The Role of a Father in Child Development - Essay Example

Literature review on the role of a father in child development The structure of the family has a pivotal role in shaping the social life of a child. This knit family composition has always been broken through male incarceration attributed to conviction from some criminal activities. Critical and in-depth review of past research findings from Sarkadi, et al, (2008) Shows that the significance of the male parent in the development of a child can be tested on three parameters which include the level of parent to child attachment, success rates observed in the child in social life and magnitude of self-esteem.

According to Pougnet, et al, (2011), there is a significant difference in the cognitive command and social wellbeing of the children who have a long and close attachment with the male parent In the development of a child from infancy, the immediate environment plays a vital role in defining the cognitive development of the child. This explains the varied behavior of children in various interactive social environments. In respect of the cardinal social input of the male parent to the child’s future behavior, children from parents who are incarcerated tend to differ marginally from the ones with their male parents around their daily life (Dick, 2011).

Both the mother and the father have an influence in shaping the psychological development and maturity of the children. Finley & Schwartz,(2007) from their analytical experiments using Statistical tests of significance indicates that the mother plays a primary role as far as the infant’s perception of the world is concerned. However, as the child grows, the male parent also contributes immensely in his/her interaction with the new world and absorption of various concepts in life. Various scholars have explored the social inadequacies that are likely to erupt in the life of the child in the absence of the male parent.

Some of the cases that may lead to this absence are also highlighted with more focus on male incarceration (Menning & Stewart, 2008). The effect of male parent’s absence is two-sided in the social life of the child since there is a certain perception such children will develop about the absent fathers and this gradually alters the cognitive and moral interaction of the child in the society. The child’s language skills cannot be learned from watching infant-directed DVDs or any audio-visual program from the media and it is at this point where physical interaction of the male parent through playing with the child comes in handy.

Coakley,(2013) asserts that children are not able to relate visual objects with real-life situations and therefore need the parent's personal engagement to develop their cognitive skills effectively. Some scholars contend that paternal care makes a great difference in the life of a child in various ways. Nixon, Greene & Hogan, (2012) asserts that early paternal absence tends to result in children with incomplete satisfaction and engagement with parent and this means they fail to understand the concepts of the other missing gender from the father.

In that respect, as they grow they tend to develop uncensored social challenges in some stages of growth like adolescence. Instances of encountering psychotic children arise from a lack of internal confidence that is attributed to a limited or complete absence with interacting with the male parent and this significantly downplays their self-esteem (Dearden, et al, 2013). It has been established that the father acts as the first role model to the child as the society is naturally structured towards the paternal pillar.

Li, et al, (2012) point out that in the absence of male parents the child is likely to miss out on the point of reference to start setting goals in life as would be the case in the presence of an interactive father. The presence of a father is a source of confidence and booster to self-esteem to the children. Tiusanen, (2011) points out that attachment between a child and the child has significance in defining the pro-social life of the child. This explains why children who experience a long period of their father’s absence or do not interact with them at all have some negative attitude or unexplained perception towards gender roles in society.

Implementation of significant positive effects in the child’s pro-social behavior gives better results with the involvement of the father (Coakley, 2013). It is important to note that the absence of fathers is likely to put the children in a social vulnerability to health risks like obesity besides antisocial conducts that may land them in the criminal world. Family structure distortion from issues like separation and divorce equally affects the child's psychological development significantly and more so from the side of the father since the mother is legally given the responsibility to take care of the child until the age of majority (Finley & Schwartz, 2007).