1. Introduction -- Cross-Cultural Anthropological Perspective -- Sociopsychological Perspective -- Cross-Species Comparisons -- A Preliminary Test of American Father Figures -- 2. The Adult Male—Child Bond -- Subject Selection? -- Where to Study Subjects? -- Method of Studying? -- Behavior to Be Coded? -- Theoretical Perspective -- Procedure -- Results -- 3. Parameters of the Man-Child Bond -- 4. A Test for the Hypothesized Adult Male-Child Bond -- Darwinian Theory in a Nutshell -- Divorce and Darwin’s Theory—A Problem? -- Divorce and Darwin—A Reconciliation -- Summary -- 5. The Plowman-Protector Complex -- Societal Variables: The Plowman-Protector Complex -- Results -- 6. The American Adult Male-Child Dyad -- The Professional Press -- The Popular Press -- Procedure -- Results -- The U.S. Sample -- Hypotheses to Test Putative Dereliction -- Results -- Discussion -- 7. The Myth of the Derelict Daddy -- Reconciliation of Symbol and Behavior -- 8. The American Family: A Tragedy of the Commons? -- Individual Liberty and Societal Viability -- Fathers as Coequal Caretakers -- Child-Care Facilities -- Societal Responses to the Tragedy -- 9. Conclusion -- Summary -- Conclusion -- References.

Like the lines of a secret map made dimly apparent by the chemical potion brushed on a piece of paper from a child's detective kit, the outlines of what may be a substantial behavioral biology of human life seem to be coming clear. From genetic science at its most molecular to demography with its assessment of the vital experience of massive populations, there is a growing understanding of the various ways in which the human species reveals underlying commonalities of experi­ ence through the life cycle and over the web of interactions that constitutes the basic matter of social life. At the same time, research has been successful in two super­ ficially and contradictory directions: first, in showing the enormous variation in human arrangements and consciousness across and with­ in cultures; and second, in showing the similarity between cultures as far as basic processes of physiology, neurophysiology, and even so­ ciallife are concerned. But the contradiction only exists in the absence of an understanding of the fact that in a species living under as many ecological, historical, and economic niches as Homo sapiens, cultural variation is what one would naturally expect.

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