Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6, 8648-8657 2024 Publisher: Learning Gate DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate * Correspondence: medna59@mail.ru Father’s role practices as a reflection of psychological readiness for paternity in the contemporary Chechen family Kurbanova Lidiya Uvaisovna1*, Abdulaeva Elita Sultanovna2, Visitaeva Irsana Zandievna3 1,2,3Chechen State Pedagogical University, Grozny, Russia; medna59@mail.ru (K.L.U.). Abstract: The article attempts to reveal the psychological readiness for fatherhood in a family in a local traditional society like the Chechen one. The relevance of the research topic is necessitated by a social order for studying the problems of parenting that has emerged in recent decades wherein the role of the father, according to many experts, has undergone significant transformations. The process is brought about by changes in traditional family attitudes in modern society, while under professional and economic emancipation of women, liberalization of marital relations, the focus is shifted on habitual roles, functions and requirements for parents, especially for the father. The aim of the study is to reveal the specifics of psychological readiness for fatherhood in Chechen families. We defined the constructionist approach of a modern social psychologist Kenneth J. Gergen as a theoretical framework of the study. The author employs the constructivist method within the framework of social psychology. In the context of the transformation of traditional societies, while fusing value systems of tradition, modernity and postmodernity, the use of this approach seems methodologically justified. We used a whole range of sources as the experimental part: statistical data on divorces in the country and the region, the method of inclusive observation, content analysis of research materials published on the topic, and informal in-depth interviews with fathers of families in the Chechen Republic (N = 21). Based on the analysis of the experimental part of the study, the following preliminary conclusions can be drawn: according to the surveyed fathers of families, the family as an institution should be based on basic values such as "children", "health", "communication", "respect", "spiritual closeness", "honesty", "traditions", "love". At the same time, such parameters as "career", "need for creativity" were pushed to the sidelines; socialization of the institution of parenthood, acquisition of skills of behavioral practices of the father still occurs according to respondents through the mechanisms of transfer of experience of their own parental family. Gender socialization of children in the family is recognized as meta-education by almost all surveyed fathers of families. The involvement of fathers in the upbringing of boys declared by them is not always implemented in their everyday practice. A contradiction was revealed between the preferred style of upbringing and the model of upbringing of their own parental family. Keywords: Chechen family, Fatherhood crisis, Psychological readiness, Traditional values, Transfer of experience. 1. Introduction The information world has created conditions for pluralism of coexistence of multiple socio-cultural systems under the influence of which the rigid frameworks of role practices of traditional parenting pedagogy are expanding, creating a variability of educational models. Emergence of new value strategies into family life changes the trajectory of everyday family relationship practices. If the mother’s role is clear due to its biological purpose, the father’s role has always been controversial and formulated with ambiguous assessments [1]. The lack of ready-made solutions to the emerging issues regarding the father’s role in a modern family has been formalized as "the crisis of fatherhood" [1]. The book by a famous Austrian psychoanalyst Alexander Mitscherlich "Society Deprived of Fathers" became a world bestseller already in the late 1960s. Fatherlessness, the physical absence of a father in the family, the insignificance and poverty of paternal contacts with children compared to maternal ones, 8649 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate pedagogical incompetence of fathers, their lack of interest and inability to carry out educational functions have become the subject of heated public debate and serious scientific discussions [2]. At the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st centuries, the problem has been in the focus of attention of many disciplines: sociology, philosophy, psychology, pedagogy. At the same time, the interdisciplinary nature of the problem is complicated not only by the diversity of fatherhood in socio-cultural contexts but also by the pluralism of its practices within one culture [3]. Researchers state that responsibility, authority, patriarchy, hierarchy as traditional features of the educational activities of the father in the Russian family are becoming a vestige of the past [4]. Nowadays there are two trends being observed in the field of educational activities of the father. The first one is situational, caused by pedagogical illiteracy, social instability, confusion caused by the discrepancy between the attitudes of the usual role practices of the father in the traditional family and the challenges of the information world with its pluralism and variability of gender roles. The conceptualization of this process by the humanities as "family crisis", "fatherhood crisis" confirms its results: an increase in the number of single-parent families, a decrease in the father's activity associated with raising children, poverty and limited contacts, and an inability to adequately perform the educational function [5, p. 90-97]. The second one is actively developing, determined by social attitudes (mainly Western ones) towards child development. Its result: an increase in the number of fathers participating in the birth of a child, caring for and raising a child, taking maternity leave, fathers attending courses aimed at child upbringing efficiency boost in the family, fathers receiving higher education in the field of pedagogy and psychology [6]. The outlines of social processes determine the complexities of studying fatherhood and society, such as the Chechen one, wherein the core of ethno-pedagogical education in the family was largely preserved, most vividly reflect the complexities and specifics of the change in the mechanisms of gender educational paradigms. The process of developing and refining new models of educational activities of the father associated with the preparation of the younger generation for life in a society, is slow and chaotic. This process is called gender socialization [7]. The construction of gender in the process of socialization is implemented by the main institutions of socialization via transmission of established cultural ideas about the normativity of the behavior of an individual, conditioned by his gender. The most important role in this process is played by the family, especially the father, who participates in the formation of attitudes and expectations regarding male behavior and the male role as a model of such behavior. [3] The relevance of studying the family in Chechen society is necessitated by these considerations, where traditional attitudes intermingle with the values of modernism and egalitarian culture. This process is often characterized by social and cultural tension: public consciousness remains within the paradigm of traditional culture, while the actual practices of fatherhood in families transcend established cultural stereotypes. Analyzing research practices concerning the specifics of gender socialization within the Chechen family can partially provide insights into the trajectory of psychological and sociocultural readiness for fatherhood. It also highlights mechanisms for transferring experience from father to son and identifies the nuances and challenges in shaping an individual's personality, taking into account the social, cultural, and personal context. It is evident that the scope of these tasks extends far beyond the conclusions of this article and significantly underscores the problem of gender upbringing in children, emphasizing the need for a new theoretical and pedagogical rethinking of the father's role in the modern family. 2. Methodology 2.1. Theoretical Framework We defined the theoretical framework of this study with the constructionist approach of contemporary social psychologist Kenneth J. Gergen. In his work Social Construction in Context, published in 2016 the author advocates for the use of the constructionist method in social psychology, offering a fundamentally new perspective on numerous issues of social reality arising from human interactions: gender-based, generational, ethnic, etc. The core of the constructionist method is in the necessity to view all phenomena of social reality within their context. The context, in turn, determines the inner “settings of an individual” while analyzing interaction and communication: how an individual is emotionally loaded, why they try to indulge in wishful 8650 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate thinking, what their descriptive language for reality is, and what the level of trust within the interaction is. No wonder that modern social psychology actively employs this approach [8]. In qualitative research, within the in-depth interviews, this approach allows considering two types of discourse: realist and constructionist, as described by Kenneth J. Gergen. According to Gergen, the realist discourse is a language of mutual trust that promotes order and predictability [9]. For instance, a father explaining the role of a man in the family appeals to concepts like "responsibility," "care," "duty," "providing for the family," and "being the head of the household." A son raised in a cultural paradigm comprehends this language of interaction and communication where these concepts are basic to a father-man. At the same time the realist discourse also functions as a language of control; it restricts the area of possibilities, supports a formal order of things, and preserves them. In contrast, the constructionist discourse, according to Gergen: “it acts as a liberating agent, challenges the taken-for-granted things, and opens up new ways of perception and action”. [9, с. 45] However, it also questions the legitimacy of cherished traditions and the practices of complex coordination and mutual trust. In the context of analyzing the psychological readiness of young men for fatherhood, this may describe a non-working father who is soft, timid, indecisive yet loving his children, unable to take responsibility and allowing his wife to take leadership in the family, for example. Such a father maintains trusting relationships with his children, engaging in activities like sculpting, drawing, and walking with them. The second constructionist model develops within the realist model expanding its boundaries and breaking down stereotypes. Meanwhile, fathers in interviews may utter the realist discourse, comprehensible within their culture while their daily practices reflect the challenges and demands of their specific family contexts today. Both discourses ensure stability and predictability: realism functions centripetally maintaining unity and solidarity while constructionism operates centrifugally disrupting and creating a new order. [9, p.46]. 2.2. Experimental Part The results of the experimental part of the article were based on a comprehensive set of sources: statistical data on divorce rates in the region, the country, and the world; the method of involved observation; content analysis of the research materials published on the topic, and unstructured in-depth interviews with fathers from the Chechen Republic (N=21), the age of the respondents: 35–63.While designing the questionnaire we tried to stick to the fundamental axiomatic principles of sociological surveys. One key principle is using an emotional lexicon as a way to sociologically describe the "well- being" of a specific population category—in our case, fathers. The structured language of the questionnaire assumes that each interview question implies a connection or causality among the answers, opinions, social positions, interests, and cultural backgrounds of the respondents [10]. In other words, every thesis in our questionnaire represented a separate hypothesis about the social patterns of tradition and new practices. During the material analysis it was not clear for us that there could be a single presumed or permissible interpretation. Such a "linear hypothesis" often turns out to be simplistic and, therefore, rarely accurate [10]. Another principle we tried to stick to was understanding that, while conducting that research, we were dealing with not independent opinions of fathers about their families, themselves, or their child- rearing practices but with group opinions, collective representations, and shared attitudes within the community they belong to. For example, when asking a respondent about their "opinions," "feelings," or "experiences," these are conditioned not only by the subjective context of the interviewer-respondent communication but also by the influence and consideration of their social group and environment. The respondent is embedded within separate plots of social narration, the narratives of their community, normative evaluations, i.e. stereotypical configurations of expectations. Therefore, the answers given by respondents should not be expected to reflect "only their specific opinion" because it does not exist at all. The opinions highlighted in the surveys represent complex networks of meanings and associations linked to certain social actors and their intentions. The questionnaire consisted of blocks of questions (N=44) that were interrelated. Their primary focus was to determine the respondents' understanding of the family, its values, whether their parental family served as a role model for their own family, and the key roles of the father in the modern family. 8651 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate 3. Theoretical Framework Historically, fatherhood has been a primary indicator of masculinity, as high reproductive capacity was always considered a significant component of male strength. However, the biological care of children was traditionally assigned to women [11, pp. 48–51]. It is obvious that fatherhood served more as a status than a functional role. As a result, the father’s role has been less explicitly defined in a society compared to the mother’s role.That is exactly why the father’s role is less important in a society that the mother’s one. The father’s role is determined by social expectations of masculine role but it is in a complicated relationship with the father’s role. As I. Kon aptly noted, fatherhood is the most changeable indicator of masculinity, both historically and culturally. Researchers have revealed a correlation between a man's masculinity and his paternal role. J. Pleck defined differences across six criteria: 1) Gender differences in upbringing, 2) The relationship between the father’s presence and child development, 3) The role of paternal involvement in the child’s personality development, 4) The influence of having children on a man’s assessment of his masculinity, 5) The unique contributions of the father to a child’s development, 6) The relationship between the degree of paternal masculinity, paternal involvement, and the child’s personality development. J. Pleck suggests that a man’s gender status influences paternal practices both directly and indirectly through the societal construction of fatherhood and the potential paternal status recognized by society [12]. The concept of psychological readiness for fatherhood requires some conceptualization, considering the socio-cultural determination of the father's status as an archetype. "Readiness for fatherhood" presupposes some activity. According to a number of researchers [13], it is advisable to reduce the theoretical basics of the concept of the activity to an ideal model. In the future, it can be employed as a "supporting point" when analyzing a real psychological readiness for fatherhood. When comparing the "ideal" model and the "real" model of the father's upbringing activity, it is possible to construct an efficient educational model of the parent, taking into account the context of all conditions and the mechanism of the process of functioning of the family's life. The set of the "ideal" family model certainly included the presence of both parents, which is a condition for the psychological socio-cultural balance of the family, its cultural security. Under complex civilizational changes a family loses its previous institutional characteristics and acquires new ones, the essence and nature of which have not yet been fully comprehended, and as a result, measures of adaptation to new challenges have not been developed. State institutions often, in such turbulent phases of social changes, try to take over the major mechanisms of adaptation of their social institutions. The most important one among such institutions is family. Forms of interaction within family, educational functions of mother and father, mechanisms of their functioning and interactions are extremely sensitive areas of human existence. Therefore, a change in the cultural paradigm of society as a reaction to changes in socio-cultural normative standards of masculinity and femininity allows expanding the possibilities of functioning of a family with one parent, that is, children + 1 parent. The ever-increasing scale of the number of families with one parent, often with the mother, is associated with the simplification of the institution of divorce. The nature and reasons for the increase in divorces and their consequences for the family and, in general, society are not the subject of our discussion. But we should note that the analysis of the link between the problem of "divorce and parenthood" allows us to detect the coexistence of two trends, which, on the one hand, boil down to a weakening of the role and influence of the father (hidden fatherlessness, an increase in the number of single-parent and maternal families); on the other hand, in the reorientation of the life roles of men and women [14]. Economic well-being, stable moral and ethical standards regarding the value of maintaining a nuclear family are important conditions for the stability of the institution of the family. A 2021 VCIOM (All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Study) poll presented data from a survey of Russians on their attitudes toward divorce. Among the most common reasons for divorce Russians named poverty (33%), mutual misunderstanding (15%), infidelity of one of the partners (14%), everyday problems (10%), as well as incompatibility of characters and drunkenness. The correlation between readiness for divorce in the presence of children and with whom the children are to live according to Russians depends on the context of the family problem (58%). A third of respondents (31%) said that 8652 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate divorce can be prevented by the inability to "divide" the children between the parents. 22% believe that mothers raise children better than fathers, 14% answered that neither mother nor father can raise a child well alone, only 2% believe that fathers cope with this task better than mothers. Thirty years ago, the opinion that one parent cannot raise a child well was shared by a third of respondents (33% in 1990) [15]. The situation with divorces is no better in Western countries. As of the current 2024, divorce statistics show that countries such as Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg have from 79 to 85 divorces per 100 marriages. In the Scandinavian countries, every fourth marriage breaks up. [16]. Economically prosperous countries also demonstrate a decrease in the motive to preserve the family for the sake of children. Thus, the sociology of divorces around the world shows that the economic security of the family is not a guarantee of its preservation. The decline in the value of marriage and the resulting increase in divorce in modern society confirms the theory of the famous philosopher M. Heidegger about the loss of human rootedness. In his opinion, today a human being is often alienated from himself, nature, and beloved ones [17, p. 106]. The transition of values and role practices of parents to their children under these circumstances becomes unstable and fragmented. Divorces, the formation of new families, where the place and significance of the child in the new family can be ambiguous, create a biographical pluralism of life forms and strategies. That is, the change of families, linked and interrupted by other forms of joint or single life with children where the father is often physically absent altogether or he plays the role of a visiting father becomes a (paradoxical) "standard" [18]. Obviously, under the circumstances of changing normative practices of the functioning of modern types of families, the gender education becomes one of the problem areas of parenting. I. Kon believes that a single, universal style of family upbringing of boys, unlike girls, does not exist in modern society. Each family develops its own style of family life depending on the individual characteristics of each of its members, and this style can change at different stages of a family unit development, as children grow up, changes of jobs of parents, and much more. According to the researcher, average sociological data do not have normative and directive significance. Their main value, which is most often overlooked, is that they problematize and question some familiar stereotypes. [19]. 4. Experimental Part During the in-depth interviews, comprehending the mechanisms of gender socialization of the family through the prism of psychological readiness for fatherhood revealed a number of features of its functioning; we identified several key factors of the process from the survey: 1). Family as a reflection of socio-cultural transformations in society; 2). Traditionalism, modernism and postmodernism are interconnected and internally interdependent processes, their influence on the family is “non-linear”, the “layering” of value strategies in a society is reflected in the pluralism of family practices of gender socialization of fatherhood; 3). The average sociological analysis of the research results reveals not individual problems of a particular family, but rather sets the problem of education on a new plane of methodological understanding. That is, it is necessary to keep in the focus of scientific attention the context of a particular family and its practices of socialization of fatherhood. 4). Inflated expectations from gender education, especially in the early stages of the growing up children, are not always an important prerequisite for the success of upbringing. 5). The attitude of men to the change in role practices of women in the family, a new stage in the development of the family and not a “crisis” of the institution of fatherhood. 1. The family as a cultural and historical phenomenon is always a reflection of qualitative shifts and crises in a society. Among the many challenges faced by modern society in the era of globalization, one of the most topical one is the institutional crisis of the family. Deconstruction of the traditional system of gender stratification threatens the transition of the experience of fatherhood to the son. But this mechanism of transition of intergenerational gender socialization is still relevant in Chechen families, although it does not always determine the model of paternal upbringing in the modern Chechen family. Here is what fathers answered to the question about the mechanisms of transition of the paternal identity. 8653 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate - "... I believe that there should be no changes "father is father", and "mother is mother", "husband is husband", "wife is wife", everything else (scientific and technological revolution and so on) - this is all a system of complete destruction of the family, this is my personal opinion" (Maskhud, 42 years old). - "... In our family, the word of the man has always been in the first place. We are Chechens, and we cannot do otherwise, this is how it is accepted here. In my family, too. That’s the way our ancestors were like and the way the fathers of that time raised their children" (Minkail, 31 years old). At the same time, men understand that the change of traditional practices of women, expansion of their social opportunities reduces economic dependence on men and promotes a more selective attitude to the institution of marriage. - "... Many women do not care about men, divorce or not, many are self-sufficient and can earn money, and do not need to start a family ..." (Minkail, 31 years old). "...Of course, every father is an individual depending on a particular family, I guess. My father followed his father's example. I also mainly try to get my children to follow this example. That is, I followed my father's example. My father treated his father very well..." (Minkail, 31 years old). 2. Social practices of an egalitarian family are replacing traditional ones, and many fathers recognize this as a trend of the time. For example, the "institution of avoidance" of the North Caucasian traditional family model [20, pp. 192 - 196] is slowly becoming a thing of the past. The ritual culture, while remaining firmly in the public consciousness as a socio-cultural construct, is giving way to new practices where fathers are much more closely integrated into the educational process especially in the upbringing of their sons. - "...When I was a child, my father never took my hand on the street. My father would go forward separately, and my mother and I would be behind him. Now we can see how a father holds his child by the hand and walks. I don’t know, it’s probably the times…” (Islam, 44 years old). Fathers also point out the fusion of models of upbringing practices and have no sensible explanation to the ongoing processes. - “It depends on how every single individual is brought up. To be honest, the old way of raising children and the current way of raising children are very different. If you bring them up the old way, it will take a lot of effort. And now, in today’s way of education, many fathers do not like it when their children are being scolded. There are many who try to give their children the old way of education. That’s how it happens.” - “… Well, as for me I have not personally faced such situations. But I heard people saying that the child cannot be a son of such a good father. In our society, if a son has shown himself well, they talk about him. But if a son has done something bad, they talk about his father and the family as a whole. And when a son of a worthy father does something bad, they say, it can't be the son of such a good father. These are the stories I've heard. But I don't think there will be a bad father among Chechens. Because we, Chechens, our youth, they were brought up properly. And we should continue to do the same, I hope everything will be fine. (Isa, 40 years old). - "... A father should directly participate in the upbringing of his children. Today, a father has a great responsibility. A father should not refer to work and disregard his child. It is the father who gives advice to the child, guides him, tells him what is right and what is wrong. I believe that a father should be that way. And a father should communicate with his child every day. I am 31 years old, my father is 53 years old, we communicate with them every day, both with the father and with the mother. Not just like a small talk, we do communicate." Researchers believe that one of the most common and dangerous stereotypes is the opinion about the necessity for a strict division of upbringing of boys and girls as an important prerequisite for successful socialization [19]. Specific gender practices are pluralistic and diverse. - "... The upbringing of both should also be done by a father but mostly the upbringing of a daughter, what she should do, is up to the mother." ".. No upbringing can compare with what your father and mother have given to you. A child is not immediately born as a well-mannered person, throughout his growing up, depending on how his parents raised him. First of all, it is the father who dedicates a lot of time to bringing up his son, how to behave in a society, where his place is, how to behave when trouble befalls him, his father tells him all this. And the mother, let's not forget about her, she teaches politeness, she teaches everything, she is much closer in raising her children, she is more open than the father. I think if both the father and the mother participate in the upbringing, it will be very good (Isa, 40 years old). 8654 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate Family disciplinary practices have their own gender aspect. Fathers and mothers feel more confident with a child of their own gender, remembering that they themselves were once like them and the children, feeling this, understand that it is more difficult to deceive such a parent. Therefore, in general, mothers are more successful at disciplining girls and fathers - at disciplining boys. This is also related to the different degrees of lenience: mothers allow sons more, and fathers allow daughters more. "..A daughter is a barakat in the family, of course, everyone wants to have a son. When a daughter is born to the father in the family, he will understand what I am talking about, how much you can love your daughter. A child has no idea how much his parents love it. When I first had a daughter, it seemed to me that the whole world was lying at my feet. My daughter is the most important thing for me." 4. Men's attitude to the change of role practices of the woman in the family. "... Well, it is not advisable for the mother of the children to work. A woman should, as much as possible, raise her children, cook at home, and so on. That's where her responsibilities end. And a man should work, I think. No, my wife just finished 11th grade. I don't think she will work" (Vakhit, 35 years old) - "Well, it is better to have a mother, no one can replace a mother for children. That is how the Almighty created us." - "There are times when a mother should give advice or guide the children, but if there is no mother, then the father is not to deprive the children of education, he is supposed to bring them up. But if there is a mother in the family, it will be easy for the father. The father is forced to sustain the family, while the mother mostly stays at home, cooks, keeps the house tidy, meets and sees off guests. "..Because he is responsible for the whole family. The woman, as they say here, takes care of the house. And the man is responsible for everyone in the house. The woman is responsible for love in the family, and the man is responsible for the roof of the whole house. The father bears great responsibility in the family: caring for children, work, everything. According to parents, the cultural security of the family lies in preserving the norms and values of traditions and religious norms, at the same time recognizing the necessity for integration into the changing world. The transfer of cultural values within the gender in the North Caucasian society stipulates only the boundaries of tradition and religion. According to parents, the child's gender identity in the socio-cultural paradigm is a resource for the survival strategies of the family and its norms in the context of postmodernism, where parents see the main risks of the influence of global values in the manifestation of multi-vector identities [22]. 5. Conclusion and Recommendations The process of changing the behavioral matrix of the family is a response to the changing reality. A necessity appears for a researcher to reconsider life strategies of the institution of parenthood in the context of the deconstruction of the old communication paradigm of family socialization. The role of the father in the changing world, the change in his behavioral strategies in the family is determined by new challenges of the global information world that are knocking on the door of the family. The sustainability of preserving the mechanisms of the family institution functioning depends on the ability to adapt the communicative strategy of the family in the transfer of the role experience of the parent. At a meta-level the problem determines the prospects for preserving the family as an institution in its classical form. Based on the analysis of theoretical sources on this issue and sociological studies, we came to the following conclusions: - at the moment, studies describing the criteria and levels of psychological readiness of men for fatherhood are scarce, as well as a clear definition of the phenomenon has not been formulated, models and technologies for the targeted formation of psychological readiness of men for fatherhood have not been developed. The study of psychological readiness for fatherhood is presented today mainly in the theoretical aspect while empirical data are in the process of accumulation, systematization with a fairly narrow specialization. Nevertheless, generalizing the ideas of modern authors (T.V. Arkhireeva, Y.V. Borisenko, T.A. Gurko, N.I. Oliferovich, J. H. Pleck, W.E. Fthenakis, etc.), we can interpret psychological readiness for fatherhood as an internal position of the individual the core of which is the integral system of relations of the future father to the role of a parent. This system consists of a set of 8655 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate relations to the future child, to oneself as a future father, to the parental role and parenthood in general. - The formation of psychological readiness for fatherhood in adolescence is a complex multi-stage process. The theoretical framework of our study is confirmed by the analysis of practical studies among fathers of families. That is, three stages of the formation of psychological readiness for fatherhood can be distinguished: - the installation stage, when the boy acquires the first value standards about the role of the father and his purpose. The source is the father or a role model substituting him. In the absence of both - a socio-cultural construct of the ideal model of the prospective father, transmitted by the mother to the children; - the motivational stage consists of the internal attitude of a maturing young man to make a family, meet social expectations of relatives, achieve the status of a father, the desire to be significant and take care of someone. The third stage, personal, associated with understanding the paternal role and value awareness of fatherhood is the direct practice of implementing paternal strategies. The first two are the preparation and testing of a man's readiness to become a father. Pedagogical support for the psychological readiness of young men for fatherhood is an important part of gender socialization of a family in the context of its preparation for conscious parenting practices. - Stable gender attitudes persist, according to which the key role of the father is to sustain the family financially. The functions of raising children and shaping their personality are often delegated to mothers. - At the same time, certain transformations can be traced in the consciousness of modern Chechen fathers. They are manifested in the desire for more emotional interaction with children and breeding not only traditional "masculine" qualities in them, but also valuable personal characteristics. - The changing world brings about a new type of relationship to the younger generation as a result of acquaintance and assimilation of new role practices that are little or not inherent in traditional cultures whatsoever which the North Caucasian society is referred to. - The father archetype enshrined in the traditional culture still occupies a significant place in the mind of the society, and the obvious discrepancy in value attitudes between the real practices of the behavioral role of the father of the modern and postmodern eras, and involvement in the values of the archetypal image of the father still persists in the minds of a significant part of the surveyed fathers of families. - Thus, the modern Chechen family is a family where the core of upbringing is deemed to be within the framework of tradition, but everyday social practices indicate a deconstruction of stable mechanisms in the direction of emotional and cognitive inclusion of the father in the upbringing of children. That is, on the one hand, stable gender stereotypes persist according to which the role of the father is reduced mainly to material backing. On the other hand, the expansion of the sphere of upbringing practices of fathers can become a trigger for a new level of psychological readiness for fatherhood where the constituent factors will be cognitive, emotional inclusion of the parent in the process of preparing young men for fatherhood. Despite many years of discussion platforms on gender education of the family among the expert community, there is still no balanced approach to the key positions of education of psychological readiness for fatherhood in adolescence; according to the surveyed fathers there should be such fundamental qualities as "children", "health", "communication", "respect", "spiritual closeness", "honesty", "traditions", "love" in the core of the family as an institution. At the same time such parameters as "career", "need for creativity" were pushed to the sidelines; socialization of the institution of parenthood, acquisition of skills of father’s behavioral practices still occur according to the respondents through the mechanisms of transfer of the experience of their own parental family, at least for the majority of the surveyed fathers. Gender socialization of children in the family is recognized as meta-education by almost all surveyed fathers of families. The survey showed that fathers' declared involvement in the upbringing of boys is not always confirmed by their knowledge of their sons' lives and surroundings in their daily practice. Among upbringing styles fathers opt for "authoritative" over "authoritarian", "permissive", and "liberal". 8656 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate At the same time, in their value judgments regarding their own upbringing and development as a person, they positively evaluate the authoritarian style and the constructiveness of such a model in the development of their vital and cultural strategies. It turned out that a third of the surveyed fathers can substitute mothers in matters of upbringing, the second third denies such a possibility, and the rest find it difficult to answer this question whatsoever. Thus, we can make brief conclusions on the abovementioned: As a result of a sociological study in the form of in-depth interviews among fathers of families in the Chechen Republic, as well as the results of studies among men in the North Caucasus [21], we have come to the following conclusions: - In the core of the family as an institution, according to the surveyed fathers of families, there should be fundamental qualities such as "children", "health", "communication", "respect", "spiritual closeness", "honesty", "traditions", "love". At the same time, such parameters as "career", "need for creativity" were pushed to the sidelines. If the value of "need for creativity" could be attributed by respondents to the sphere of "abstract and irrelevant" values, the exclusion of the value "career" from the orbit of priorities by the fathers partially disputes the question of the textbook statements of teachers about the devaluation of the axiological sets of modern parenting in the direction of material values. - The socialization of the institution of parenthood, acquisition of skills of behavioral practices of the father still occur according to the respondents, through the mechanisms of transfer of the experience of their own parental family, at least for the majority of the surveyed fathers. Gender socialization of children in the family is recognized as meta-education by almost all surveyed fathers of families. (N=21). But while analyzing the survey files with the questions about age- related features of gender education, fathers did not see any particular problems in raising girls and boys before adolescence. It is the teenage period that becomes problematic in communication and contact with girls in the family for fathers of families. In the absence of the mother, the problem becomes obvious according to the respondents. - The survey showed that the declarative inclusion of fathers in the upbringing of boys: "I talk", "I show an example", "I instill our traditions", etc., was not always confirmed by knowledge of life and environment of their sons in their daily practice. Thus, a significant number of fathers found it difficult to name their son's favorite teacher, names of his friends, their quantity, how often they visit them. And parents' meetings are mainly attended by the mothers of the boys. - Among upbringing styles fathers opt for "authoritative" over "authoritarian", "permissive", and "liberal". - . It turned out that a third of the surveyed fathers can substitute mothers in matters of upbringing, the second third denies such a possibility, and the rest find it difficult to answer this question whatsoever. At the same time, according to the results of research for the 2023 state assignment [22], we conducted a survey among families in the North Caucasus on the subject of changing the value strategies of the family, as an institution of education - the main actor in education remained the mother, regardless of presence or absence of the father. The results of the research (2023) showed that in the presence of the father, his role was often reduced to a "background orbit", limited to the fact that he sustains the family financially, but if there is no father in the family the mother faced big problems in raising her sons. A psychologically explanatory model of such an apparent contradiction can be concealed in the high expectations of the "absent father". Mothers formed an ideal model of a father in the minds of their sons, and even often emotionally integrated into it themselves. The analysis of in-depth interviews among fathers of families also creates a sense of a mirror reflection of the formation of the ideal model of the "absent second parent", that is, the mother. Thus in families where one of the parents was absent and only the mother or father was engaged in upbringing, the image of the second parent was seen in the ideal model. These observations require additional studies of single-parent families, with a more thorough psychological analysis. - A comparative analysis of the two marked studies on the family: last year (2023) and the current (2024), forces us to create a practice-oriented educational and methodological toolkit on the educational 8657 Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology ISSN: 2576-8484 Vol. 8, No. 6: 8648-8657, 2024 DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i6.3853 © 2024 by the authors; licensee Learning Gate model of the father within the specifics of the studied region. Despite many years of discussion platforms among the expert community on the problem of gender education of the family, there is no balanced approach to the key positions of education of psychological readiness for fatherhood in adolescence. 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