Fathers Are Parents Too

Fathers nowadays are uncertain of their status and function in the family. This book sets out to show the part which a father is meant to play, and to discuss how he can best play it through the succeeding phases of a child's life. The two authors, one of whom is Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University in Philadelphia, have succeeded admirably : they have produced a lively guide to fatherhood from the time when a man knows that his wife is going to have a baby to the time when he becomes a grandfather. They have something wise to say on many difficult problems such as that of discipline, and there are especially good chapters on "What is true security?" and "Father by adoption." Plenty of illustrations are given to drive home points and show how children should be handled in awkward everyday situations. In two respects, the general reader needs to exercise tolerance. There is not very much psychological jargon, but some people will feel that too many character traits and anxieties in the adult are traced back to a faulty introduction of the child to the natural functions of the body. It is perhaps symptomatic of this approach that the first six years of a child's life are divided into the oral, anal and genital periods. Secondly, there are a few American words and phrases which at first sight may puzzle the English reader ("happenstance" is one). Very occasionally an attitude is taken which reveals the American origin of the book: for example, corporal punishment is condemned as undemocratic. These points however detract little from the value of the book.