Father Absence and Male Sexrole Development

amine some of the issues and research relevant to male sex-role development in boys and to show some of the implications of father absence for counselor, teachers, and families. Early studies showed a significant difference between father-absent and father-present groups of boys. However, these studies were later qualified by the work in the area of surrogate fathers. In addition, the early studies have recently been attacked on methodological grounds which cast some doubt upon their usefulness. . A more recent study which used excellent control procedures tended to support the position that differences between father-absent and father-present groups would not be found if the groups were adequately controlled for social class. Although the study was not concerned with male sex-role development per se, it does suggest implications that could be useful for further research in this area. FATHER ABSENCE AND MALE SEXROLE DEVELOPMENT D. Russell Crane*