Parental Adaptation to a Young Handicapped Child: The Father's Role

Abstract

While there has been an upsurge of interest in the role of the family in caring for handicapped children, much of that attention has been focused upon the mother-child relationships. The purpose of the current study is to explore the influence of the father In caring for the handicapped child. The subjects in the study were 50 pairs of parents of moderately to severely handicapped children enrolled in a preschool demonstration program for handicapped children. Staff ratings were used to differentiate parents classified as successful from those who were classified as average, and measuring instruments of stress, support, and family role were provided In addition to a personal interview schedule. Two sets of families did not differ significantly on stress or social support, though there was some indication that the mothers in the successful families were more highly educated and more self-confident. The fathers believed they should participate more in family activities involving the handicapped child and the mother agreed in such a need. Although the fathers generally appeared supportive, they seemed to be searching for specific ways in which they could illustrate such support. The family roles played in these families were reflective of a traditional family style of the father as provider and protector and the mother as a homemaker or, at most, part-time worker. In many respects these families seem to resemble effective families of other nonhandicapped children and have managed to place the problem of having a handicapped child in context along with other needs of the family unit. A more effective role for the father in such families needs more careful investigation.