Daughters, Dads, and the Path through Grief: Tales from Italian America

The father-daughter relationship can be central to both the father and the daughter, yet there is a dearth of psychological research that attests to its significance as a multifaceted and consequential relationship. In the Italian-American community, there has been even less emphasis on the impact that fathers can have on the psychological development of Italian-American daughters.

Addressing this absence in the psychology literature from their new book, Daughters, Dads, and the Path through Grief: Tales from Italian America, Donna DiCello, Psy.D., and Lorraine Mangione, Ph.D., will discuss fathers and daughters from the early years to the death of the father and beyond, in the context of Italian-American culture. Based on interviews with fifty Italian-American women, it is a book that brings to life the complexity and value of daughters and dads, illustrating how intricate these strong attachments can be. Through interwoven narratives we are shown that while certainly not perfect and not always easy, this relationship can provide a foundation for love, work, creativity, spirituality, and family relationships.