To Parent or Not to Parent!

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To Parent or Not to Parent!

• EDCI 331
• September 22, 2003

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Parents come in all shapes and sizes.

• Objectives
• To recognize the impact of parenting on the lives
  of parents
• To recognize the complexities of parenting in
  various configurations

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Families as systems

• Bronfenbrenners
• Ecological Systems theory

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Childbirth

• The birth of a child means change!
• Who is impacted ?
• What are some of the adjustments parents face?

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• What implications do these adjustments have for
  teachers?
• What about later adjustments?

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Dual-employed parents

• Conflicts
• Role overload and conflict
• Prioritizing life roles
• Parental,marital,home,
• occupation
• Coping patterns
• Realizing you cant do it all!

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Single-parents

• Financial concerns
• Role/task overload
• Social life
• Issues with children

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Noncustodial parents

• Visitation
• Custody
• Child support
• Personal, social identity

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Stepparents

• Role ambiguity
• High levels of stress
• Successful stepparenting
• Visher Visher, 1990

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Rewards

• 93 say they would do it again
• Childrens developmental accomplishments

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Todays objectives

• To recognize differences in parenting styles
  including discipline
• To recognize the impact of the style of parenting
  on children

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Todays objectives

• To relate parenting styles to cultural issues
• To look at the issue of child abuse and
  professional responsibilities

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Parental Beliefs

• Guide responses to childs behavior
• Realistic beliefs lead to constructive action
  (Himmelstein,Graham Weiner, 1991 Pridham et
  al., 1995)

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Parenting Styles

• Authoritative
• Authoritarian
• Permissive
• Uninvolved

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Authoritative

• Make reasonable demands based on maturity of
  child
• Set limits
• Insist on obedience

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Authoritative

• Express warmth and affection
• Listen to childs point of view
• Encourage participation in family decision making

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Authoritative

• Rational
• Democratic
• Respectful of rights of parents and children

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Authoritative

• Children are
• Happy
• Self-confident
• Self-controlled
• Independent
• Friendly and cooperative

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Authoritative

• Older children
• High self-esteem
• Social and moral maturity
• School involvement
• Academic achievement

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Authoritarian

• Demand conformity
• Little give-and-take
• Disobedience results in punishment

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Authoritarian

• Parents needs most important
• Suppress childrens self-expression and
  independence

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Authoritarian

• Preschoolers
• Anxious
• Withdrawn
• Unhappy
• Hostile with peers when frustrated

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Authoritarian

• Boys
• Angry
• Defiant
• Girls
• Dependent
• Retreat from challenging tasks

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Authoritarian

• Adolescents
• Less well-adjusted
• School performance better than children of
  undemanding parent
• Less likely to engage in antisocial acts

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Permissive

• Nurturing
• Accepting
• No demands or controls
• Often lack confidence and organization

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Permissive

• Children
• Immature
• Little impulse control
• Disobedient
• Rebellious

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Permissive

• Less persistent on tasks
• Dependent on adults
• Nonachieving behavior
• Effects especially strong for boys

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Permissive

• Adolescents
• Poor self-control
• Less involved in school learning
• More drug use

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Uninvolved

• Undemanding
• Indifferent or rejecting
• Often overwhelmed
• Avoid inconvenience

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Uninvolved

• Extreme form is neglect
• Disrupts all aspects of development
• Emotionally detached, depressed mothers

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Uninvolved

• Babies show deficits in many domains
• Attachment
• Cognition
• Play
• Emotional/social skills

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Uninvolved

• Preschoolers
• Aggression
• Acting-out
• Noncompliant
• Demanding

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Uninvolved

• Adolescents
• Low frustration tolerance
• Poor emotional control
• Poor school achievement
• Lack long-term goals
• Engage in delinquent acts

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Multicultural issues

• Differing cultural beliefs may impact
  parent/school involvement
• This does not imply a difference in caring!

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Multicultural issues

• Legal definitions of child abuse are not
  flexible, regardless of cultural differences

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SES

• Higher SES does not necessarily lead to better
  parenting behaviors

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Child abuse and neglect

• Results from dysfunctional parenting
• Occurs in all cultural groups
• All socioeconomic groups

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Child abuse and neglect

• More common in younger parents
• Parents with little social support

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Child abuse and neglect

• 8-55 of abused children exhibit intellectual or
  physical impairment
• Higher stress levels in families of at risk

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Child abuse and neglect

• the physical or mental injury, sexual abuse or
  exploitation, negligent treatment, or
  maltreatment of a child under the age of 18 (
  except in the case of sexual abuse)

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Child abuse and neglect

• Negative comments
• Indifference
• Avoidance of alone time with certain adults

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Child abuse and neglect

• Blaming
• Belittling
• Sees child as bad, evil
• Finds nothing good or attractive in child

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Child abuse and neglect

• Fails to keep appointments to discuss child
• Obvious alcohol or drug abuse

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Child abuse and neglect

• Look for clusters of clues
• If youre sure it wont put the child at greater
  risk, you may talk with him about the incident

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Child abuse and neglect

• The purpose of the discussion is to gather
  information for a report
• Private, nonthreatening environment
• Not an interrogation!!!!