Different Styles of Parenting

Being a parent is similar to walking on the tightrope, and people have different views regarding how to rear their children.  To achieve the balance ...


Being a parent is similar to walking on the tightrope, and people have different views regarding how to rear their children.  To achieve the balance between discipline, love and becoming a good parent, some people take advice from their experienced friends, some attend the classes being offered in the community and few like to take the tips from parenting books.  When it comes to parenting, there is no right or wrong approach, however, many psychologists and other social scientists believe that there are certain parenting practices that yield the positive outcomes.  It is very difficult to find the cause-and-effect relationship between certain actions of parents and associated behavior of their children.

Children sharing a home and raised in same environment may grow up to have absolutely different personalities and children raised in different environment can grow up having similar personalities.  Using parental interviews, several research methods and naturalistic observation, four important dimensions of parenting have been identified.  These dimensions are warmth and nurturance, disciplinary strategies, expectations of maturity and control and communication styles.  Based on these four dimensions, most of parents display a parenting style.

In case of authoritarian parenting, parents expect their children to follow a set of specified rules laid by them, and failing to do so results in punishment.  Only parents define the rules, and children are not given the reason for following them.  Authoritarian parents can be very demanding, but not responsive to their kids.  Parents who adopt authoritarian style are obedience and status oriented, and they expect children to follow the rules without questioning their authority.

Parents following the authoritative style establish the guidelines and rules for the children.  However, authoritative style of parenting is more democratic where parents are responsive to their children.  In case of authoritative parenting, if the children fail to meet the expectations, parents are more forgiving and nurturing, and usually do not punish.  These parents set clear standards, but are not intrusive or restrictive.

In case of permissive parenting style, the parents have only limited demands from their children, and these parents do not discipline their children.  These parents also have low expectations in terms of self-control and maturity.  These parents are lenient and non-tradition, allow considerable self-regulation, no not require mature behavior and do not like confrontation.  These parents are more like friends than the parent to their children.

Uninvolved parents have little communication with their children, have few demands and expect low responsiveness.  These parents fulfill all the needs of children, but they are generally detached from their children‚Äôs lives.  In some extreme cases, these parents may also neglect or reject the basic needs of their children.

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