AGGRESSION IN BOYS: FATHERS' ROLE IN AFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR SONS

Abstract

This study examined the aggressive and assertive behaviors of father present (FP) and father absent (FA) boys in nursery schools. It was posited that the FA boys would show greater aggression and less assertion than the FP boys. The theoretical basis for the study was the separation-individuation theory of Mahler, Pine and Bergman (1975) and the related work of Abelin (1971, 1975, 1977, 1980) and Kohut (1977) on the role of the father in development. This was put into the framework of Parens' (1979, 1980) theory of aggressive trends.;Aggression and assertion were measured by the author's adaptation of an observational scale, the Family Interaction Coding System, FICS, (Reid, 1978). In addition the Eliot Teacher Rating Scale (ETRS) developed by the author measured the same variables.;The sample consisted on 14, 3 to 3 1/2 year old boys, seven FP and seven FA (child has not had father or significant male adult living in the household since his second birthday). The children were from middle class homes and had no siblings with the exception of one FP boy.;The major hypothesis was that father absence affects the emotional development of boys. The subordinate hypotheses stated that (1)FA boys in this study will show a significantly greater level of Hostile Destructive (HD), Pleasurable Destructive (PD) and Behaving Passively (BP) behavior than FP boys, and (2)the FP boys will show a significantly greater level of Non-Destructive Aggressive (ND) behavior than FA boys.;These hypotheses were examined by a 2 x 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) {lcub}the two groups, FA and FP across two situations, Class and Gym{rcub}. The analysis indicated a significant main effect for PD across situations (p < .05). None of the other ANOVAs showed significant results. Further analysis was done using Kruskall-Wallis, a non-parametric statistic designed for small groups. This was significant at the .05 level for the hypothesis, FA boys will show a greater level of HD behavior than FP boys.;The conceptual issues about the importance and the uniqueness of the father's role in child development were explored, as well as the need for further research in this area, using the mother-infant interaction studies as a model.