Chapter 11 Parenting

Chapter Outline Roles Involved in Parenting Choices Perspective of Parenting Transition to Parenthood Parenthood: Some Facts Principles of Effective Parenting Single Parenting Issues Approaches to Childrearing

True or False? Mothers, more than fathers, are much more likely to overindulge their children.

Answer: True Mothers, more than fathers, are much more likely to overindulge their children.

True or False? Infants who sleep with their own parents in the parents’ bed are at significant risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome when compared with children who do not share a bed with their parents.

Answer: False A study of 260 SIDS deaths found that the usual bed sharing where one infant shares the bed with a parent is not associated with SIDS. However, where the parent slept on a sofa or where more than one child was in the bed, there was an increased risk of SIDS.

True or False? Parents, compared to nonparents, report higher marital satisfaction.

Answer: False A study of the effect children have on marital satisfaction found: –Parents (both women and men) reported lower marital satisfaction than nonparents. –Mothers of infants reported the most significant drop in marital satisfaction. –The higher the number of children, the lower the marital satisfaction. –Factors that depressed marital satisfaction were conflict and loss of freedom.

Roles Involved in Parenting 1. Caregiver 2. Emotional Resource 3. Economic Resource 4. Teacher 5. Protector 6. Health Promotion 7. Ritual Bearer

Parent as Teacher Learning how to fish begins with learning how to use the equipment. A hands-on lesson is the beginning of the skill. Pg. 317

Parent as Protector This mother is ensuring the safety of her child by putting her child on the school bus. Pg. 318

Nature of Parenting Choices Not to make a parental decision is to make a decision. All parental choices involve trade-offs. Reframe “regretful” parental decisions.

Five Basic Parenting Choices 1. Deciding whether to have a child. 2. Deciding the number of children. 3. Deciding the interval between children. 4. Deciding one’s method of discipline and guidance. 5. Deciding the degree to which one will be invested in the role of parent.

Transition to Motherhood Although childbirth is sometimes thought of as painful, some women describe the experience as fantastic, joyful, and unsurpassed. Emotional bonding may be temporarily impeded by a mild depression, characterized by irritability, crying, loss of appetite, and difficulty sleeping.

Transition to Motherhood A woman’s transition to the role of mother begins when she becomes pregnant. Pg. 320

How Children Benefit From an Involved Father Make good grades Less involved in crime Good health/self- concept Have a strong work ethic Have durable marriages Have a strong moral conscience Have higher life satisfaction Have higher incomes as adults Have higher education levels

How Children Benefit From an Involved Father Form close friendships Have stable jobs Have fewer premarital births Have lower child sex abuse Exhibit fewer anorectic symptoms

Percentage of Couples Getting Divorced by Number of Children

Transition from a Couple to a Family Researchers disagree over whether children have a negative or positive impact on a couple’s marital relationship. Regardless of how children affect the feelings spouses have about their marriage, spouses report more commitment to their relationship once they have children.

Parenthood: Some Facts Each Child Is Unique –Parents soon become aware of how each child is different from every other child they know. Parents Are Only One Influence in a Child’s Development –Others include: siblings, teachers, media, internet

Parenting Styles Permissive parents are high on responsiveness and low on demandingness. Authoritarian parents are high on demandingness and low in responsiveness. Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive. Uninvolved parents are low in responsiveness and demandingness.

Question What style of parenting is associated with obedience at all costs? A.authoritative parenting B.permissive parenting C.authoritarian parenting D.democratic parenting

Answer: C The authoritarian parenting style is associated with obedience at all costs.

Question Who are more likely to defer to their children? A.permissive parents B.democratic parents C.authoritative parents D.authoritarian parents

Answer: A Permissive parents are more likely to defer to their children.

Principles of Effective Parenting Time, Love, Praise, and Encouragement –Since children depend on their parents for the development of their of emotional security, that parents must provide a warm emotional context in which the children can develop.

Principles of Effective Parenting Monitor Child’s Activities –Abundant research suggests that parents who know where their children are and who they are with, are less likely to report that their adolescents are involved in delinquent behavior such as drinking alcohol, poor academic performance, and sexual activity.

Principles of Effective Parenting Set Limits and Discipline Children for Inappropriate Behavior –The goal of guidance is self-control. –Guidance may involve reinforcing desired behavior or providing limits to children’s behavior.

Principles of Effective Parenting Provide Security –Security provides children with the needed self-assurance to venture beyond the family. Encourage Responsibility –Giving children increased responsibility encourages the autonomy and independence they need to be assertive and independent.

Principles of Effective Parenting Provide Sex Education –Although they are reluctant to discuss safe sex, their doing so often has positive consequences. Express Confidence –If the parents show the child that they have confidence in him or her, the child begins to accept these social definitions as real and becomes more self-confident.

Principles of Effective Parenting Respond to Teen Years Creatively –Catch them doing what you like rather than criticizing them for what you don’t like. –Be direct when necessary. –Provide information rather than answers. –Be tolerant of high activity levels. –Engage in some activity with your teenagers.

Teenagers Teenagers present a special challenge to parents; to begin with, teenagers sometimes put a low value on parents. Pg. 332

Single Parents At least half of all children will spend 1/4 of their lives in a female-headed household. The stereotype of the single parent is the unmarried Black single mother. In reality, 40% of single mothers are white and only 33% are Black.

Single Parents A single-parent family is one in which there is only one parent. –The other parent is completely out of the child’s life through death, sperm donation, or complete abandonment. A single-parent household is one in which one parent typically has primary custody of the child or children but the parent living out of the house is still a part of the child’s family.

Challenges of Single Parenting 1. Responding to the demands of parenting with limited help. 2. Adult emotional needs. 3. Adult sexual needs. 4. Lack of money. 5. If the other parent is completely out of the child’s life, the single parent needs to appoint a guardian in the event of death or disability.

Challenges of Single Parenting 6. Prenatal care. Single women who decide to have a child have poorer pregnancy outcomes than married women. 7. Absence of a father. 8. Negative life outcomes for the child in a single- parent family.

Question Which of the following is not a challenge faced by a single parent? A.independence B.satisfaction of adult needs C.financial struggles D.discipline of children

Answer: A Independence is not a challenge faced by a single parent.

Approaches to Childrearing Developmental-Maturational Approach –“Ages-and-stages” approach to childrearing Behavioral Approach –Behavior is learned through classical and operant conditioning.

Approaches to Childrearing Parent Effectiveness Training Approach –Focuses on what children feel and experience in the here and now—how they see the world. Socioteleological Approach –Because children feel powerless in the face of adult superiority, they try to compensate by gaining attention, exerting power, seeking revenge, and acting inadequate.

Approaches to Childrearing Attachment Parenting –Overall, the ultimate goal is for parents to get connected with their baby. –Once parents are connected, it is easy for parents to figure out what works for them and to develop a parenting style that fits them and their baby.

Question What is the primary focus of parent effectiveness training? A.family systems theory B.letting children make their own decisions C.operant conditioning D.life and behavior based on how children view their world

Answer: D The primary focus of parent effectiveness training is life and behavior based on how children view their world.

Question The theory that children feel powerless and act out to compensate for it is the basis for A.social learning approach. B.family systems theory. C.socioteleological approach. D.reality therapy.

Answer: C The theory that children feel powerless and act out to compensate for it is the basis for socioteleological approach.