Assessing the Impact of Father-Absence from a Psychoanalytic Perspective

This article examines the role of father and effects of his absence within the context of psychoanalytic theory. The article begins by exploring some of the earliest psychoanalytic writings on the father and his role in child development. The literature describing the effects of father-loss/absence from a developmental perspective is then presented within the framework of the four central psychologies of drive/structural theory, ego psychology, object relations theory and self psychology. Treatment implications are then discussed in regard to five central areas of assessment: (1) the quality and nature of attachment to father; (2) father's role during the first and second separation-individuation; (3) Oedipal issues; (4) father's capacity to have functioned as an important selfobject; and (5) the nature and quality of the paternal representation. A case is then presented followed by a discussion of the clinical implications when assessing father-child dynamics. The article concludes by outlining societal trends that elevate the importance of understanding the father's role in child development and the necessity for therapists to competently assess paternally based issues that clients bring to treatment.