Men not included? A critical psychology analysis of lesbian families and male influence in child rearing

This paper explores debates about male presence and influence in lesbian families from a critical psychology standpoint. Critical psychology encompasses a variety of radical approaches to psychological research that reject traditional psychological assumptions, concepts and methods and that seek to challenge and resist normative values. To explore aspects of the discursive terrain of male influence and to demonstrate the merits of a critical psychology of lesbian families, excerpts from an interview with a lesbian couple who are members of a planned lesbian/ gay family (two mummies and a daddy) are analysed. These excerpts show that debates about male influence create live dilemmas and tensions for the lesbian couple and have important consequences for how lesbian parents negotiate and do family. © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved