Sons and Fathers: Challenges to paternal authority - Hardcover

"This book helps us to view fathers in cultural context and reveals each famous son as a unique individual and as a product of personal and broader history. Grounded in the lifespan theory of Erikson and the family systems theory of Bowen, it provides a psycho-historical approach to sons and fathers. From Mozart to Stalin, from Kafka to Lincoln, every chapter is a good read." - David W. Shwalb, Southern Utah University, USA

"The strength of this volume is the scholarly overview of key perspectives and the supporting research relevant to adolescent development. It integrates new prevention and treatment findings with developmental theory. The authors are to be commended for their even-handed review of controversies surrounding theoretical and intervention approaches while maintaining careful attention to the details and facts." - Marion Forgatch, Oregon Social Learning Center, USA

Father-son relationships can be notoriously difficult. Often fractious, sometimes hostile, and occasionally destructive, the issue of authority is negotiated by fathers and sons in a range of styles. In this fascinating new book, John Crosby describes the filial relationships of 20 historical figures to illustrate the different ways they related to their fathers, and what this can tell us about love, authority and the wider family context.

Sons and Fathers is an approach to understanding this son-father conflict based on early life experience rather than upon psycho-historian or psycho-biographical material and theorizing. Each vignette is designed to be read as a biographical account, but is bookended by a section reflecting on how each man’s relationship to his father can be understood in the context of key developmental theories, in particular those of Eric Erikson and Murray Bowen’s family system theory. The book also includes an extended introduction to both theorists for those unfamiliar with their work, as well as a discussion of the role of corporal punishment as a method of disciplining children.

From Michael Jackson to Bing Crosby, Joseph Stalin to John F Kennedy, this is a uniquely accessible but insightful book that will appeal to both general readers as well as students of Developmental Psychology across the lifespan, Family Studies, Marriage and Family therapy, and related subjects. It will also appeal to professionals working in the area, including social workers, counsellors and therapists.