Adolescent fatherhood: Developmental perils and potentials

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. Both adolescence and parenthood are developmental phases that induce regression and psychosocial vulnerability as part of the preparation 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.

ABSTRACT:

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 sociological dimensions of adolescent fatherhood are becoming clearer, relatively little at t ent i on has been directed to the unique developm 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 perspecrive. 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

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to sensitize clinicians who work with teen fathers to some of the developmental perils of adolescent pregnancy and to help them design 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 mothers, 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 abandoner, 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 particularly 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

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of teen father involvement at first appears to be a positive phenomenon. 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 personality 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 "shedding 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 normal 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, adolescent 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-

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uration is only thinly disguised in the all-or-nothing cycles of adolescent 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 establishment of formal operations is usually not consolidated until late adolescence, 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 forcefully 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 relationships.

Fatherhood

as a Developmental

Phase

In describing the normal emotional stresses associated with fatherhood 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

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later by Brunswick (1940), Jacobson (1950), and Ross (1975), this wish in men is believed to be related to their envy of women's procreative 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 paterhal identity (Ross, 1979). Regressive aspects of expectant and new fatherhood reanimate other earlier conflicts as well. From an extensive review of the literature, 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 particularly 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 feelings of rivalry with the new baby. The adult yearning for what Caughlan (1960) terms the "unabashed narcissism" and other gratifications of infancy "persists, however, quiescent, in everyone who was ever a baby" (p. 32). Resulting jealousy and fear of losing the partner's love can stir up hostile and competitive feelings in men evocative 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 aggressive 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 incestuous 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

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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 dimensions 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 transforms the essential regressive aspects of this configuration into progressive 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 participate 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 organization 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 reawakened with an intensity that leads to psychosocial vulnerability. What happens when these two powerfully regressive developmental 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 narcissism, also derives from wishes to affirm the validity of a mutually need-gratifying, nonincestuous relationship with a partner. Readiness for m a t u r e fathering, therefore, implies a level of object relations permitting "individuated-connected" relations in which partners are

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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 development. Far from readiness to negotiate the stage of generativity versus stagnation, most adolescent boys in the regressive throes of the second individuation are still engaged in struggles at the level of identity versus identity diffusion. To stave off uncomfortable affects derivative of longings for dependency which they may associate defensively 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 demonstrate their virility by impregnating a young woman. Beneath these sexual identity concerns may lie more convoluted preoedipal dynamics. While appearing to shore up masculine strivings, precocious sexual acting out in boyscan unconsciously gratify their needs for infantile emotional attachment aroused by the regression of the second individuation. Participating in the most "grown up" of activities, in other words, becomes a way to indulge unacceptable 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. Resulting 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 congruent 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 pregnancy 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 dependency--on parents, for example, or on public assistance. In this way they create an irresolvable "second rapprochement crisis." Trapped

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between profound longings to be totally dependent and fears of separation 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 underseparation" (Speers & Morter, 1980)--a false-self personality configuration 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 resolve 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 children's development by helping them negotiate the separation-individuation 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, however, it is unlikely that he can foster healthy resolution of these issues in his child. As his conflicts left over from this phase are reawakened 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 empathy. This ego vulnerability in combination with incomplete cognitive development and inadequate information about child development can lead adolescent fathers to have unrealistic expectations of

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their infants and toddlers. In one study, for example, young fathers expected obedience training by 26 weeks and recognition of wrongdoing by 40 weeks of age. Many resorted to physical discipline in response 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 motivating 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 particularly 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 development 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 simulated father-son group approach designed to foster separation-individuation in young men. This approach might be particularly useful in promoting the second individuation in supportive association with peers who are struggling with similar concerns. Social workers employed in prenatal clinics, neonatal intensive

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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 psychological 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 approach is referral to prepared childbirth classes or similar prenatal programs. Participation in these classes permits young men to observe and assist their partners in preparing for the childbirth experience. This participant-observer role may permit maternal identifications 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 empathic and patient later with their infants and toddlers, thus promoting impulse control and greater awareness of the potential consequences of parenting behaviors. Both before and after delivery, tangible services are a key ingredient in helping adolescent fathers. These services must include outreach efforts aimed at promoting young fathers' capacity to provide for their children by identifying possibilities for employment, vocational-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-

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logical needs. This approach appears to reduce a sense of social isolation 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. Ambivalent 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 incomplete 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 combination 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 consolidate 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 understanding of the complex psychodynamics and related stresses they face.

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