ABSTRACT
Paul Amato's chapter (chap. 13, this volume) evaluates the importance of fathers in children's lives. To do this, Amato reviews recent research on the effects of fathers on children, develops a conceptual model of paternal influence, and provides a new analysis of longitudinal data on parents and young adult offspring. These are ambitious tasks, the results of which may contribute to the formation of policies affecting fathers and their families. I consider three aspects of Amato's contribution. First, Amato makes modest claims about the importance of the question he poses about the effects of fathers on children. I argue that these claims are too modest, and I demonstrate that Amato contributes to a broad tradition of social theory and research. In doing this, I show how attempts by Amato and others to address theoretical debates in sociology also inform debate about policies for parents and children in divorced and nonmarital families. Second, I raise questions about the conceptualization of fathers' effects on children and about the analysis that Amato reports. I argue that because of problems in his analysis, Amato's results should be interpreted cautiously, particularly with regard to their implications for social theory and policies about fathers. Finally, I propose two avenues for future research on men's contributions to children.
