← Back to Vol. 09 Issue No. 01 — March
Abstract
Despite the many advances, programs and education centered around effective involved parenting, research continues to lag as it relates to offering an informed definition and conceptualization of father involvement through the lens of the father. Instead, research is shifting towards socially constructed ideals of caring or reconstructed masculinities, which offers promise but is still missing the key component of the father’s voice – to guide the discussion. Taking historical and attributional viewpoints, this review examines ways in which fathers and father involvement have been conceptualized over its history and how our views have been shaped by these conceptualizations. The paper looks at attribution bias to shed light on reasons why fathers may move away from this role. Finally, the paper makes suggestions for further study, centered around recommendations urging researchers to include fathers in research and also looking at father involvement from an ecological perspective.