ABSTRACT
Socialization and the sense of authority go together, developmentally speaking. Arguments in marriage where either partner is signally failing to meet their career or social potential often relate to this period. The boy has a tougher time coming to terms with, and feeling confidence in, his gender. By the time adolescence is reached this young person has given up the fight and will take peace at any price. When it is the husband who has unsuccessfully separated from his parents, and then, given a second chance in adolescence still has not managed it, it is the wife’s turn to complain of in-law intrusion. For instance, after a few years of “drugs, sex and rock’n’roll”, a youngster winning a place at university—rare and special in those days—felt they had at last earned their father’s respect. Fathers are vitally important to their children, girls as much as boys.
