ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that fathers and families are embedded in a network of biological and neurological systems, and the biological basis of fathering. There are overall differences in the quantity of involvement for mothers and fathers, and there are important stylistic or qualitative differences as well. Interaction refers to the father’s direct contact with his child through caregiving and shared activities. Availability is a related concept concerning the father’s potential availability for interaction, by virtue of being present or accessible to the child whether direct interaction is occurring. Most attention in the research literature has been devoted to the study of fathers in two-parent intact families. The historical view of the African American father as absent or uninvolved in the lives of their children is no longer valid, and work has corrected the scholarly neglect of this large ethnic minority group.
