Child and Adolescent Social Work

Volume 5, Number 3, Fall 1988

A d o l e s c e n t Fatherhood:
D e v e I o p m e n t a I PeriIs
and Potentials

Jeffrey S. Applegate, D.S.W.

ABSTRACT: Both adolescence and parenthood are developmental phases
that induce regression and psychosocial vulnerability as part of the prepara-
tion for progressive identity consolidation. What happens when these phases
converge in the lives of young men? In this article, the author employs a
psychodynamic conceptual framework to explicate the unique developmental
dilemmas of adolescent fatherhood. Resulting formulations are intended to
assist clinicians in designing interventions that minimize the regressive
perils and maximize the progressive potentials of this untimely convergence
of life transitions.

The rapidly escalating incidence of adolescent pregnancy in the

United States has been referred to as an epidemic t h a t shows no signs
of abating (Alan G u t t m a c h e r Institute, 1981). Previously focused
p r imar ily on teen mothers, the scope of recent research related to this
epidemic has broadened to include the special issues and problems
confronted by the young men with whom t hey conceive. While the so-
ciological dimensions of adolescent fatherhood are becoming clearer,
relatively little at t ent i on has been directed to the unique develop-
m e n t a l dilemmas of this phenomenon.
The purpose of this article is to explicate some of the developmental
vicissitudes of adolescent fatherhood from a psychodynamic perspec-
rive. Blos' (1967, 1979) conceptualization of adolescence as a second
individuation and the concept of parenthood as a developmental
phase (Benedek, 1959, 1970; Parens, 1975) comprise the theoretical
fr amewo r k for this explication. Resulting formulations are intended

Dr. Applegate is Assistant Professor, Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social
Work and Social Research. Address reprint requests to Dr. Applegate at the school, 300
Airdale Road, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010.
205 9 1988 Human Sciences Press
206 CHILD A N D A D O L E S C E N T S O C I A L W O R K

to sensitize clinicians who work with teen fathers to some of the

developmental perils of adolescent pregnancy and to help them de-
sign interventions that exploit the growth-promoting potentials of
this untimely convergence of life transitions.

The S c o p e of the P r o b l e m

Teenagers from virtually all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups

--including a burgeoning proportion of the nonminority middle class
- - a r e becoming sexually active earlier and in greater numbers than
those of any earlier generation. Each year there are more than a
million pregnancies among 15 to 19-year-olds, two-thirds of them
conceived out of wedlock. A fifth of all U.S. births are to teen moth-
ers, more and more of whom are deciding to keep and rear their
babies (Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, 1986).
Because she bears the most ostensible burdens of pregnancy and
childcare, the adolescent mother has been the primary focus of both
research on and social services to adolescent parents. Until recently,
the teen father, stereotyped as a hit-and-run victimizer and aban-
doner, has been largely ignored. But increasingly, adolescent parents
of both sexes as well as the professionals serving them are requesting
services that include fathers. These requests, in combination with a
new interest in documenting the unique role fathers play in their
children's development, are generating research and demonstration
projects whose findings present a picture of adolescent fathers that
challenges the stereotype.
In one such project, the majority of the teen fathers were a salient,
active presence in their children's lives. Nearly 80% reported that
they saw their children every day, and, despite problems generated
by interrupted education and underemployment, more than half were
contributing financially to their children's care or were providing
food, clothing, or toys (Klinman, Sander, Rosen & Longo, 1986). These
findings echo those of other studies suggesting high levels of teen
father involvement with their children (Lorenzi, Klerman, & Jekel,
1977; Robinson & Barret, 1986). Father contact appears to be particu-
larly frequent in the child's first and second years (Earls & Siegel,
1980).
Particularly in light of recent research documenting the beneficial
impact of fathers on the early development of their children (Cath,
Gurwitt, & Ross, 1982; Lamb, 1986; Pedersen, 1980), this high level
 J E F F R E Y S. A P P L E G A T E 207

of teen father involvement at first appears to be a positive phenom-

enon. A closer look, however, reveals that adolescent fathers are
caught in a developmental dilemma that can compromise both their
own and their children's psychosocial well-being. The cognitive and
emotional capacities most essential to empathic, mature parenting
are likely to be those least available to adolescent boys still engaged
in struggles around separation from their own parents.

The Second Individuation of Adolescence

In his seminal work relating adolescent ego development to aspects

of the separation-individuation process of the first three years of
life, Blos (1979) conceptualizes the ego changes that accompany the
adolescent's disengagement from internalized infantile objects as
elements of a "second individuation." As in the "first" individuation
described by Mahler and her associates (Mahler, Pine, & Bergman,
1975), there is in adolescence a heightened vulnerability of personal-
ity organization and an urgency for modification of psychic structure
in tandem with a massive maturational forward surge. The primary
task of this recapitulation of separation-individuation is the "shed-
ding of family dependencies, the loosening of infantile object ties in
order to become a member of society at large or, simply of the adult
world" (Blos, 1979, p. 142).
To accomplish the psychic restructuring necessary to the successful
completion of this disengagement, the adolescent must tolerate nor-
mal but disruptive regression. In this process, long defended-against
dependency feelings belonging to earliest childhood are reawakened
and exert a profound regressive pull. Because they may be associated
with threatening feminine identifications and longings for passivity,
these dependency feelings are usually in conflict with ego aspirations
of young men. In efforts to ward off such conflicted feelings, adoles-
cent boys may engage in exaggerated phallic masculine behavior
(Diamond, 1986).
In addition, impulses related to sexual and aggressive drives exert
their pressure on the ego's coping resources with renewed intensity.
These impulses generate a pressing need for "sharp, intense, affective
states, be they marked by exuberance and elation, pain and anguish"
(Blos, 1979, p. 159). This reanimation of the passions of childhood
appears to mirror the pendular emotional swings between the bliss of
symbiotic merger and the despair of loss and separation. This config-
208 CHILD A N D A D O L E S C E N T SOCIAL W O R K

uration is only thinly disguised in the all-or-nothing cycles of adoles-

cent love affairs. These affairs often include adultomorphic sexual
activity that, for boys, may serve to demonstrate both their phallic
prowess and their repudiation of dependency needs.
As if the emotional upheaval of adolescence were not enough, it is
complicated by the reality that cognitive development is usually far
from complete during this phase (Montemayor, 1986). The establish-
ment of formal operations is usually not consolidated until late ado-
lescence, and, beforehand, youngsters may have trouble making
sound cognitive and moral judgments, planning for tomorrow, and
anticipating the consequences of their actions.
The emotional storms of the second individuation that both foster
regression and tax cognitive development are usually transient,
constituting an obligatory phase of the process of reconnecting force-
fully with earliest cathexes in order to let them go. A successful
resolution culminates in more sophisticated cognitive capabilities and
in the establishment of a sound identity that heralds readiness for
mature adult object relations. If this developmental second round is
interrupted or in other ways compromised, however, the successful
establishment of relationships with extrafamilial love objects may
be restricted to simple replications or substitutions of earlier rela-
tionships.

Fatherhood as a Developmental Phase

In describing the normal emotional stresses associated with father-

hood in one of his analytic patients, Gurwitt (1976) concludes that
"the ensuing upheaval resembled that of early adolescence as well as
other developmental crises" (pp. 262-63). Indeed the psychodynamic
dimensions of fatherhood--particularly first-time fatherhood--are
strikingly similar to those of the second individuation of adolescence.
Like adolescence, fatherhood is a developmental process that triggers
both regressive and progressive phenomena (Benedek, 1970; Parens,
1975).
Regressive aspects of fatherhood are catalyzed in men by a degree
of unconscious identification with the pregnant partner (Einzig,
1980). This identification, expressions of which range from mild
psychosomatic "sympathy" symptoms in our culture to outright
couvade phenomena in other cultures, derives in part from the male
wish to bear a child. First described by Freud (1909), and elaborated
 J E F F R E Y S. A P P L E G A T E 209

later by Brunswick (1940), Jacobson (1950), and Ross (1975), this

wish in men is believed to be related to their envy of women's procre-
ative capabilities. With the birth of a child, a man usually resolves
conflicts generated by this wish through integrating n u r t u r a n t and
generative aspects of himself with a solidified identification with his
own father. This integration is believed to foster a comfort with
psychological androgyny that leads to an adaptive and flexible pater-
hal identity (Ross, 1979).
Regressive aspects of expectant and new fatherhood reanimate
other earlier conflicts as well. From an extensive review of the litera-
ture, Zayas (1987) identifies t h r e e - - i n t e n s i f i e d dependency needs,
rearoused sibling rivalry, and reawakened oedipal conflicts--that are
nearly ubiquitous. The balance of interdependence between partners
is altered when a pregnancy occurs; the mother-to-be tends to turn
inward emotionally as she becomes related to the fetus (Benedek,
1959). After delivery, this disequilibrium intensifies as the mother's
physical and emotional ministrations to the infant dominate her
attention in ways that may be experienced by the father as exclusion
and abandonment. The resulting dependency longings can be particu-
larly uncomfortable for fathers in a culture where men are rewarded
for appearing to be self-sufficient and "beyond" dependency.
These dependency wishes are complicated by conflicts about feel-
ings of rivalry with the new baby. The adult yearning for what
Caughlan (1960) terms the "unabashed narcissism" and other gratifi-
cations of infancy "persists, however, quiescent, in everyone who was
ever a baby" (p. 32). Resulting jealousy and fear of losing the part-
ner's love can stir up hostile and competitive feelings in men evoca-
tive of rivalry with siblings. Research suggests that this rearoused
rivalry in expectant and new fathers may be associated with an
increased incidence of sex crimes (Hartman & Nicolav, 1966), high
levels of anxiety and stress (Gerzi & Berman, 1981), and with aggres-
sive fantasies, including fears of harming their babies (Herzog, 1982).
Intensified dependency and rivalry are complicated by the revival
of unresolved oedipal issues in many men. In fathering a child, a man
reinstalls dynamic configurations of the original oedipal triangle.
To the extent that he unconsciously identifies his partner with his
mother, he symbolically vanquishes his father by impregnating her.
Long-repressed anxieties about possible retaliation for this inces-
tuous victory m a y result. More conscious may be the new father's
dysphoric reactions to a sense of loss associated with relinquishing
his position as child in relation to his parents. In becoming a father
210 CHILD A N D A D O L E S C E N T S O C I A L W O R K

himself, he gives up forever some of the gratifications connected with

being their child.
It is important to stress that intensified dependency, rivalry, and
oedipal struggles are expectable and normal psychodynamic dimen-
sions of becoming a father. They appear to constitute a universal,
if often unconscious, developmental configuration during this life
transition. Under usual circumstances in this culture a father trans-
forms the essential regressive aspects of this configuration into pro-
gressive adult development by fulfilling his function as protector
and provider. These functions permit him to integrate traditionally
feminine n u r t u r a n t strivings with a posture of social responsibility
t h a t enhances his self-esteem. This integration enables him to partic-
ipate in w a r m caregiving and to serve as a role model for his child in
ways t h a t consolidate a sense of adaptive "fatherliness" (Benedek,
1970). If this integration is compromised, future adult development is
attenuated along with the ego's capacity to support the multiple
responsibilities of fatherhood.

Adolescent Fatherhood: Developmental Double-Jeopardy

Both the second individuation of adolescence and fatherhood, then,

initiate expectable and obligatory ego and drive regression. In young
men, this regression exerts a pull on masculine personality organiza-
tion by rearousing repressed or denied feminine identifications and
strivings. Moreover, regressive aspects of both phases trigger wishes
for and conflicts about early dependency on caregivers. In the wake
of these dependency feelings, preoedipal and oedipal issues are re-
awakened with an intensity that leads to psychosocial vulnerability.
What happens when these two powerfully regressive developmen-
tal processes converge? To answer this question, it is important to
contrast emotionally m a t u r e motivations for fatherhood with those
of m a n y adolescent boys. For men who have resolved some of the
conflicts residual to the second individuation, the wish to father a
child is related to the psychosocial life stage described by Erikson
(1950) as generativity versus stagnation. A desire to extend their
lineage into a new generation, in part an aspect of healthy narcis-
sism, also derives from wishes to affirm the validity of a mutually
need-gratifying, nonincestuous relationship with a partner. Readi-
ness for m a t u r e fathering, therefore, implies a level of object relations
permitting "individuated-connected" relations in which partners are
 J E F F R E Y S. A P P L E G A T E 211

psychologically separate from each other and, thus, able to form

intimate, reciprocal, and mutual bonds (White, Speisman, Costos, &
Smith, 1985). As described earlier, successful resolution of previous
developmental stages prepares men emotionally to weather the
regressive pull of fatherhood in ways that promote further devel-
opment.
Far from readiness to negotiate the stage of generativity versus
stagnation, most adolescent boys in the regressive throes of the sec-
ond individuation are still engaged in struggles at the level of iden-
tity versus identity diffusion. To stave off uncomfortable affects deriv-
ative of longings for dependency which they may associate defen-
sively with passive femininity, adolescent boys may need to prove
their masculinity to themselves and others through pseudomature
sexual involvement. For those whose cognitive development remains
dominated by concrete operations, potency and fertility may be
equated. Their insecurity about a sense of masculine self can combine
with this concrete perspective in ways that drive them to demon-
strate their virility by impregnating a young woman.
Beneath these sexual identity concerns may lie more convoluted
preoedipal dynamics. While appearing to shore up masculine striv-
ings, precocious sexual acting out in boyscan unconsciously gratify
their needs for infantile emotional attachment aroused by the regres-
sion of the second individuation. Participating in the most "grown
up" of activities, in other words, becomes a way to indulge unaccept-
able yearnings for skin closeness and related sensations deriving
from earliest nurturant interactions with the primary caregiver,
usually the mother. In consciously attempting to dilute symbiotic ties
through pseudomature phallic behavior, then, some adolescent boys
unconsciously reenter maternal symbiosis with their girlfriends. Re-
sulting partnerships, in contrast to being "individuated-connected,"
are instead "self-focused," based on need gratification rather than on
mutuality (White et al., 1985). This relationship level is often congru-
ent with the revived cognitive egocentricity of adolescence.
The greater the need for body closeness at this early level, the more
coitis will be important, heightening the risk of pregnancy. A preg-
nancy conceived in this psychodynamic context can create for many
young men the ultimate double-bind. Their conscious efforts to escape
the regressive dependency of the second individuation can result in
an untimely pregnancy that virtually assures their continued depen-
dency--on parents, for example, or on public assistance. In this way
they create an irresolvable "second rapprochement crisis." Trapped
212 CHILD A N D A D O L E S C E N T SOCIAL W O R K

between profound longings to be totally dependent and fears of sepa-

ration implied by assuming adult responsibilities, some take flight,
as characterized by the stereotype of the absent, uninvolved teen
father. Others take hold and continue to grow in ways that culminate
in competent parenting. More insidious but harder to detect are
instances where pseudomature acceptance of the father role leads to
what has been termed, in toddlers, "overindividuation and undersep-
aration" (Speers & Morter, 1980)--a false-self personality config-
uration based on incomplete adolescent ego structuralization that
eventuates in identity foreclosure and compromises the ability to
parent.
As cited earlier, Benedek (1970) suggests that men are helped to re-
solve the regressive conflicts triggered by fatherhood by "providing"
for their children. Because many teen fathers drop out of school and
face unemployment, they are prevented from fulfilling this provider
role in ways that lead to such a resolution and attendant personal
growth. Moreover, the adolescent father's capacity to participate
helpfully in the emotional aspects of parenting is reduced as well. A
growing body of research evidence suggests that fathers may make
their most unique and growth-promoting contributions to their chil-
dren's development by helping them negotiate the separation-individ-
uation process (Abelin, 1980; Applegate, 1987; Lieberman, 1984). The
father appears to be particularly helpful during the practicing and
rapprochement subphases, when his active, playful interactional
style fosters his child's exploration of the world beyond mother and
helps dilute ambivalent symbiotic ties to her. If the father has not
adequately resolved separation-individuation issues of his own, how-
ever, it is unlikely that he can foster healthy resolution of these
issues in his child. As his conflicts left over from this phase are re-
awakened by observing his child's separation struggles, he may
experience emotional reactions that lead to maladaptive parenting.
These preoedipal echoes may make the feelings of dependency and
rivalry described earlier intolerably acute; and their incomplete
resolution is likely to reduce the father's ability to help his youngster
grapple productively with later oedipal issues.
Based on incomplete ego integration, the teen father's parenting
style may be tied to the action language of adolescence rather than
to ego capacities that permit impulse control, self-reflection, and em-
pathy. This ego vulnerability in combination with incomplete cogni-
tive development and inadequate information about child develop-
ment can lead adolescent fathers to have unrealistic expectations of
 J E F F R E Y S. A P P L E G A T E 213

their infants and toddlers. In one study, for example, young fathers
expected obedience training by 26 weeks and recognition of wrongdo-
ing by 40 weeks of age. Many resorted to physical discipline in re-
sponse to their frustration about their child's inability to meet these
expectations (de Lissovoy, 1973).
A 1986 Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry report concludes
that "Pregnancy during adolescence . . . compounds the stresses of
two normative developmental stages and endangers the successful
resolution of either one" (p. xix). As reviewed above, consequent
developmental failures in adolescent fathers also place their children
at physical, psychological, and social risk.

Implications for Social Work Practice

A psychoanalytic developmental perspective on the factors motivat-

ing precocious sexual activity in teenaged boys can assist clinicians
in preventing adolescent pregnancy and its deleterious consequences.
In treating these young men, clinicians aware of their dynamics can
help them verbalize rather than act out conflicts about regressive
dependency and resultant sexual identity concerns. In cases where
action language predominates to the exclusion of self-reflection,
concrete guidance around preventing pregnancy may be necessary.
Findings highlighting the pivotal role of the father in fostering
separation-individuation suggest that male therapists may be partic-
ularly helpful to young men in this population. In addition to helping
the adolescent boy separate from his family in adaptive ways, an
empathic, nurturing, yet firm male therapist-mentor can model male
maturity. Female therapists can, of course, promote similar develop-
ment and identifications; but they must remain acutely vigilant for
manifestations of maternal transference and countertransference.
Left unattended, these dynamics can lead to a youngster's premature
flight from treatment fueled by fears of intimacy and rearoused
dependency feelings and sexual impulses.
Many teenaged boys find talking one-to-one with a clinician of
either sex too uncomfortable. Werdinger (1981) has described a sim-
ulated father-son group approach designed to foster separation-in-
dividuation in young men. This approach might be particularly
useful in promoting the second individuation in supportive associa-
tion with peers who are struggling with similar concerns.
Social workers employed in prenatal clinics, neonatal intensive
214 CHILD A N D A D O L E S C E N T SOCIAL W O R K

care or other hospital maternity units, the courts, the schools, or

social service agencies are increasingly likely to see expectant and
new adolescent fathers as well as mothers. An awareness of their
psychodynamics is essential to providing both concrete and psycho-
logical clinical services to these young men. The thrust of assessment
and intervention should be toward minimizing the regressive perils
and exploiting the progressive potentials of both adolescence and
fatherhood as developmental phases.
If there is question about whether to abort, put up for adoption, or
keep a child, every effort should be made to include the adolescent
father in decision-making. Such participation can foster a sense of
responsibility promotive of increased maturity. Teen fathers who are
likely to remain involved with their partners and their babies will
need help in coming to terms with unconscious maternal desires and
identifications in order to move from regressive to more adaptive
dependency (Diamond, 1986). One means of accomplishing this work
that may be less threatening than the traditional therapeutic ap-
proach is referral to prepared childbirth classes or similar prenatal
programs. Participation in these classes permits young men to ob-
serve and assist their partners in preparing for the childbirth experi-
ence. This participant-observer role may permit maternal identifica-
tions to be vicariously gratified in a supportive, educative context
where other young men are similarly engaged. These classes also
provide much needed information about neonatal and later child
development. Such information may help teen fathers be more em-
pathic and patient later with their infants and toddlers, thus promot-
ing impulse control and greater awareness of the potential conse-
quences of parenting behaviors.
Both before and after delivery, tangible services are a key ingredi-
ent in helping adolescent fathers. These services must include out-
reach efforts aimed at promoting young fathers' capacity to provide
for their children by identifying possibilities for employment, voca-
tional-educational training, housing, legal services, and financial
subsidies where necessary (Kahn & Bolton, 1986). Concrete, practical
guidance--even cognitive rehearsal and role playing--in contacting
and following through with acquiring these sources of assistance can
foster increased cognitive development in youngsters whose capacity
to invest in tomorrow is not yet fully realized.
Once the adolescent father's child is born, a peer counseling group
may be particularly helpful in addressing both tangible and psycho-
 J E F F R E Y S. A P P L E G A T E 215

logical needs. This approach appears to reduce a sense of social isola-

tion and alienation while promoting self-confidence on the basis of
group participation (Klinman, Sander, Rosen & Longo, 1986).
Finally, because so many of these young men turn to their families
of origin for assistance--particularly to their mothers (Hendricks,
1983)--it is crucial to take a cautious approach to involving extended
family members that fosters separation-individuation and reduces
continued dependence. Services may call for family meetings or
individual work related to dealing with bewildered parents. Ambiva-
lent parental reactions may include wishes to shelter and protect
the new father, projections of anger and blame onto the adolescent
mother, or impulses to turn away from the situation altogether.
Clinicians dealing with these complex intergenerational dynamics
must highlight potential positive outcomes while remaining empathic
to separation struggles on both sides. Given the father's importance
in helping children manage the ambivalence associated with incom-
plete separation from their mothers, efforts to include the father in
extended family services may be crucial to successful intervention.
In summary, promoting the developmental potentials of both the
second individuation and adolescent fatherhood calls for a combina-
tion of services aimed at the teen father and both his "old" and "new"
families. Attending to the unique developmental vulnerabilities of
this population is essential to the success of any intervention plan.
Successful intervention can both promote psychosocial growth in teen
fathers and foster prevention by helping them parent their children
more adaptively.

Conclusion

Wordsworth wrote, "The Child is father of the Man" (Sheats, 1982, p.

277). The poet's observation may be particularly true of adolescent
fathers who can successfully exploit the developmental potentials of
the untimely convergence of the second individuation of adolescence
and parenthood. Parenting a child can help adolescent fathers consol-
idate progressive trends of both these normative crises in ways that
can lead them toward mature manhood. Helping these young men
accomplish this formidable task must be informed by an understand-
ing of the complex psychodynamics and related stresses they face.
216 CHILD AND ADOLESCENT SOCIAL WORK

References

Abelin, E. (1980). Triangulation, the role of the father, and the origins of core gender
identity. In R. F. Lax, S. Bach, & J. A. Burland (Eds.), Rapprochement: The critical
subphase of separation-individuation. New York: Jason Aronson.
Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1981). Teenage pregnancy: The problem that hasn't gone
away. New York: Author.
Applegate, J. S. (1987). Beyond the dyad: Including the father in separation-individ-
uation. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 4, 92-105.
Benedek, T. (1959). Parenthood as a developmental phase. Journal of the American
Psychoanalytic Association, 7, 389-417.
Benedek, T. (1970). Fatherhood and providing. In E. J. Anthony & T. Benedek (Eds.),
Parenthood: Its psychology and psychopathology (pp. 167-183). Boston: Little,
Brown.
Blos, P. (1967). The second individuation process of adolescence. The Psychoanalytic
Study of the Child, 22, 162-186.
Blos, P. (1979). The adolescent passage. New York: International Universities Press.
Brunswick, R. M. (1940). The preoedipal phase of the libido development. Psychoana-
lytic Quarterly, 9, 293-319.
Cath, S. H., Gurwitt, A. R., & Ross, J. M. (Eds.) (1982). Father and child: Developmen-
tal and clinical perspectives. Boston: Little, Brown.
Caughlan, J. (1960). Psychic hazards of unwed paternity. Social Work, 5, 29-35.
deLissovoy, V. (1973). Child care by adolescent parents. Children Today, 4, 22-25.
Diamond, M. J. (1986). Becoming a father: A psychoanalytic perspective on the forgot-
ten parent. In R. M. Friedman & Leila Lerner (Eds.), Toward a new psychology of
men: Psychoanalytic and social perspectives. New York: Guilford Press.
Earls, F., & Siegel, B. (1980). Precocious fathers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,
50, 469-480.
Einzig, J. E. (1980). The child within: A study of expectant fatherhood. Smith College
Studies in Social Work, 50, 117-164.
Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: W. W. Norton.
Freud, S. (1959). Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy. Collected Papers (Vol. 3).
New York: Basic Books (Original work published 1909).
Gerzi, S., & Berman, E. (1981). Emotional reactions of expectant fathers to their wives'
first pregnancy. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 54, 259-265.
Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. (1986). Crisis of adolescence. Teenage preg-
nancy: Impact on adolescent development. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Gurwitt, A. R. (1976). Aspects of prospective fatherhood. Psychoanalytic Study of the
Child, 31, 237-271.
Hartman, A., & Nicolav, R. (1966). Sexually deviant behavior in expectant fathers.
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 71,232-234.
Hendricks, L. E. (1983). Suggestions for reaching unmarried black adolescent fathers.
Child Welfare, 62, 141-146.
Herzog, J. M. (1982). Patterns of expectant fatherhood: A study of the fathers of a
group of premature infants. In S. Cath, A. Gurwitt, & J. M. Ross (Eds.), Father
and Child: Developmental and clinical perspectives (pp. 301-314). Boston: Little,
Brown.
Jacobson, E. (1950). Development of the wish for a child in boys. Psychoanalytic Study
of the Child, 5, 139-152.
Kahn, J. S., & Bolton, F. G., Jr. (1986). Clinical issues in adolescent fatherhood. In
A. B. Elster & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Adolescent fatherhood (pp. 141-153). Hillsdale,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Klinman, D. G., Sander, J. H., Rosen, J. L., & Longo, K. R. (1986). The teen father
 JEFFREY S. APPLEGATE 217

collaboration: A demonstration and research model. In A. B. Elster & M. E. Lamb

(Eds.), Adolescent fatherhood (pp. 155-170). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Lamb, M. E. (1986). The father's role: Applied perspectives. New York: Wiley.
Lieberman, F. (1984). Singular and plural objects: Thoughts on object relations theory.
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 1,153-167.
Lorenzi, M. E., Klerman, L. V., & Jakel, J. F. (1977). School-age parents: How perma-
nent a relationship? Adolescence, 12, 13-22.
Mahler, M. S., Pine, F., & Bergman, A. (1975). The psychological birth of the human
infant. New York: Basic Books.
Montemayor, R. (1986). Boys as fathers: Coping with the dilemmas of adolescence. In
A. B. Elster & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Adolescent Fatherhood (pp. 1-18). Hillsdale, N J:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Parens, H. (1975). Report on workshop: Parenthood as a developmental phase. Journal
of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 23, 154-165.
Pedersen, F. A. (Ed.). (1980). The father-infant relationship. Observational studies in
the family setting. New York: Praeger.
Robinson, B. E., & Barret, R. L. (1986). The developing father. New York: Guildford.
Ross, J. M. (1975) The development of paternal identity: A critical review of the litera-
ture on nurturance and generativity in boys and men. Journal of the American
Psychoanalytic Association, 23, 783-817.
Ross, J. M. (1979). Fathering: A review of some psychoanalytic contributions on pater-
nity. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 60, 317-328.
Sheats, P. D. (Ed.) (1982). My heart leaps up. The poetical works of Wordsworth. Bos-
ton: Houghton Mifflin. (Original work published 1807).
Speers, R. W., & Morter, D. C. (1980). Overindividuation and underseparation in the
pseudomature child. In R. F. Lax, S. Bach, & J. A. Burland (Eds.), Rapprochement:
The critical subphase of separation-individuation (pp. 457-477). New York: Jason
Aronson.
Werdinger, I. (1981). The use of a simulated father-son group to facilitate separation-
individuation. Clinical Social Work Journal, 9, 282-292.
White, K. M., Speisman, J. C., Costos, D., & Smith, A. (1985). Relationship maturity: A
conceptual and empirical approach. Paper presented at the Third Biennial Confer-
ence on Adolescence Research, Tucson, AZ.
Zayas, L. H. (1987). Psychodynamic and developmental aspects of expectant and new
fatherhood: Clinical derivatives from the literature. Clinical Social Work Journal,
15, 8-21.