The first research-based text that focuses on the impact of the father-daughter relationship, this provocative book examines the factors that can strengthen or weaken these relationships and the impact that these relationships have on society. The research is brought to life with compelling personal stories from fathers and daughters, including well-known celebrities and politicians. Controversial questions engage the reader and film lists and website resources demonstrate the relevance of the research. Boxed quizzes and questionnaires show students how the research can be applied to their own lives while others highlight the relationships between actual fathers and daughters. Bold faced terms, a conclusion, and review questions keep readers focused on the key concepts. How these relationships are often ignored or denigrated in the media and in some mental health and legal systems is examined. The hope is that readers will apply the research to their own families and/or work. The book addresses: What is "good" fathering? How do daughters influence their fathers' well-being? How do fathers affect their daughters' social, academic, athletic, and psychological development? How are problems such as depression, eating disorders, and teenage pregnancy related to the quality of these relationships? How are father-daughter relationships in ethnic and racial groups unique? How do incarceration, abuse, gay or lesbian relationships, military service, immigration, and poverty affect father-daughter relationships? The book opens with the importance of the father’s role on daughters and the changing patterns of these roles. Chapter 2 examines the myths and misconceptions of father-daughter relationships including how they are portrayed in the media and the differences between parenting styles. Chapter 3 explores the behaviors that constitute "good" fathering. Scales used to measure "good" fathering are included. How fathers affect their daughters’ social, academic, intellectual, athletic, and psychological development is then considered. Factors that can weaken father-daughter relationships, such as divorce, including various theoretical perspectives, are explored in chapters 5 and 6. Father-daughter relationships of racial or ethnic minorities and an array of potentially destructive situations that affect these relationships are the focus of chapters 7 and 8. The impact of fathers who are incarcerated, abusive, alcoholics, gay, or sperm donors are considered. The book concludes with suggestions on where we go from here. Intended as a supplemental text for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses on father-daughter relationships and/or parenting taught in human development, family studies, psychology, sociology, counseling, social work, and women’s studies, this practical book also appeals to mental health practitioners, social workers, legal professionals, and school counselors interested in these relationships.

Improving Father-Daughter Relationships: A Guide for Women and Their Dads is essential reading for daughters and their fathers, as well as for their families and for therapists. This friendly, no-nonsense book by father-daughter relationships expert, Dr. Linda Nielsen, offers women and their dads a step-by-step guide to improve their relationships and to understand the impact this will have on their well-being. Nielsen encourages us to get to the root of problems, instead of dealing with fallout, and helps us resolve the conflicts that commonly strain relationships from late adolescence throughout a daughter’s adult years. Showing how we can strengthen bonds by settling issues that divide us, her book explores a range of difficult issues from conflicts over money, to the daughter’s lifestyle or sexual orientation, to her parents’ divorce and dad’s remarriage. With quizzes and real-life examples to encourage us to examine beliefs that are limiting or complicating the connection between fathers and daughters, this guide helps us feel less isolated and enables us to create more joyful, honest, enriching relationships.

In this fully revised new edition, Father-Daughter Relationships: Contemporary Research and Issues summarises and analyses the most relevant research regarding father-daughter relationships, aiming to break down the persistent misconceptions regarding fatherhood and father-daughter relationships and encourage the reader to take a more objective and analytical approach. The research is brought to life with compelling personal stories from fathers and daughters, including well-known celebrities and politicians. Boxed quizzes and questionnaires show students how the research can be applied to their own lives while others highlight the relationships between real-life fathers and daughters. Nielsen discusses the father-daughter relationship within a diverse range of family structures, including divorced and separated parents, gay parents, adopted children and children of sperm donors. Covering a wide range of topics, including the father’s impact on his daughter’s cognitive, academic, social and physical wellbeing, ethnic minorities, and incarcerated or abusive fathers, Father-Daughter Relationships: Contemporary Research and Issues gives panoramic view of the most recent research and statistics. This book is essential reading for upper level undergraduate and for graduate students, as well as for practitioners working with families, such as social workers, mental health professionals and family counsellors. It is especially relevant for courses in psychology, sociology, women’s studies, and counselling. Linda Nielsen is a Professor of Adolescent and Educational Psychology at Wake Forest University. A member of the faculty for 35 years, she is a nationally recognized expert on father-daughter relationships.

A father¿s presence is important in a daughter¿s life. He is the first man a little girl sees and knows. He demonstrates how men relate to women. But what happens when the father-daughter relationship is dysfunctional? Daddy answers that question. Included are fourteen memoirs that describe the impact a failed father-daughter relationship can have. These women share essays and narratives that detail various stages of breakdown. Whether an event occurred in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood, each story explains how their father¿s physical, emotional, or psychological abandonment has affected them. The book is separated into two parts. Part I shows the proverbial truth in the phrase, hurt people hurt people. While some stories confirm why or how men mistreat their daughters, others show how daughters sometimes internalize neglect and continue the cycle either with the relationship they have with themselves, or others. Part II illustrates how compassion can lead towards a path of inner peace and happiness, no matter the state of the relationship.

This book is an invaluable key to self-understanding. Using examples from her own life and the lives of her clients, as well as from dreams, fairy tales, myths, films, and literature, Linda Schierse Leonard, a Jungian analyst, exposes the wound of the spirit that both men and women of our culture bear—a wound that is grounded in a poor relationship between masculine and feminine principles. Leonard speculates that when a father is wounded in his own psychological development, he is not able to give his daughter the care and guidance she needs. Inheriting this wound, she may find that her ability to express herself professionally, intellectually, sexually, and socially is impaired. On a broader scale, Leonard discusses how women compensate for cultural devaluation, resorting to passive submission (“the Eternal Girl”), or a defensive imitation of the masculine (“the Armored Amazon”). The Wounded Woman shows that by understanding the father-daughter wound and working to transform it psychologically, it is possible to achieve a fruitful, caring relationship between men and women, between fathers and daughters, a relationship that honors both the mutuality and the uniqueness of the sexes.

At last! A no-nonsense, entertaining, and insightful book for dads and daughters who want more from their relationship--or who want to understand and rebuild it on an adult level. Dr. Linda Nielsen addresses the questions that daughters and dads regularly ask her--and a lot more. Based on two decades of work with hundreds of dads and daughters, BETWEEN FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS summarizes cutting-edge research in clear language and offers compelling stories about real people--including well-known celebrities. With candor and humor, BETWEEN FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS exposes the half-truths, downright lies, and family dynamics that prevent so many dads and daughters from having a more relaxed, more meaningful, more communicative relationship, regardless of age. Explaining why most daughter-dad relationships haven't reached their full potential or have unraveled, Nielsen provides hope as she shows fathers and daughters how to make changes now!