Socialization: Family

1
Socialization Family

• Chapter 15

2

• The family is a social system networks of
  reciprocal relationships that are constantly
  evolving
• Direct effects
• Indirect effects

3

• Parent effects model
• Child effects model
• Transactional model

4
Parenting Styles

• Baumrind
• Dimensions of parenting
• Acceptance/responsiveness
• Demandingness/control

5

• Figure 15.2 Two major dimensions of parenting.
  When we cross the two dimensions, we come up with
  four parenting styles. BASED ON MACCOBY
  MARTIN, 1983.

6
Child-rearing pattern Preschool Outcomes
Authoritative Cheerful, socially responsible, self-reliant, achievement oriented, cooperative
Authoritarian Moody, unhappy, easily annoyed, unfriendly, aimless, not pleasant to be around
Permissive Impulsive and aggressive, bossy, self-centered, lacked self-control, low in independence and achievement
Indulgent None in study
7
Outcomes Outcomes
Child-rearing pattern Childhood Adolescence
Authoritative High cognitive and social competencies High self-esteem, excellent social skills, strong moral/prosocial concern, high academic achievement
Authoritarian Average cognitive and social competencies Average academic performance and social skills more conforming than adolescents of permissive parents
Permissive Low cognitive and social competencies Poor self-control and academic performance more drug use than adolescents of authoritative or authoritarian parents
8
Child-Rearing Patterns and Adolescence

• Lamborn, Mounts, Steinberg, and Dornbusch (1991)
• measures of psychosocial competence and
  psychological and behavioral dysfunction

9

• A parent takes a child to a shoe store and the
  parent selects three pairs of shoes that are
  acceptable to the parent in price and type. The
  child is told, You may decide which you would
  like. This is what we can afford and I think
  these are suitable styles and quality. (Think
  about what impact this parenting style might have
  on the childs eventual ability to pick out shoes
  on his/her own.)

10

• A parent takes a child to a shoe store and says,
  What do you like? The child selects a pair
  that costs more than the parent can afford or
  that is not a suitable type of shoe in the
  parents judgment. The parent says, No, I cant
  buy that pair. The child whines and fusses
  until the parent gives in.

11

• A parent takes a child to a shoe store and tells
  the salesperson, Well try on those. The child
  is given no say and ends up with a pair of shoes
  that s/he hates. The child feels disrespected.
  (No one asked me what I wanted.) The child
  says nothing out of fear of parental
  love-withdrawal (parent pouts and gives child
  silent treatment) or fear of harsh reaction
  (parent says, You are just a spoiled brat you
  dont appreciate anything I do for you! or
  parent slaps or spanks child for complaining).

12

• Appropriate behavior needs
• Compliance
• Internalization of standards

13
Effects of Prohibitions

• Carlsmith
• Kindergarteners rank toys on attractiveness
• E leaves, told not to play
• Mild vs. severe threat
• Temptation period
• Preference for toys assessed

14
Effects of Prohibitions

• Are they using this time to reflect on their
  behavior and attribute it internally or
  externally?
• What if children are told that all other children
  had obeyed E?
• If given before the temptation period, what would
  you expect?
• If given after the temptation period, what would
  you expect?

15
Effects of Rewards

• magic markers and paper set up on a table in a
  preschool classroom
• children who drew with them during free time were
  later taken to another room and asked to draw
  again
• 3 conditions
• expected reward
• unexpected reward
• no reward
• 2 weeks later markers returned to table in
  classroom

16
Minimum Sufficiency Principle

• its important to produce compliance
• failure to gain compliance reduces likelihood of
  future compliance
• must exert enough control to gain compliance
• control is subtle enough to not be perceived as
  sole reason for compliance

17
Behavioral vs. Psychological Control

• Behavioral control
• regulating conduct through firm but reasonable
  discipline and monitoring activities
• Psychological control
• attempts to influence a child/adolescents
  behavior by psychological means
• Separation anxious
• Achievement oriented

18
Social Class Differences

• Low SES parents compared to middle SES parents
• stress obedience and respect for authority
• more restrictive and authoritarian
• more likely to use power-assertive discipline
• less likely to show warmth and affection

19
Explanations for SES Differences

• More stress
• Work-role requires deference to authority

20
Sibling Relationships

• 80 of Americans grow up with at least one
  sibling
• Drop on maternal involvement with older child
  with birth of baby
• Older sibs become more domineering, aggressive,
  and also more likely to initiate helpful,
  playful, and other prosocial behaviors
• Younger sibs become more compliant

21
Sibling Relationships

• Sibling Relationships During Middle Childhood and
  Adolescence
• during middle childhood ? increase in conflict
• continue to rely on each other for companionship,
  emotional support, and assistance with everyday
  tasks

22
Sibling Relationships

• Parents harmony matters
• Parental monitoring matters
• Sibling relationships are better if parents
  respond warmly and sensitively to all children

23
Sibling Relationships

• Siblings provide emotional support
• Siblings can be models and teachers
• Children in one-child families ? well-adjusted
  and socially competent
• May even be more obedient and slightly more
  intellectually competent

24
Adoptive Families

• Sensitivity associated with secure attachment
• Can bring issues related to insecure attachments
  from previous homes
• Unresolved curiosity about roots
• Transracial or transcultural adoption ?
  identities are healthy blends
• Move towards open adoptions

25
Donor Insemination Families

• Infertile couples/single women
• Concerns
• Golomboks 12-year longitudinal study

26

• Figure 15.4 Sexual orientation of adult children
  raised by lesbian mothers, gay fathers, and
  single-parent heterosexual mothers. (Notice that
  children with homosexual parents are just as
  likely to display a heterosexual orientation as
  children raised by heterosexuals. ADAPTED FROM
  BAILEY ET AL., 1995 GOLOMBOK TASSER, 1996.

27
Family Conflict and Divorce

• 40-50 of marriages end in divorce
• More than half of children will spend time in a
  single-parent home
• Not a singular life event
• Often begins with marital conflict
• Includes many life changes

28
Family Conflict and Divorce

• Period prior to divorce often includes a rise in
  family conflict
• Regular exposure to marital discord contributes
  to adjustment problems, including anxiety,
  depression, and externalizing disorders
• Direct and indirect effects

29
Divorce

• Families often disrupted for a year or more after
  divorce
• Friends/financial situation may change
• Mothers may be overwhelmed with new
  responsibilities

30
Divorce

• Period immediately following divorce associated
  with more negative outcomes
• high level of conflict during that time
• adverse economic conditions
• stresses resulting from mother having to start
  work or increase hours
• compound effects of the father leaving and the
  mother being physically and emotionally less
  available to the child
• child often temporarily loses both parents

31
Divorce

• Childrens initial reactions vary as a function
  of gender and age
• Preschool/early grade school
• Preteen/early teens
• Adolescents

32
Divorce

• Long Term Reactions to Divorce
• Better for a child to be in a stable
  single-parent home than a conflict-ridden
  two-parent home
• Not all divorcing families experience all of the
  difficulties mentioned previously

33
Divorce

• Longitudinal data from the large-scale
  longitudinal National Survey of Children
• poor relationships with their fathers and mothers
• dropping out of high school
• repeating a grade
• being in the lower half of class
• receiving psychological help