Abstract

The processes of modernization reduced fatherhood to a role at the extremity of family life. There he would assume his specialized function of earning income for the benefit of his family. The form that this will take will relieve him of the duties associated with childcare and many household functions while his wife will assume the greater part of these tasks. What tied fathers to the family was the sense of place and belonging crystallized by the moral teachings of love. The focus of this thesis discusses 20 th century theoretical discussions in reaction to what is described as the decline of fatherhood. Essentially, the modern and late modern family forms are discussed in a model that witnesses the increasing absence of the father in the intimate setting of day-to-day life. Theoretical discussion to this effect focuses on the void that this has left and the meaning that it embodies for men as described by Émile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, Nancy Chodorow, and Erik Erikson. Given the strong history that fathers have had and the very real problems of childrearing in his absence consideration is given to expectations of fathers. In addition, the meaning of fathering is considered as a tool for generativity and in its absence stagnation. These concepts are further explored in relation to the plurality of family forms into contemporary society with reference to Ulrich Beck's analysis for the need to break out of the "iron cage" of the modern discourse.