Father Presence and Family Formation

Abstract

During the past several decades, studies on the transition to parenthood and the parent-infant relationship have investigated the role of the father in family formation. The addition of the family systems perspective focused on triadic and family-of-origin effects in early parenthood. The present reformulation introduces object relations theory and self psychology, which permit the development of the concept, the Psychic parental coalition. This concept resides at the heart of a multidimensional definition of father presence beginning at the origins of the offspring's life. It is postulated that father presence cannot be understood apart from the context of the father-mother relationship, beginning at conception. Methods for the study of father presence in family formation are discussed.