ABSTRACT
Paul Amato has done an impressive job of succinctly summarizing much of the recent evidence that purportedly highlights effects of fathering on the development and functioning of children and young adults, both in maritally intact and father-absent homes. To supplement this, he has presented thoughtful analyses, based on his survey of the literature of retrospective data on fathering gathered on a large sample of young adults whose parents have been studied for quite some time. Especially useful in Amato's analysis of his own data and that of others is his adoption of Coleman's (1988, 1990) conceptualization of parental resources. By distinguishing educational, economic and more psychological assets that parents can contribute to their progeny, Amato successfully integrates work done in separate disciplines that all too often remains unrelated.
