ABSTRACT
This chapter first considers those aspects of psychoanalytic thinking that are particularly germane to the study of parenthood, and then reviews particular psychoanalytic contributions to the study of parenthood. The chapter then considers several areas in which psychoanalytic perspectives have been used in the systematic study of parenthood. Perhaps the best known of these contributions has concerned the study of pregnancy and the meaning for prospective parents (particularly mothers) of the transition to parenthood. Additional areas in which psychoanalysis has made a contribution to the study of parenthood include understanding the basis of parental contributions to the quality of the child’s attachments to others and study of the father’s role in the family. The chapter concludes with discussion of additional areas where psychoanalysis can make a contribution to the study of parenthood, including parenthood within lesbian and gay families, parenting, the lives of families living in the midst of social disadvantage, and the study of family life following divorce.
