Developmental Views of Parenting Style and Effectiveness

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Developmental Views of Parenting Style and Effectiveness

Parenting effectiveness and influence have been studied by developmental

psychologists who have been interested in the role of parenting and how it may affect the

success or failure of children. An important aspect to this area of research is parenting

styles. There have been four styles noted and each may have differing outcomes for the

children in later life: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and unengaged/uninvolved.

Positive discipline and corporal punishment are ways parents may choose to respond to a

child?s misbehavior. Usually corporal punishment is identified with the authoritative

style and positive discipline with the authoritarian style. Research has suggested that

parenting strategies might be culturally specific in their relation to child behavior

problems. Socioeconomic status has also been found to affect child-rearing practices and

poverty can cause strained parental-child relations which causes parents to be less

nurturing. When negative behaviors have been identified behavioral family

interventions, which apply social learning principles, have been suggested as a means of

helping children with conduct problems.

Four Styles of Child Rearing

Permissive parents "are more responsive than they are demanding. They are

nontraditional and lenient, do not require mature behavior, allow considerable

self-regulation, and avoid confrontation" (Baumrind,1991, p.62). They allow their

children to make too many decisions for themselves. Some of these parents believe that

they have little control of their children?s behaviors.

Authoritarian parents ?are obedienc...

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youth. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29 (2), 266-281.

Harris, S., Holden, G., Miller, P. (1999). The instrumental side of corporal

punishment: parents reported practices and outcome expectancies. Journal of Marriage

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