year period 1948 to 1952 in which "the ten—

tative conclusion that clinic utilization is associated

1 All ex-

with hibher socio-economic status" was stated.
amination of the literature regarding the role of the
father in the American family of today revealed that

there were certain generally agreed upon expectations as
to what some of the characteristics of the father-rele
should be in terms of providing a stabilizing and organ-
izing influence in the family. A brief preliminary ex-
amination of some of the case records of families in which
he father participated in treatment indicated that the
group was predominantly composed of families in which the
occupational and educational levels were relatively high.
If it could be assumed then tha- these families were pre-
dominantly middle-class and were experiencing problems in
interpersonal family relationships that were exerting a
disorganizing influence on the family, the writer wondered
if certain characteristics of the role of the father in
these families would deviate sibnificantly from those ex-
pected for providing a stabilizing and organizing
influence.

The case records of families that were active

during the years 1953 through 1955, in which the father
was seen at least four times along with the mother and

child, were examined. It was decided to use for the study

 

lDifferential Utilization of the Facilities of a
flichigan bhild Guidance Clinic, Research heeort no. 17

I
—.

(Michigan Department of fiental Health, March, 1955). p. 24.

only those cases in which at least four interviews with
the father had been recorded. Although thirty fathers
had participated in treatment, recorded case material was
available on only eighteen fathers. In one situation the
child was living with a step parent; it was arbitrarily
decided by the writer to limit his review to the seven-
teen natural fathers and to exclude the step parent situ-
ation. The data were then drawn from these seventeen
case recor s toéether with interviews with the worker or
workers who worked with the parents and child in each
particular case.

The data were set up in an attempt to answer cer-
tain questions associated with the main problem, namely:
What is the role of the father in these families? The
questions associated with the problem were:

1. Does he assume the major responsibility for

financial support?

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a. Does he provide for more than jus
necessities?t

3. hoes he participate in activities with the
other family members?

4. Is he active in external groups, associations,
or organizations?

5. Does he assume the major responsibility for

controlling the actions, activities, and

functions of the family members?
The concept of role as used in this study Was limited by
the aspects of father particitation studied, and no at-
tempt was made to examine either the determinants of this
role or its effects on the other family members socially
or psychologically.

The assumptions upon which this study was based
were as follows:

'1. The families utilized in this study were pre-
dominantly middle-class families. This
assumption is based on the mental Health
Research Regort Number 17.1 The concept of
middle—class used in specific reference to
the study group was based on harner's occu—
pational and educational indices for socio-
economic status.

2. 'he families in this study were experiencing

problems in interpersonal family relationships

 

lipid.
2m

w. L. Warner, M. Meeker, and K. Bells, Social
Class in America (Chicago: science Research associates,
Inc., 1949?. pp. 140-141, 154.

tarner's original "Index of Status Characteristics",
as first develoned in the Jonesville Study, was based
upon six status characteristics—-occupation, amount of in-
come, education, house type, and dwelling area. Each of
these characteristics had a seven—point scale with "four"
as the average point.

that were exertine a diso:geni

U

N

ing influ-
ence on the family.

3. Participation in treatment consisted of a
minimum of four interviews. Treatment was
defined as the use of psychological tech—
niques designed to relieve disturbences in
psycho-social adjustment. It was believed
that the especte of the fetLer's role uti-
lized in the stuoy would not consistently
be aligned with the corresponding prevail-

ing exgectetions utilized.

The Setting

 

The Lansing Child Guidance Clinic is located in
the heart of the capitol city of hichigsn ena serves the
following four counties: Clinton, Eston, Inbhum, end
Livingston.l It was originated under the name Lansing
Childrens Center, Inc. in the syrins of 1938 by the Child
Guidance Committee of the Inghem County Council of Social
Welfare. Previous to its establishment a survey had been
conducted by the National Probation Association in con—

n

. . . .... 4
nection With the prevention of celinquency.

 

lLensinL_Chili Guidance Clinic Seventeenth Annual
Report, January 1 to December 31, 1935. 9;. 346.

2Marcella Jean Gest, "A Child Guidance Clinic as
a Social Resource in a Small Metr0politun Community"

Organization

The clinic is a joint public and voluntary pro-
ject supported by the State Bepartment of Mental Health
and local agencies, such as boards of supervisors,
school boards, and community chests. It has an advisory
board composed of representative citizens from various
types of pepulation groups, who act as liaison between
the community and the professional staff. The board

assumes full responsibility for the raising of local funds.

Functions

In general, the clinic tries to improve and pro-
tect the mental health of the children in the community.
It does this not only by providing gsychiatric and psycho-
logical services to families where children have emotional
problems, but also by its consultative and participant
relationship to all other health, welfare, and education-
al agencies. The age range of children seen is from
birth until they graduate from high school or until age

sixteen, if they leave before high school graduation.

Staff
At the time this study was made the staff con~

sisted of the following: Child Psychiatrist-~Director;

 

(unpublished Eroject Report for Master's Degree, Depart—
ment of Social Work, hichigan State College, 1947).

Chief Psychiatric Social Worker; Chief Psychologist;

Two Psychiatric Social Workers; Psvchologist; Adminis-

‘,

q.

trative Secretary; Secretary; Two Student ~sychiatric
Social Workers from the Unive sity of Kichigan; and two
Student Psychiatric Social Workers from hichigan State

University, including the author.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND Cb RENT OPINION

Father and the Changinngulture

The changes in the American family pattern and
structure that have occurred during the past century are
generally believed to have resulted in some weakening
and instability of the family as an institution. Parsons
refers to "the question of evaluating symptoms of dio-
organisation" and states that this "involves the question
of how much is a general trend to disorbanization as
such, (and) how much is what may be called the 'disor-

1 At any rate, one of the

ganization of transition'."
"reasons" for this present lack of strength is felt to
be the family's "loss of functions which has not yet
been adequately compensated for by its increased social
utility as a primary group of its members."2

Involved in this "loss of functions" has been the

father and his changing role. Joseelyn has pointed out

 

1Talcott Parsons and Robert F. Bales, Famil
Socialization and Interaction Process (Glencoe, Ill¥noisz
The Free frees, 1955). p. 4.

2John Sirjamaki, The American Family in the Twen-
tieth Centur§ (Cambridge: Harvard Universitylress,
J 9 PP- ‘53-

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childhood. "The father is too often eons dared of sec-

ondary importance.”l

Currer t Orinion

 

At present, attempts are being made in the theo—
retical realm to present possible implications of the
importance of the father's role in the family in the
emotional develorment of the child and in the inter—
relati onsh as within the family in general. However,

eat of the current literature in ~Haggard to the father,
if he is a constructive force in the child's develoy-
ment, defines him vaguely. He is someone with whom.the
male child identifies and the female child sees as the
ideal masculine figure.2 Most of the scientific studies
(of which there seem to be relatively few) that this au-
thor is familiar ith reward - the role of the father,
attempt to examine the recognition or identification
with the "father role" on the part of the father in terms
of its effect on the father's personality and its possi-
ble utilization in the involvement of father in treatment

without describing what this "role" is or should be.3

 

1Josselyn, 02. cit., p. 341.

2Irene H. Josselyn, "E‘sychology of Fatherliness,"
Smith College Studies in Social Lork, LTVI (February,
1956), 10.

3This author consulted the Readers Guide to

13

Dr. Josselyn states that "even those of us who feel the
father has an extremely important role to play in early
child develOpment cannot describe how he should fulfill
this role."1

It appears that little effort has been made to
quantify the role of the father in terms of relating his
activities or participation in the family to the amount
of psychOpathology in a given case.2 Efforts in this
area seem to be limited mainly to studies in social
class and casts differences such as those done by Davis
and Havighurst3 and cross-cultural studies such as those
done by head.4 Aberle and Naegele have presented a

paper on the results of a study within a class rather

than between classes regarding the "relationship between

 

Periodical Literature for the past few years together
with editions of Social Casework, American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry, hsycholqgical Abstracts, Esychiatric
Social work, American sociological Review, and American
Fournal of_Sooiology. also feur major schools of social
work were written to for lists of theses, and several
theses were procurred and examined.

 

1Josselyn, on. cit., p. 10.

ZEnglish, Op. cit., p. 329.

3Allison Davis and Robert Havighurst, "Social
Class and Color Differences in Child Rearing," Ferson-
ality in Nature, Society, and Culture, ed. Clyde
Kluckhonn and H. A. Murray, (new York: KnOpf, 1953),

4Margaret Mead, Hale and Female (New York:
Morrow and Co., 1949), p. 188.

14

the occupational role of the middle-class male and his
aims and concerns in the socialization of his children."
Evidence was presented for the belief that fathers' at-
titudes toward their sons' behavior are different from
those toward their daughters' and that some of this was
related to the "middle—class occupational role" which he
”represents" to his family. However, they suggest the
desirability of much more minute inquiries ahmed at re-
lating "socialization practices" (among other things)
to "parents' adult roles."l
Despite the apparent lack of actual scientific
study in the area of father participation in the family,
there does seem to be some consensus as to what he
should generally represent and should generally do in
some areas of family life rather than what he should
not represent and do. Although the trend appears to be
in the direction of father losing his primary signifi-
cance as material provider and disciplinarian and moving
toward more of a "complementary" relationship with
mother, the general consensus seems to be that father

still maintain a "mild male sovereignty" and continue to

 

lDavid F. Aberle and Kaspar n. Naegele, "Middle-
Class Fathers' Occupational Role and Attitudes Toward
Children," American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, XXII
(April, l952}, 356.

[—1
U"!

be the "main Sip} ort znd buttress cf their families."
In addition, frequent appeals are bein5 made for him to
return to a m: re active Burtlvirutlufl in child reeri n5
processes and family activities in general.1

It has been pointed out, however, that what is
su55ested is not a re turn to the old interrelistic type
of family but to find a new way for father to msnifest
his "fetherliness."2 Parsons sneaks of the ”husband-
fether es the instrumental leader of he family by Vir~
tue of the import ince of his occapstionsl role as a
component of his familial role." Father is expected to
be a "500d provider" able to secure a ”500d position" in
the community and to "reyresent" the f @il; outs~i de the

3

home. Lnelish and Foster Hrs ent tlieir :enerel feelins
o E.) E)

about father' s role when t1 ey state:

Ela inly this nation is fsther in the erm«
chair at the hes d of+ “e table a5sin, carving
the reset, disciplinin5 he children, keepin5
the pee ce, settling disyutes, lovin5 his wife
but res ervin5 his pants for his own use, serving
as an exsmrle for sons to enilste 4end onu5nters
to seek in husbands of their own.

 

181rjemski, op. cit., pp. 88, 93.

I‘

‘Josselyn, "Esych0105y of Fatherliness," on. cit.,

p. 8.

3T. Earsor s end B. Bales, on. cit., p. 12.

4 sv r r J. F t

O. cgur5eon nn5lish and Constance os er,
Fathers Are Eerents, Too (New York: G. P. EMntn m's Sons,

 

1951;, 1“ 8°

CHAITLR III

‘3'"‘7‘1‘: '“(w "3.1" ,'\,'~17-:~*7*17f76
1.1.15141020 Aim ...,'.3'.\/'U;..1.ULJLT.;JQ

The methods used in this stuéy were the case
review with the utilization of a sch dllle and interviews
with vorkere who had provided the services to these
cases.l}1e schedale was bee ed on two reouireiiente

1. To obtain identifying information on the
families;

2. To obtain some factors releting to the
role of the father in these families.
The major part of the icentifying information

obtained from face we t ea te. The classification

93
m

svetem used for t"Wieth; parent particiretion, acti-
vity, and control was: much; some; little; not regerted

w .‘ ., l.” ..:,,".\J- - _,_---..;J 'r'r'w rm..-“ ,. . . .3 .0:
(HR), and ee.e*niiou (on). ineee terns were eelined

l. finch: consistentlv to a great extent;

elve s or most of the time whenever the

 

16

l7

2. §ng: occasionally, but not most of the
time or seldom, I
3. Little: almost none or never; once in a
great while.
4. Tot resorted: no mention made in the record.
5. Undetermined: some mention made in the

record but vague; isolated particulars (i.e.,

father punished Johnny yesterday) without

further mention of this aspect in the record;
inconsistent (1.9., mother states father
punishes Jonnny all the time, father states

he punishes Johnny only occasionally) with-

out further particulars given.

The recorded interviews of father, mother, and
child (where recording was available) were examined
first and were utilized in checking for internal consis-
tency of statements of attitudes and behavior. Recorded
interviews on both parents were available in all cases.
Eight of the cases had recorded interviews of the child.
A conscious attempt was made to limit the aspects of be-
havior utilized in the study to those that existed in
the family situation prior to coming to the clinic since
this author felt that change may have been indicative of
the results of participation and might not have occurred

otherwise.

18

After the data had been secured from the exami-
nation of the records, the worker or workers who had
provided the services to each case were interviewed re-
garding their knowledge of each aspect in which a judge-
ment was required. The rating system was described and
defined and each worker was asked to rate each aspect.

If the worker's rating did not coincide with the author's
rating on any particular aspect, the record was again
examined for this aspect. If, after this re-examination,
disagreement still existed, the aspect was judged to be
undetermined. In all cases a worker was available for
interviewing. In one case the worker had not worked di-
rectly with the family but had carried a close, student—
supervisory relationship and was, therefore, considered
as "working" with the case. In two cases the author had

direct contacts with the parents or children.

Evaluation of Validity of Hethods
The families utilized in this study do not repre-
sent a sample but represent all those cases existing
within the limitations stated for the three year period
under study.
The status ratings used for education and occu-

pation in this study were not used as determinants of

19

social class but as indicators and were subject to the
limitations stated by Warner.1

Although there were giantitative factors uti—
lized in rating participation, activity, and control, in
the final analysis these ratinbs were based on a combined
judgement of the author and other workers. They may na-
turally be subject to the limitations and bias involved
in such judgements. The examination of he records for
internal consistency, together with the interviews with
workers, represented an attempt to reduce this bias.

The classifications use“ for deterhining the
problem for which referred were formulated by the Admin-
istrative Secretary of the clinic from face sheet data
and presented in the Annual Reports to the hichi¢a State

%

Department of Mental Health.

 

1Warner, Op. cit., pp. 200-216.

CHAPTER IV

PiESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

General Characteristics of the Study Group

The study group consisted of seventeen white,
urban, natural families with both parents and the child
living in the same home. Of the thirteen families where
the religion was reported, eleven were Erotestant, one
Catholic, and one Jewish. The size of family ranged
from one to four children with the average number of

children being 2.5.

The Child

There was only one family in which the child was
the only child. The average number of siblings was 1.5,
and, in thirteen of the families, the clinic patient was
the oldest child. Fourteen of uhe children were boys,
or a ratio of approximately 4.7 boys to one girl. This
characteristic has also been pointed out in other studies
in which the father was seen. It was suggested that this
pattern may be related to the fathers' greater ease in
identifying with heir sons, and to the cultural factors

that influence fathers to play a more active role in

20

21

their sons' upbringinb.1 Another study found that where
the father had the "closer relationship" with the child,
he was "less interested" in agency contact, and where
the mother had the "closer relationship", father was
"more eager" for agency contact.2 Hildred Burgum has
suggested the comgetitive element between father and
mother and the loss of status that prompts intense jeal-
ousy on the part of the father.3

In relation to this study group, however, the
author felt that such factors as availability of father
and personnel, and selectivity by the personnel Could
not be ruled out.

gag.-—The range in ages of the children was from
three to thirteen with an average age of 7.8. The aver-
age age of the boys was 6.8.

neferral.--Nine of the children were referred by
the mother, three by a physician, two by the father, one
by the school, one by both parents, and one by a social

agency.

 

lBarbara Jane Kahn, "Some Factors Influencing
the Incidence of Father Contact in the Intake Process,"
(Abstract of master's thesis), Smith College Studies in
Social Work, February, 1956, p. 65.

2Rhoda Berg, "Father Gets Involved,f (unpublished
Master's thesis: New York School of Social work: COlHMbla
University, June, 1954).

3Mildred Burgum, "The Father Gets Worse: A Child

22

Eight were classified on referral as personality
problems, four as learning and develonment, three as con—
duct disorder, one as habit disorder, and one as intelli-

gence evaluation.

The Parent

gag.--The age range of the fifteen sets of par—
ents where the age was reported was from 26 to 44 with
an average age of 33.2 for the mothers and 34.4 for the
fathers. Nine of the fathers were older than the mother,
by an average of 4.3 years. Five mothers were older
than the father, by an average of 3.2 years, but one of
these mothers was ten years older so the average figure
was not representative. Two sets of parents were the
same age .

Bducation.--The educational level of the parents

 

appears to be relatively high. The data on the education
of the parents are shown in Table l on page 23. It can
be seen from Table 1 that over half of the thirty-one
parents reported had some college education. Ten of the
nineteen had degrees and these were equally distributed
between mothers and fathers. There was no parent having

less than a ninth grade education. Five of the fathers

 

Guidance Problem," emerican Journal of Orthonsychiatry,
XII (July, 1942), 404.

23

had more education than their wives, and four of the
mothers had more education than their husbands. The re-
maining six families had equal education between father
and mother. Utilizing Warner's socioeconomic status

rating scale, twenty-six of the parents were rated above

 

 

 

 

 

average, five average, and none below average.1
TABLE 1
EDUCATION OF PARENTS
Education ~
Total Fathers Mothers

Total ....... 34 l7 l7
COllege 00000.0. 19 9 10
N0 COllege 0000. 12 6 6
Not reported ... 3 2 l

 

The educational background of these parents tended
then to support the tentative conclusion of the Mental
Health Research Report that clinic utilization is associ-

2 here were no

ated with higher socioeconomic status.
reasons offered in the above report, but this author feels
that one reason may be due to more recobnition and under-
standing of emotional difficulties by both parents. A

supporting indication of this reason was found when the

 

1Warner, Op. cit., p. 154.
2

Michigan Department of Mental Health, on. cit.

source of referral was compared to the educational back-
ground. From eleven of the twelve families in which the
source of referral was from either or both parents, six-
teen parents had some college.

There appeared to be no relationship between re-
ferral problem and source of referral or education.

Occupation.-~Agein utilizing Warner's socioeco-
nomic status rating scale, the occupational retings for
the sixteen reported fathers were as follows: ten were
above average; three were average; and three were below
average.1 This further suugested that the study group
is of higher socioeconomic status. he might be expected,
those fathers with college training rated higher on the
average in terms of occupational status than did those
fathers with no college training. Of the fourteen cases
where the information was available on both occupation
and education, with four as the average rating for occu—
pation, the fathers with college training had an average
occupational rating of 2.4 as compared to 4.6 for the

fathers with no 0011859 training.

 

Yw

1Warner, pp. cit., PP- 140“141'

25

Aspects of Father's Role

Financial Support

In all of the families studied the father was the
main source of financial support. In fifteen of the fam-
ilies he was the only source. In the remaining two fami-
lies, one mother worked part—time and the other mother
full—time.

Of the sixteen cases where the provision of non-
essentials was rated, three—fourths were.rated as "some"
and one-fourth as "little". The average occupa ional
status of eleven of the twelve cases rated as "some” was
2.7 where that of the four cases rated as "little" was
4.5.

In general, the father not only was the main pro-
vider but a more than adequate provider. This level ap-
pears natural in view of the occupational status of the
fathers.

There were also indications that these families
were not overly concerned about financial problems. in
examination of the data on the aspects of occupational
attitude, desire for advancement, desire for change in
occupation, and father's participation in the budget re—
vealed a tendency toward little mention of these aspects

in the records. Only in occupational attitude was there

26

information available in more than fifty per cent of the
cases. In eight of the nine reported cases, father ex-
pressed some dissatisfaction with his job. Since there
was no apparent relationship between this aspect and oo-
cupational status in those cases reported, it might be
reasoned that the expression of dissatisfaction represent-

ed some projection of inadequate and/or hostile feelings.

Family Particioation
The data relating to the aspects of participation
of the father in activities with the other family members
are presented in the following table.
TABLE 2
FATHER PARTICIPATION 31TH FAMILY

 

 

Amount of Participation

 

Aspect
Total much Same Little

 

Father participation

In home OOOIOOOOOOOOOO l7 0 7 lo
outSide 1103118 000000000 17 O 7 10
In child rearing ..... 17 O 5 12
Father away from family. 17 4 4 9

 

Over half of the fathers were seen to be partici-
pating "little" with the family both inside and outside
the home. The relationship between these two aspects was

high with only two cases not being consistent.

27

A somewhat greater prOportion of fathers partici-
pated "little" in child rearing practices. This pattern
was indicative of a tendency for the mother to remain as
the predominant person for this aspect in these families.
The relationship between this sepect and participation
both in and outside the home was not as high. Nine or
slightly over half the cases were consistent in the three
aspects. Seven of these had ratings of "little". There
Was some tendency for fathers who participated "little"
in the home to participate "little" in child rearing.

here appeared to be no relationship between edu—
cation or occupation to any of the participation aspects
with one exception. Three of the four fathers who were
away from the family "much" ranked very high in occupa-
tional status and the other was rated average. Three of
these fathers also ranked "little" in the other three as-
pects. It was noted in the author's examination of the
case records that in each case the father's occupation
was a major contributing factor to his being away. Aside
from this, the lack of relationship might be expected
since the study group appeared to be mainly composed of
members of a particular class—Drouping.

There appeared to be no other relationship between
the amount of time Spent away from the home and the other

three aspects.

23

Parental Participation in External Groups,
Associations, or Organizations

There were no apparent tendencies in terms of
either father's or mother’s participation in external
group activities. The father participated "little" in
nine out of sixteen cases and "some" in the remaining
seven. The mother participated "little" in nine out of
fifteen cases, "some" in three, "much" in two, and "none"
in one.

If it could be assumed that parental participa-
tion in external group activities is a measure of family
representation, the study group would suggest that neith-
er parent was more of a family representative than the
other in this respect.

There was some relationship between fathers who
participated "little" and mothers who participated "little"
with six out of the nine cases coinciding.

There was also some relationship between father's
participation in external group activities and his pare
ticipation with the family both in and out of the home.
This relationship was found in eight of the cases with
"little" participation and five of the cases with "some"
participation. This relationship may be suggestive of
the general way in which these fathers related to the to-

tal environment and seemed to indicate specific patterns

29

of behavior. For exumple, a father who did not partici-
pate in either home or outside activities, according to
the clinics evaluations, seemed to be a withdrawn end
Cepe end: nt indivil dual.

In general, although there eepeered to be no
trends in fe*ily purticitetion for the total study group,
there did appear to be some tenuency for fathers W}10 y “r
ticipeted to the sums e1 wt nt in.sie‘ the home to partici—
pute to the same extent outsiie the home, in child rear-
ing, and in ex ernel group activities.

These re letionships night aquin be su;g stive of

certain kinds of person lity confibuiutions of the fathers

in tilese 262111111198.

Aspects of Authoritative Control

The data on the aspects used in this study as in-
dications of the authoritative control of the father are
presentea in Table 3 on page 30.

As can be seen from Table 3, there apps ured to be
no tenflcncy for the fathers in the ssudy to be consistent
in these aspects, with the possible exception of obedience.
The ratio of fathers receiving "some" obedience from the
child was ale oxm etely three to one. This evidence would

tend to indies «.te that there w~s some authoritative control

between fut her eni child.

30

TABLE 3

ASPECTS OF AUTHORITATIVE COfimROL

 

 

Amount
Total much Some Little NR UD

Aspect

 

Father participation in

Discipline .......... l7 2 9 6 O 0
Use of physical
punishment ........ 17 l 6 10 O 0
Child's obedience
to the father ....... l7 0 l3 0 0
Parental agreement
on discipline ....... l7 0 6 O 3
mother seeking *
outside advice ...... 17 O 7 6 l 3

 

*Father‘s seeking outside advice was not in-
cluded in the table due to lack of data. Only three
of the seventeen cases were described in this aspect.
There appeared to be no such relationship in
those aspects involving the mother. However, it might be
suggested that since in thirteen cases mention was made
of the mother seeking outside advice, there might be a
tendency for the mothers to have less confidence in their
husbands.
In sixteen of the seventeen cases the mother did
not wait for the father to come home to punish the child.
Contrary to probable expectations, there appeared
to be no relationship between parental agreement on dis—
cipline and mother seeking outside advice. However, there
were only twelve cases in which this comparison could be

made 0

31

A tendency for an inverse relationship between
punishment and obedience was seen with eight fathers out
of the ten who utilized little physical punishment re—
ceiving "some" obedience from the child.

There appeared to be no relationship between par-
ticipation in discipline and obedience.

Thus, there appeared to be no trends for the fa-
thers in the study group to be consistently aligned in

the aspects of role considered in this study.

CHAPTER V

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

As there has been growing interest in the role of

the father in American families, the writer decided to re-

view the role of the father in the treatment cases at the

Lansing Child Guidance Clinic in which the father partici-

pated in treatment.

An examination of the case records of the seven-

teen families where the father participated in treatment

at the Lansing Child Guidance Clinic during a three year

period was made in an attempt to answer certain questions

associated with the problem:

1.

4.

Does he assume the major responsibility for
financial support?

Does he provide for more than just the basic
necessities?

Does he participate in activities with the
the other family members?

Is he active in external groups, associations,
or organizations?

Does he assume the major responsibility for
controlling the actions, activities, and

functions of the family members?

32

33

These questions were related to what appeared to be cer-
tain general prevailing eXpectations found in current
literature of what the role of the father should be in

the "American family" today. For purposes of examining
the case records to answer the above questions, the focus
has been on specific aspects of parental behavior believed
to be related to these questions. It was believed that
the sepects of the father's role utilized in the study
would not consistently be aligned with the corresponding
prevailing expectations.

The families studied were found to consist of pre—
dominantly white, urban,Protestant, higher occupational
and educational families having an average of 2.5 children.
The ratio of male child patients to female child patients
in these families was approximately 4.7 to one.

Within the context of this study, the original
questions associated with the main problem were answered
in the following way:

1. The fathers assumed the major responsibility
for financial support.

2. In general, the fathers were "good providers"
to the extent that they provided for more
than just the basic necessities of the family.

3. There did not appear to be any consistent

trend in the amount of participation with the

34

other family members.

4. There did not appear to be any definite

pattern for the fathers to be more or less

of a family representative than the mother

in terms of their participation in external

group activities.

5.. There did not appear to be any evidence that

the fathers assumed the major reaponsibility

for controlling the actions, activities, and

functions of the family members.

In respect to the areas which were reviewed, it
would appear then that the only consistent aspect of the
role of the father in these families was to maintain his
role as the p°ovider. His role is not clearly delineated.
It appeared that certain personality factors were Opera—
ting in terms of the father's general orientation to his
environment.

Some of the implications of the findings of this
study might be:

1. Caution in the use of the evaluation of fa-
ther participation in the family as a factor
in determining the selection of fathers to

be seen for treatment.

p.
h.)

2. The nee ‘or more intensive quantitative

study of the role the father plays in the

35

family today. It would appear to be a dif-

ficult undertaking to help the father per-

ceive his role without first having more

scientific knowledge about what his role is.

There is also a need to identify personality

factors which operate in determining the

manner in which the male may adapt himself

to an "e fective" father role.

3. There is a need for examining more carefully

those factors which operate in the interac-

tion among family memoers that influence the

roles of each. more attempts should be made

to evaluate methods, policies, and procedures

of treatment to determine the most effective

means of helping each member as well as the

total family.

In thinking about the characteristics of the study
group, the author wonders if further study might be di-
rected toward determining whether other socioeconomic,
ethnic, or racial groups micht need or utilize the servi-
ces as much, if not more. In regard to this the author
also wondered if these groups might differ in the roles
that they play, and if we need different knowledge and/or

skills in working with these groups.

I.

II.

GENL

A.

B.
C.

1- yup, m‘T-v‘

I. .3...4.-.‘.aJ I: A;

SplinnU’Lo

RnL INFCRHATION
;TS: HOTHE. FATHER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:-;e
Relisr ion
E‘ducetion
Occupation A
Status of occupation
Location of home: Rure Urban
Ch LD: Age Sex neligion
Siblings: Sex Age
1.
2.

Position of child in family

'|

rroolem for which referred Source
OF F.tTfiE R

SUPPORT: Father only hother works
Full—time_____ Psrt~time____ Earn more thun fa~

ther
(yes or no)

 

ion Desires advancement

(yes or no)

Desires other occu3etion
(yes or no)

36

37

Status of other occupation

PAiTICIEATICN WITH OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS:

 

 

In home Outside home
Child rearing Away from family

 

iAnTTCI-AiIoN IN EXT hKAL GROUPS, AooOLIrTIONo,
ORGANIZATIOI TS:

Father 3 Mother

AUT '{ORITATIVE CONTROL: Discipline

 

Physical punishment Obedience

 

Parental agreement on discipline

 

Outside advice: Mother Father

Budget Mother wait for father

 

BIB-1‘:— IO: 3A-:r 4.;

Books

Davis, Allison and Hevighurst, Robert J. “Social Class
and Color Differences in Clilu~RoArinb."
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Edited by C. Kluchhohn and h. A. Rurrey. 2d ed.
revised. New York: Alfred A. Knon, 1953.

English, 0. Spurgeon and Foster, Constance J. Fathers
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1951.

Hamilton, Gordon. Psychotterapy in Child Guidance. New
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Parsons, Telcott end Bales, Robert F. Family, Sociali—
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31,639 £1685, l§)50

 

Pollen, Otto, et s1. Sociil Science and Psychotherapy
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ij)20

Sirjameki, John. The American Family in the Twentieth
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ILAII, PTO. 2 (infril, 135(4), 300“_)(So

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39

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Unlzublished Esterio

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”IC

11W

191%memar/17,311 “

@117

 

3