Écouter les pères,leur ménager une place,une mesure de prévention pour le devenir de l’enfant handicapé et de ses proches

The authors show how the help systems available to disabled children’s parents leave too little space to fathers, sometimes thus leading mother-allied professionals to hinder the fathers in their child-affiliating process. At first, the authors deal with the father’s specific position in the construction of a bond with his child, which questions him as for his position as a man, a lover, a son and a citizen. Then they refer to the way in which a father may be affected by his child’s birth as well as to the part that his wife, the care givers and the child itself may play to transform these sufferings and pave the way for constructing a father–child bond.     

Rough‐and‐tumble play and the regulation of aggression: an observational study of father–child play dyads

Rough‐and‐tumble play (RTP) is a common form of play between fathers and children. It has been suggested that RTP can contribute to the development of selfregulation. This study addressed the hypothesis that the frequency of father–child RTP is related to the frequency of physically aggressive behavior in early childhood. This relationship was expected to be moderated by the dominance relationship between father and son during play. Eighty‐five children between the ages of 2 and 6 years were videotaped during a free‐play session with their fathers in their homes and questionnaire data was collected about father–child RTP frequency during the past year. The play dyads were rated for the degree to which the father dominated play interactions. A significant statistical interaction revealed that RTP frequency was associated with higher levels of physical aggression in children whose fathers were less dominant. These results indicate that RTP is indeed related to physical aggression, though this relationship is moderated by the degree to which the father is a dominant playmate. Aggr. Behav. 35:285–295, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Clinical Commentary

Abstract

This paper is the narrative of a first-time father with a son born seven weeks early by Caesarean section. Against the anxiety and trauma of his infant's birth and his wife's illness, another inner darker drama is being relived. Michael shows all the wounds of a battered child. He asks two awesome questions - Will I be to my son as my father was to me? Will my son be to me as I was to my father? Fearful and at first unvoiced questions, the developing interviews gave them a voice. We respected Michael's sharing of the early and fearful days and nights when his infant first came home. We sometimes found it hard to empathize with his running away to hide in work, until we understood what he was hiding from. Most poignant was his struggle with his anger and hurt with his father and his desire to understand, ‘Why?’, so that he would not be like this to his son. We saw a sensitive revelation of life being born inside him anew, as he made contact with his real infant and his psychic infant within. Of particular interest was the therapeutic use of the research interview space and the interviewer.     

Pas de Deux

In this personal essay, Mark Osteen uses the metaphor of a pas de deux to dramatize how caring for his autistic son has enriched his scholarship and teaching. In his early years as the father of an autistic child, Osteen’s parental and professional roles clashed, but gradually he learns to use what his son teaches him—particularly about nonverbal communication and multiple forms of intelligence—to develop a theory of empathetic scholarship and to enhance his pedagogy.     

MEASUREMENT OF FATHER–CHILD ROUGH‐AND‐TUMBLE PLAY AND ITS RELATIONS TO CHILD BEHAVIOR

Although there is increasing evidence of paternal influence on child outcomes such as language and cognition, researchers are not yet clear on the features of father–child play that are most valuable in terms of child development. Physical play such as rough and tumble play (RTP) is a favored type of father–child play in Western societies that has been linked to children's socioemotional competence. It is important, therefore, to determine the implications of this play for child development. In this review and meta‐analysis, associations between father–child physical play and child behavior were examined. The review also focused on study methods. Sixteen studies are reviewed, N = 1,521 father–child dyads, 35% boys. Study characteristics such as definitions of physical play, play settings, play measures, and coding were examined. The meta‐analysis found weak to moderate population effects for links between father–child physical play and child aggression, social competence, emotional skills, and self‐regulation. Research investigating the effect of father–child physical play on children's development will be improved when definitions clearly identify the nature of play, settings facilitate boisterous play, and measures include frequency and quality of play interactions. This play shows promise as an enhancer of positive father–child relationships and a catalyst for child development.     

THE QUALITY OF FATHER–CHILD ROUGH‐AND‐TUMBLE PLAY AND TODDLERS’ AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR IN CHINA

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the quality of early father–child rough‐and‐tumble play (RTP) on toddler aggressive behaviors and more fully understand how child, mother, and father characteristics were associated with higher quality father–child RTP among contemporary urban Chinese families. Participants included 42 families in Changsha, China. Play observations of fathers and their children were coded for RTP quality. The specific RTP quality of father–child reciprocity of dominance was associated with fewer toddler aggressive behaviors, as rated by both fathers and mothers. Mothers’ democratic parenting attitudes were associated with higher quality father–child RTP. These findings suggest that higher quality father–child RTP may be one way in which some fathers influence children's expression of aggressive behaviors, and the quality of father–child RTP may be influenced by the broader family, social, and cultural contexts.     

Father regression Clinical narratives and theoretical reflections1

The author deals with love‐hate enthrallment and submission to a primitive paternal object. This is a father‐son relationship that extends through increasing degrees of ‘primitiveness’ or extremeness, and is illustrated through three different constellations that constitute a continuum. One pole of the continuum encompasses certain male patients who show a loving, de‐individuated connection to a father experienced as trustworthy, soft, and in need of protection. Further along the continuum is the case of a transsexual patient whose analysis revealed an intense ‘God‐transference’, a bondage to an idealized, feared, and ostensibly protective father‐God introject. A great part of this patient's analysis consisted in a fi erce struggle to liberate himself from this fi gure. The other end of the continuum is occupied by religious terrorists, who exemplify the most radical thralldom to a persecutory, godly object, a regressive submission that banishes woman and enthrones a cruel superego, and that ends in destruction and self‐destruction. Psychoanalytic thinking has traditionally dealt with the oedipal father and recently with the nurturing father, but there is a gap in thinking about the phallic, archaic father, and his relations with his son(s). The author aims at fi lling this gap, at the same time as she also raises the very question of ‘What is a father?’ linking it with literary and religious themes.     

On Phallicism; Developmental Aspects,Neutralization, Sublimation and Defensive Phallicism

Many children in need of psychotherapy are latency-age boys who have little or no contact with their fathers. Their problems typically include low self-esteem, identity problems, depression, difficulties in peer relationships, and aggression. Clinical material illustrates that the consequences for the child of fatherlessness depend on many factors, among them the mother's attitude to the father and other mature males. If the mother devalues all men, her son has little space to grow into a healthy adult. The male therapist may be experienced as a threat to the mother-son union, which may render his efforts to help the boy fruitless. If, in contrast, the mother's experiences of her own father and other men are more positive, her pride in her son's masculinity may strengthen his need to find support for his male development. These observations are discussed as affecting the capacity for triadic object representations in mothers and sons.     

The Impact of a Child’s Cancer on the Father’s Relationship with His Spouse in Korea

A father of a child with cancer experiences psychological stress related to his child’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, which may affect his relationship with his spouse. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to how having a child with cancer affects the marital relationship from the perspective of the father. We examined the impact of the child’s cancer on the father’s relationship with his spouse in Korea. We conducted in-depth interviews with 20 fathers (mean age?=?41.35 years; SD?=?4.49) of children who were diagnosed with cancer before the age of 19 and were within 5 years of the diagnosis. The mean age of the child with cancer was 9.1 years (SD?=?3.68), and the mean age at diagnosis was 6.4 years (SD?=?4.08). The analysis of the interviews revealed the following four themes (and eight subthemes): conflicts between spouses (lack of father’s participation in caregiving, financial and work-related stress), mental suffering (heartbroken, torn between caregiving and work), change in communication (child-focused communication, avoiding communication), and change in the marital relationship (neglected relationship, new trust built in the relationship). A father’s increased conflict in the marital relationship after his child’s diagnosis of cancer was intensified by his limited involvement in child care and parenting responsibilities. An understanding of the change in the father’s relationship with his spouse can inform the development of a psychosocial intervention that may strengthen a father’s emotional intelligence and resilience, which could improve the marital relationship.     

Mother–child and father–child mutuality in two contexts: consequences for young children's peer relationships

This study examines the role that context plays in links between relative balance, or mutuality in parent–child interaction and children's social competence. Sixty‐three toddlers and their parents were observed in a laboratory play session and caregiving activity (i.e. eating snack). Mutuality was operationalised as the relative balance in (a) partners' compliance to initiations, and (b) partners' expression of positive emotion. Caregivers rated children's social competence with peers, and children's prosocial and aggressive behaviour with peers was observed in their childcare arrangement. Contextual differences were observed in the manifestation of parent–child mutuality, with both mother–child and father–child dyads displaying higher mutual compliance scores in the play context than in the caregiving context. Father–child dyads also displayed higher levels of shared positive emotion during play than during the caregiving context. There were no differences in a way that parent–child mutuality during play and caregiving was associated with children's social competence with peers. Overall, the results suggest that parent–child mutuality is a quality of parent–child interaction that has consistent links to children's peer competence regardless of the context in which it occurs. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observers' reaction to parent-child intimacy

A study was carried out to examine how people react to acts of intimacy between parent and child. Based on an extensive series of studies reported in 1998 by Reis who found less intimate interactions between two men who are friends than between men or women or between two women who are friends, it was reasoned that intimacy between two males may violate norms of our culture, so it was predicted that people would react less favorably to intimacy between father and son than to intimacy between father and daughter, mother and daughter, or mother and son. Men (n = 19) and women (n=26), most of whom were 18-24 years of age, read versions of a mother or father having an intimate interaction (lap-sit, hair-stroke, hug/kiss) with an 11-yr.-old daughter or son and then rated the act on a 7-point scale from good to bad. As predicted, the undergraduates rated intimate interactions between father and son less favorably than those between father and daughter, mother and daughter, and mother and son.     

Confession and Forgiveness: A Pastoral Reading of <Emphasis Type="Italic">A Father’s Son</Emphasis> by Lionel Dahmer

This paper offers a pastoral reading of the memoir written by Lionel Dahmer, the father of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. I suggest that the literary genre of the memoir provided Lionel with a means of confession that enabled him to process three particular experiences related to his son—namely, grief, shame, and regret. I also suggest that the writing of this confession enabled Lionel to forgive his son for his son’s various failures and, potentially, to forgive himself for his own failures as a father, though this latter point can only be offered speculatively. This memoir is inherently pastoral and theological because it deals with the themes of confession and forgiveness, and, theologically, the memoir also may be viewed as a work of penance. One theological upshot, based on Lionel’s experience, entails challenging the idea that God the Father abandoned God the Son on the cross: A more divine model of fatherhood would be one in which a father could embrace the shame of standing by his son when the chips are down.     

在家庭自由游戏和智力任务游戏中亲子交往行为特征

本研究采用家庭录像观察,考察了53名4岁儿童及其父母在自然的家庭环境中的两个情境———自由游戏和完成拼图任务的智力游戏情境中儿童与其父母交往的行为特征和互动类型。结果发现:(1)在儿童4岁时,在家庭自由游戏情境中母亲的各种行为均显著多于父亲的各种行为,这表明在游戏过程中,母亲是儿童主要的交往对象。在拼图游戏情境中,除了父亲和母亲在商量和交流行为上没有显著差异之外,母亲的其他行为显著多于父亲的其他行为。儿童在这两个游戏情境中均表现出较多的顺从行为。(2)在自由游戏情境中,亲子互动类型包括四种:父母交流-儿童不交流型、母亲高控-儿童顺从型、父亲控制-儿童不顺从型和母亲不交流-儿童交流型。拼图游戏情境中,亲子互动类型有四种:父母放任-儿童独立型、父母控制-儿童顺从型、母子交流型和父亲控制-儿童顺从型。     

Ronald Reagan's Presidency: The Impact of an Alcoholic Parent

Ronald Reagan enjoyed a successful political career. Nevertheless, his political life was affected dramatically by the fact that he was the son of an alcoholic parent. Alcoholic parents leave deep marks on their children's lives, even after those children become adults. As president of the United States, Reagan clearly demonstrated these marks. He was aloof and distant, was often a disengaged leader, showed inordinate loyalty to associates even when such loyalty became problematic, was prone to live in a world of make‐believe, married compulsive women, and craved approval and applause. Each of these behavioral characteristics was part of the psychological legacy left to this president by his long‐dead alcoholic father. Some of them damaged his presidency greatly; others, however, may well have assisted it.     

Correlates of parent–child communication about specific sexual topics: A study of rural parents with school-aged children

Using data from 600 parents of children aged 5 to 18, and a context-oriented, developmental socialization conceptual framework, the interrelationships between parents' perceptions of themselves, their child, and their family relationships and the amount of parent–child discussion of 16 sexuality topics were explored. Canonical correlation analysis was used to demonstrate how circumstances and contexts influence the complexity of parent–child conversations for mother–daughter, mother–son, father–son, and father–daughter dyads. Results lend support to the conceptual framework used, as well as to previous studies of this topic area. The implications of these findings for parent–child relationships and for future research on parent–child communication about sexuality are discussed.     

Toddlers' self-regulated compliance to mothers,caregivers, and fathers: implications for theories of socialization

To compare children's socialized behavior to parents and nonparental agents, this study examined self-regulated compliance to mothers and caregivers--an early form of internalization--in 90 toddlers, half of whom were also observed with fathers. Adults were observed in play, teaching, and discipline sessions with the child and were interviewed on child-rearing philosophies. Child cognition and emotion regulation were assessed, and naturalistic observations were conducted at child-care locations. Mean-level and rank-order stability were found in child compliance to the 3 adults. Child emotion regulation and adult warm control in a discipline situation were related to self-regulated compliance to the mother, caregiver, and father. Compliance to parents correlated with parental sensitivity and philosophies, and compliance to the caregiver correlated with child cognition and social involvement when child-care quality was controlled. Maternal sensitivity and warm control discipline predicted compliance to the caregiver but not vice versa. Results are consistent with theoretical positions on the generalization of socialization from the mother to nonmaternal agents.     

Architecture and psychoanalysis. Nathaniel Kahn and the search for the father

Abstract

This text is intended as a contribution to the study of the profound mutual relations between architecture and psychoanalysis. Architecture creates representations that conceal unconscious forms of thought; psychoanalysis helps to explain the meanings of these representations – forms of construction and forms of the psyche. The multifaceted work of psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas – his thoughts on the relationships between psychoanalysis and architecture, on the vitality of objects, on the creative implications of the Oedipal relationship – serves as a critical and decisive instrument for the authors’ inquiry. The issue of the “vitality of objects” as described by Bollas also concerns – but only in part – the architectural “object.” One modern form of architecture with an inordinate capacity empathy has to be Louis Kahn’s. Kahn’s youngest son , Nathaniel, lost his father when he was still a child and hardly had a chance to get to know him. After becoming an adult and an established film-maker, he managed to recover his father in two ways: by discovering him in his works, with their powerful affective impact; and by drawing from those very works of his father to enhance his own creative process in his filmic art. As it turns out, it is this very process that has allowed for an emblematically positive resolution of the Oedipal relationship.     

Revenge of the fathers Incest and the male therapist

Abstract

This paper argues that the socio-psychological foundation of incestuous relations between father and daughter resides in the primordial rivalry between father and son and is a manifestation of the property relations existing between them throughout the period of patriarchy. After an attempt to trace this rivalry along a path through Western civilization by summarizing evidence from both religious and mythological sources, I introduce it into our own times by using two case illustrations from my own clinical work. Here I claim that when a male counsellor/therapist engages a sexually abused female patient he, at the same time, encounters the incestuous father in a potentially rivalrous struggle over the patient. For genuine healing to take place in the patient, the counsellor/therapist must form an alliance with the father and utilize his hidden value in enhancing his own therapeutic capability.

I began by stating that particular clinical complexities exist when male therapists engage with female clients who have been the victims of paternal incest. I then postulated the idea that the socio-psychological foundation of such relationships is the primordial rivalry between father and son and is in fact a particular manifestation of the property relations existing between them. I then traced this father/son rivalry along its path down through Western civilization via Jerusalem and the Judaic/Christian religions, and Athens with its early creation myth, and the somewhat later myth of Oedipus. I then pursued the course of its influence to our own times, to the incestuous father/daughter relationship, and, using examples from my own clinical work, I attempted to show how this father/son rivalry survives as a powerfully pervasive influence in the clinical relationship between the female patient who has experienced paternal incest and her male therapist.     

Infant–mother and infant–father synchrony: The coregulation of positive arousal

To examine the coregulation of positive affect during mother–infant and father–infant interactions, 100 couples and their first‐born child were videotaped in face‐to‐face interactions. Parents' and infant's affective states were coded in one‐second frames, and synchrony was measured with time‐series analysis. The orientation, intensity, and temporal pattern of infant positive arousal were assessed. Synchrony between same‐gender parent–infant dyads was more optimal in terms of stronger lagged associations between parent and infant affect, more frequent mutual synchrony, and shorter lags to responsiveness. Infants' arousal during mother–infant interaction cycled between medium and low levels, and high positive affect appeared gradually and was embedded within a social episode. During father–child play, positive arousal was high, sudden, and organized in multiple peaks that appeared more frequently as play progressed. Mother–infant synchrony was linked to the partners' social orientation and was inversely related to maternal depression and infant negative emotionality. Father–child synchrony was related to the intensity of positive arousal and to father attachment security. Results contribute to research on the regulation of positive emotions and describe the unique modes of affective sharing that infants coconstruct with mother and father. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

The father's shadow/father's body

The shadow of the father plays an important role in a son's ability to live a creatively meaningful life. The mythological basis for the father's shadow is found in the myth of Cronos and his son Zeus. This myth symbolizes a father's body being intimately connected to his son getting in touch with his creative bright shadow. The conclusions reached regarding the importance of the father's shadow are based on research conducted with an ongoing men's group. An early underground phallus dream of Jung is examined, along with the creative work of a patient, both offering evidence of the importance of the body-bond with the father for a son's creative development.David Morgan, CSW, is a psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City and Teaneck, New Jersey.