Fathers and their children in the first three years of life : an anthropological perspective / Frank L'Engle Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Frank L'Engle, 1966- author.

Series:

Texas A & M University anthropology series ; Volume 20.

Texas A & M University anthropology series ; Volume 20

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Father and infant.

Fatherhood--History.

Fatherhood.

Patriarchy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 221 pages )

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Fathers and their children in the first 3 years of life

Place of Publication:

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2019]

Summary:

"Frank L'Engle Williams examines the anthropological record for evidence of the social behaviors associated with paternity, suggesting that ample evidence exists for the importance of such behaviors for infant survival. Focusing on the first three postnatal years, he considers the implications of father care--both in the fossil record and in more recent cross-cultural research--for the development of such distinctively human traits as bipedalism, extensive brain growth, language, and socialization. He also reviews the rituals by which many human societies construct and reinforce the meanings of socially recognized fatherhood--hormonal, physiological, and social changes incorporated into specific cultural manifestations of paternity. Father care was adaptive within the context of the parental pair bond, and shaped how infants developed socially and biologically. The initial imprinting of socially recognized fathers during the first few postnatal years may have sustained culturally-sanctioned indirect care such as provisioning and protection of dependents for nearly two decades thereafter. In modern humans, this three-year window is critical to father-child bonding--which differs so intrinsically from the mother-child relationship. By increasing the survival of children in the past, present, and quite possibly the future, father care may be a driving force in the biological and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens."

Contents:

How Long Have Fathers Carried and Cared for Their Infants?

Life Cycle

The Birth of a Child and the "Birth" of a Socially Recognized Father

Couvade and Hormonal Correlates of Paternity

Postnatal Infant Development

Reproductive Careers among Forager Males

The Duration of Father Care Estimated from Skeletal Maturation and Decline

Evidence of Father Care in Humans and Animals

Forager Fathers and Infants Cross-culturally

Paternal Behavior in Nonhuman Primates and Other Animals

Evolutionary Perspectives

The Evolution of Carrying Behavior

Hyper-encephalization of Neonates

Becoming Human

Epilogue: The Role of Father Care: Past, Present, and Future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-62349-808-2

OCLC:

1138572645