[Father image in the divorce family. Preliminary results]

As part of a research project on reactions in divorced families during the period immediately following separation, 61 mothers and 9 fathers with 158 children and youths were studied. The results reported in the present paper are based on the responses of 44 children and their parents on the subject of "father." The results indicate that fathers lose their importance for their children by disappearing from the children's daily life. The atmosphere in the family was described in a similar way by all persons concerned. Although the children wanted their parents to live together again, their fear of renewed quarreling caused them to give preference to separation. The parents living apart responded to the items in the categories "evaluation of a relationship" and "the ideal partner for a relationship" about the same as did those living together. In a questionnaire on coping with stress, fathers living apart from their wives and children projected the image of strong, independent men capable of mastering their problems alone with no need for outside help. This can be interpreted as an idealized image or as an assessment in terms of stereotyped roles.