Parenting Case Study

As a parent, you may assume that you know the best way to raise your child. In fact, we are raised to blindly believe “Momma knows best” and parents are always right. In society today, everyone seems to offer their advice on parenting. You do not have to ask for it and advice may not come from fellow parents. Most can agree, there is a right and wrong way to parent; however, the right way for one child may be the wrong way for another child. Thanks to Diana Baumrind, who presided over the extensive studies of parent-child relationships in the home in the 1970’s, we know there are four different types of parenting styles: Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive and Rejecting-Neglecting. Each one of these styles affects the child differently at certain stages of that child’s life. Based on two dimensions, nurturing, which is love, and discipline, which is structure, we can classify parents to determine where they fall in Baumrind’s parenting styles.
Parenting Styles Authoritative If a parent is classified high in

Parents are rated high in nurture and low in structure. They do not expect certain rules and rarely discipline their children. Permissive parents are easily manipulated, which in turn the children are allowed total freedom without repercussions. These parents offer their children unconditional love. The by-product of this parenting style is a demanding and difficult child, as well as someone who lacks empathy and kindness for others (Wentzel & Russell, 2009). They gravitate to be more of a follower than a leader and are often considered spoiled. It would only be optimal to use this form of parenting style when your child is an adult living on their own. They no longer require rules set by parents, but they still desire your love.