On Paternal Inovolvement In Children’s Development In Harry Potter Series

Harry Potter series are the masterpieces of the British writer J.K.Rowling. They have )een extremely popular both with children and their parents. As Rowling roots her story within family, she depicts a series of distinctive father figures. Although in recent years, mumerous studies have been made on the books from various perspectives, few of them pay nuch attention to the father’s influence on children’s development in the books. As father )lays an important role in every stage of children’s growth, Rowling’s works provide good source materials to examining father’s influences. This thesis will employ Lamb’s theory about the three aspects of paternal involvement to analyze father’s influences on children’ emotional adjustment, social competence as well as life achievement in Harry Potter series.Three parts are included in this thesis:the introduction, the main body and the conclusion. The introduction introduces J.K.Rowling and her famous works of Harry Potter eries, the former studies of the series at home and abroad, Lamb’s theory about paternal nvolvement as well as the structure of the thesis.The first chapter discusses the influence of three fathers’different kinds of accessibility )n children’s emotional security, psychological reactance as well as self-esteem respectively Harry Potter series. Through this, it explores the relation between paternal accessibility ind children’s psychological adjustment.The second chapter examines the effects of three fathers’different ways of engagement )n children’s cognitive representations, attitudes and beliefs as well as emotional regulation in Harry Potter series. Through this, it studies the importance of paternal engagement in leading children to develop their social competence.The third chapter studies several responsible fathers and their role in helping children to possess resilience ability and construct higher achievement motivation in Harry Potter series. Through analysis, it discusses the significance of paternal responsibility in encouraging children to pursue their life achievement. With the studies made above,the thesis finds that the quality and quantity of paternal involvement affect children’s psychological adjustment, social competence and life chievement to a large extent. Children can have a better and heathier development outcome when their fathers are both physical and psychological accessible, engaging in father-child nteraction positively and at the same time fulfilling their responsibility. These highly involved fathers are also the ideal ones whom the author tries to advocate.