parenting styles: research openings by suman k murthy dec jssw 2013 issn: 0976-3759

8/13/2019 Parenting Styles: Research Openings by Suman K Murthy Dec JSSW 2013 ISSN: 0976-3759

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/parenting-styles-research-openings-by-suman-k-murthy-dec-jssw-2013-issn-0976-3759 1/7



Journal of SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK December 2013 Journal of SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK December 2013

ISSN: 0976-3759 ISSN: 0976-3759Volume X Issue 07

01

A National School Social Work monthly dedicated to networking of parents and teachers.

Price Rs 20.00

Journal of

School Social Work

Note: Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily

the official view of the Journal.

Journal of School Social Work,8 (New 14), Sridevi Colony,

Seventh Avenue, Ashok Nagar,

Chennai 600083

Mobile:

98406 02325

jssw.india@

gmail.com

Focus: Parenting Challenges

C o n t e n t s

Volume X Issue 7 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 Page

Editorial Dr Laxmi 02

Parenting Styles Retold Deepti Redhu and Asmita 03

Social Work Perspective of Parenting Style

Sasikala S and Dr Florance Shalini J 07

Social Work Intervention forAcademic Excellence

John Packiaraj M 11

Attitude of Student-Teachers towards Teaching Profession

Pachiyappan P and Dr Ushalaya Raj D 15Parental Choice in Selecting Schools for Their Wards

Dr Ramakrishnan N 21

Parenting Styles: Research Openings

Dr Suman K Murthy 27

Hony Special Editor:

Dr Laxmi, MSW, Ph.D

Assistant Professor, DOS in Social Work,

Pooja Bhagavath Memorial Mahajana P.G. Centre,Mysore, Karnataka, India





26

From Date:

Principal/ Librarian,

PIN:

Past Subscription no:

Sir,

Sub: Renewal/ New Subscription reg.

Please find enclosed a crossed DD drawn in favour of JOURNAL OF

SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK for Rs 1200.00 (5 years’ subscription)

Rs 2400 (10 years’ subscription) Rs 3600.00 (Patron subscription 15

years) payable at Chennai Service Branch.

Details of DD: No: dated

drawn onThe Journal may please be sent to the following address:

Thanking you,

Yours truly,

Signature and seal A photocopy may also be used.

To

Subscription Division,

Journal of School Social Work,

8 (New 14), Sridevi Colony,

7th Avenue, Ashok Nagar,

Chennai 600083

Journal of School Social Work has a current account (A/C no: 409201010035051) in

Ashok Nagar, Chennai branch of Union Bank of India (IFSC Code: UBINO540927.)

Subscription can be directly remitted from ANY BANK, anywhere in India.

PINCODE:

26

From Date:

Principal/ Librarian,

PIN:

Past Subscription no:

Sir,

Sub: Renewal/ New Subscription reg.

Please find enclosed a crossed DD drawn in favour of JOURNAL OF

SCHOOL SOCIAL WORK for Rs 1200.00 (5 years’ subscription)

Rs 2400 (10 years’ subscription) Rs 3600.00 (Patron subscription 15

years) payable at Chennai Service Branch.

Details of DD: No: dated

drawn onThe Journal may please be sent to the following address:

Thanking you,

Yours truly,

Signature and seal A photocopy may also be used.

To

Subscription Division,

Journal of School Social Work,

8 (New 14), Sridevi Colony,

7th Avenue, Ashok Nagar,

Chennai 600083

Journal of School Social Work has a current account (A/C no: 409201010035051) in

Ashok Nagar, Chennai branch of Union Bank of India (IFSC Code: UBINO540927.)

Subscription can be directly remitted from ANY BANK, anywhere in India.

PINCODE:





02

Parents play an important role in

the development of children.

Parenting is a very big challenge in

modern times, but, a pleasant one

anytime. Every child is unique and

different. So, parenting approaches

should also be unique. Parents faceseveral challenges like economic,

social, psychological, academic and

health, of their own and concerning

their wards.

The economic need of the present

day children is quite high and they are

demanding. Most of the parents find

it very difficult to say ‘no’ to their

children. Many times parents are

responsible for such situationsbecause they fulfill their needs before

they ask for it.

In the social front, joint families are

dwindling in number and nuclear

families are growing resulting in less

opportunity for children to interact with

others and to understand the

importance of relationships. This

deficit leads to adjustment problems.

Majority of the parents come across

with children’s adjustment problems

after they enrol them to schools.

Now-a-days children are very sensitive

and such children can be highly

achieving. But, they are also

exhausting for some parents.

Emotionally sensitive children seem

to respond to each negative

experience as though it were the end

of the world. Managing such children

and making them emotionally strong

individuals is an uphill task. Positive

enforcement from the parents is very

much required for the children andparents have to spend a lot of time

with their children. Examination is not

only for the children, it is also for the

parents.

Health is an important component

of child development. Provision of

nutritious food is crucial to improve the

health of the children. Making the

children to eat homemade and

nutritious food by itself is a greatchallenge for the modern parents.

Children are very fussy about eating

which can lead to malnourishment

and health problems.

The forces of modernization have

a significant impact on shaping the

rational development of children.

Education of girls is very much

essential for the sustainable

development of the society. Thoughmodern parents are very keen to

provide education for their girl children

they are very much worried about their

security. Every day is a challenge for

the parents of girl child. Despite all

odds, modern parents do make their

children healthy citizens of the society.

Parenting: A Pleasant Challenge

Editorial

27

Parenting Styles: Research Openings Suman K Murthy*

*Dr Suman K Murthy, Associate Professor, Dept. of Social Work, Pooja Bhagavat

Memorial Mahajana Post Graduate Centre, KRS Road, Metagalli, Mysore 570016

Introduction:

The nurturing environment at

home, brings out the hidden talents

of the child to bloom into a positivepersonality. On the other hand,

negative atmosphere, lack of

encouragement, deprivations and

criticisms can form obstacles to the

development of the child’s potentials.

Parenting styles refer to a group of

behaviours exhibited by the parents

in the upbringing of their children.

Researchers distinguish between

parenting patterns and parentingstyles.

Parenting pattern Vs. style:

Parenting patterns, according to

researchers, is the specific behaviours

exhibited by the parents while they

socialize with their children. The

parenting style is referred to the

emotional climate, parental

responsiveness and demands. There

is a vast body of literature andresearch on impact of parenting styles

in the development of the children.

During the early 1960s,

psychologist Diana Baumrind

conducted a study on more than 100

preschool-age children (Baumrind,

1967). Using naturalistic observation,

parental interviews and other research

methods, she identified three

important dimensions. The fourth

dimension was added later based onthe following parameters:

Disciplinary strategies

Warmth and nurturance

Communication styles

Expectations of maturity and

control

Authoritarian parenting :

In this style of parenting, children

are expected to follow the strict rules

established by the parents. Failure tofollow such rules usually results in

punishment. Authoritarian parents fail

to explain the reasoning behind these

rules. If asked to explain, the parent

might simply reply, “Because I said

so.” These parents have high

demands, but are not responsive to

their children. According to Baumrind,

these parents “are obedience- and

status-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without

explanation” (1991). Authoritarian

parenting styles generally lead to

children who are obedient and

proficient, but they rank lower in

happiness, social competence and

self-esteem.





28

Authoritative parenting:

Like authoritarian parents, those

with an authoritative parenting style

establish rules and guidelines that their

children are expected to follow.

However, this parenting style is much

more democratic. Authoritative

parents are responsive to their childrenand willing to listen to questions. When

children fail to meet the expectations,

these parents are more nurturing and

forgiving rather than punishing.

Baumrind suggests that these parents

“monitor and impart clear standards

for their children’s conduct. They are

assertive, but not intrusive and

restrictive. Their disciplinary methods

are supportive, rather than punitive.They want their children to be

assertive as well as socially

responsible, and self-regulated as well

as cooperative” (1991). Authoritative

parenting styles tend to result in

children who are happy, capable and

successful (Maccoby, 1992).

Permissive parenting:

Permissive parents, sometimes

referred to as indulgent parents, have

very few demands to make of their

children. These parents rarely

discipline their children because they

have relatively low expectations of

maturity and self-control. According to

Baumrind, 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”

(1991). Permissive parents are

generally nurturing and

communicative with their children,

often taking on the status of a friendmore than that of a parent. Permissive

parenting often results in children who

rank low in happiness and self-

regulation. These children are more

likely to experience problems with

authority and tend to perform poorly

in school.

Uninvolved parenting:

An uninvolved parenting style is

characterized by few demands, lowresponsiveness and little

communication. While these parents

fulfill the child’s basic needs, they are

generally detached from their child’s

life. In extreme cases, these parents

may even reject or neglect the needs

of their children. Uninvolved parenting

styles rank lowest across all life

domains. These children tend to lack

self-control, have low self-esteem and

are less competent than their peers

(Kendra, 2013).

Ideal parenting style:

Kopko (2007) in a review on the

parenting styles and adolescents

highlights that the authoritative

parenting style has been considered

29

as an ideal parenting style which

balances demands with freedom as

it provides a balance between

affection and support and an

appropriate degree of parental control

in managing adolescent behaviour.

The review further comments that

different parenting styles are adoptedin different cultures. Further in the

same family, siblings may receive

different parental styles which is an

area not researched by the

researchers.

Internal factors:

The parenting styles depend on

various parental internal factors such

as mood and lack of sleep, as well as

external factors such as stress and job responsibilities . Individual child

characteristics also play an important

role in parenting styles. The review

notes by Kopko notes that, the

researchers cannot devise

experiments in which one group of

teens is assigned to a set of parents

who will solely parent in an

authoritative manner and another

group of teens is assigned to parents

who will solely parent in an

authoritarian manner.

The role of heredity:

Further, nature versus nurture

debate also at some points in time

mutually undermines or exaggerates

the role of heredity and environment

which complicates the role of

parenting in the upbringing of the

children.

Three dimensions of parenting:

Barber and Olsen (2005) have

identified three dimensions of

parenting that appear to characterize

parental influence across multiplecultural samples, both in industrialized

and non-industrialized countries.

Parental support, which refers to

varied behaviours with ‘affective,

nurturing or companionate’ qualities,

is especially relevant to the older child

and adolescent’s degree of social

initiative. Psychological control refers

to parents’ actions that attempt to

change the child’s thoughts or feelings,ignores or dismisses the child’s views

and withdraws love or affection; such

parental behaviour has been

associated with the development of

depressive symptoms later in a child’s

life. Finally, behavioural control refers

to parents’ monitoring and knowledge

of children’s activities and is relevant

to the extent of the child’s anti-social

behaviour.

Studies about Indian style:

The research studies have pointed

out that parenting is culture-specific,

family-specific as well as parent-

specific. When one looks at the studies

related to parenting styles of Indian

subcontinent, indigenous studies on





30

parent

ing styles are not many. A

number of studies in the context of

migrant Indian’s parenting styles at

different countries have been seen.

All such studies have always kept the

parenting styles module presented by

Baumrind, (1967) as the baseline for

classification. The universalapplicability of these findings has,

however, been called into question in

recent years. Correlations have

consistently been found for white

North American middle-class families

and sometimes for minority ethnic

North Americans (Steinberg et al.,

1992) with regard to Baumrind’s

proposed parenting styles. However,

social class, gender and ethnicity haveall been found to produce outcomes

that run counter to these patterns

(Phoenix and Husain, 2007).

Perception of students:

Barnhart et al (2013) compared

perception of parenting styles among

college students in India and America.

The study examined perceptions of

parenting style as a function of

participant’s culture, participant’s

gender, and parent gender in college

students in India and the United

States. Using a new vignette-based

self-report measure that characterizes

each of Baumrind’s three parenting

styles, participants rated perceptions

of effectiveness, helpfulness, caring,

and normativeness of each style. The

study found that Indian college

students considered the parent

demonstrating permissive parenting to

be more effective and helpful than US

college students. In contrast, US

college students considered the

parents demonstrating authoritativeand authoritarian parenting to be more

effective, helpful, and caring than

Indian college students.

Tools of the trade:

With regard to tools for measuring

the parenting styles, a number of

questionnaires have been prepared

based on the description of parenting

styles given by Baumrind, such as

The Parenting Styles and DimensionsQuestionnaire (PSDQ) by Robinson,

Mandelco, Olsen and Hart, (1995). A

number of case vignettes have also

been designed to find out the

parenting styles of the respondents

based on the three parental styles.

Indian approach to parenting:

Research openings of Indian

approach to life stages and child

rearing are related to the Ashramas

of Brahmacharya, Grihastha,

Vanaprastha and Sanyasa in which

the individuals were supposed to fulfill

the four purusharthas of Life namely

Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.

The childhood denoted as Balya was

from birth till the fifth year of age and/

or further till the child was initiated into

Brahmacharya ashrama through the

Upanayana ceremony.

Fomal and vocational education:

In the olden days, those who did

not go to Gurukulas for formal learning/

training learnt the trade of their

ancestors by apprenticing themselveswith parents or relatives of the joint

family household. The transmission of

values, ethics and culture was through

the oral tradition of narrating stories,

enacting the mythological stories, folk

music and other art forms. The

children were considered equivalent

to God due to their innocence. Hence

physical punishment was not

prescribed, rather they were given fullfreedom to explore their surroundings

without any hindrance. The education

of girl child was not generally in formal

settings and the girls were taught

essentials of running the household

chores from early ages by being with

the womenfolk of the family.

Western influence:

Due to introduction of Western

education, the Indian approach to

parenting styles, transmission of

knowledge and the above mentioned

activities by the parents and elders

have undergone a change. Women

are now given an opportunity to

undergo formal education which was

a taboo in the olden days. The

changing role of women as home

maker as well as wage earner has

changed a number of roles that the

women undertake in parenting. Thus

there is a need to focus research on

the child rearing and parenting styles

in the past to record the traditional

parenting styles of Indian culture.Further, the current parenting styles

adopted by the Indian parents needs

to be addressed.

With the modern education, there

is a lot of change in the educational

process of the children. Now the focus

has been on formal education starting

with pre nursery/ non formal

schooling. Thus the amount of time

spent by the children in the companyof parents and family has lessened.

In this context, the influence of

parenting styles on children needs to

be examined.

Conclusion:

The role of TV in entertainment has

gradually eroded the oral

transmission/ narrative styles. The

impact of this change in parenting style

needs to be examined. Research

studies focusing on the gender-specific

parenting styles, needs to be

undertaken in the Indian context. The

parenting styles of rural/ urban and

educated/ uneducated parents’ needs

are to be explored. Indigenous studies

on emerging parenting styles in the

31





32

Published and owned by P. Jayachandran Naidu. Published from

8, Sridevi Colony, 7th Avenue, Ashok Nagar, Chennai 600083 and printed

by T. Rajaguru at TRK Press, 39, Saidapet Road, Vadapalani, Chennai

600026. Editor: P. Jayachandran Naidu.

Journal of School Social Work English Monthly ISSN: 0976-3759

Registered with Registrar of Newspapers for India under No: TNENG/2004/14389

Postal Registration: TN/ CC (S) DN / 47 / 12-14

Licensed to post under: TN/PMG (CCR) / WPP - 663 / 12-14

Date of publication: 3rd Day of the Month

context of the above mentioned

factors need to be taken up for

understanding various parenting stylesin the Indian context. Such studies can

throw light on the best parenting styles

which can bring out the potentials of

children.

References:

Barber B, Stolz H and Olsen J (2005): Parental Support, Psychological Control

and Behavioural Control: Assessing Relevance across Time, Culture and Method,

Monographs of the Socie ty for Research in Child Development , Vol. 70, No. 4.

Barnhart M. Caitlin., Raval V. Vaishali., Ashwin Jansari and Raval Pratiksha H.

(2013): Perceptions of Parenting Style among College Students in India and theUnited States. Journal of Child and Family Studies. Volume 22, Issue 5, pp 684-

693.

Baumrind D (1967): Child-Care Practices Anteceding Three Patterns of Preschool

Behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75, 43-88.

Baumrind, D. (1991): Effective Parenting during the Early Adolescent Transition.

In P.A. Cowan and E. M. Hetherington (Eds.), Advances in Family Research (Vol.

2). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Chao R and Tseng V (2002): Parenting of Asians. In M. H. Bornstein (Series Ed.),

Handbook of Parenting: Vol. 4 Social Conditions and Applied Parenting (2nd ed.,

pp. 59-93). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kendra Cherry.(2013): Parenting Styles- The Four Styles of Parenting. http://

psychology.about.com/ od/ developmental psychology/a/parenting-style.htm cited

on 18.11 2013

The field of parenting styles throws

a lot of opportunities for research

which can update the parents on thebest parenting practices. It can also

help in training the ‘yet to be’ parents

to develop positive parenting style to

provide the best for their children.

parenting styles: research openings by suman k murthy dec jssw 2013 issn: 0976-3759

Documents