Research on intergenerational learning includes a range of studies that focus on the transmission of beliefs and practices and modeling of behaviors from generation to generation. This critical review focuses on the broader issues in intergenerational learning and the multiple, though small, streams of work that examine the impact of fathers' involvement in families. The discussion focuses on four areas: (1) intergenerational and life-course issues that have emerged over the past 25 years; (2) parental influences on children, with special emphasis on parenting and grandparenting, parent-child relationships, attitudes and beliefs, divorce, and status attainment; (3) unhealthy families; and (4) racial and cultural issues. The review concludes by focusing on the limitations and inherent constraints in examining issues on fathers and by offering recommendations for research, practice, and policy analyses that might expand the discourse(s) in the field on questions about culture, the impact of divorce, and the complementary role of mothers and fathers in children's development. (Contains 212 references.) (Author)