Parenting styles

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RESPONSE:

1. Summarize the four different parenting styles (Authoritarian, Permissive, Authoritative, and Uninvolved). Provide a definition, an example, and describe the effect of each style on children's social and personality development.

There are four types of parenting styles: authoritarian, permissive, authoritative and uninvolved. Whereas the uninvolved parent is unavailable to the child, the other three parenting styles fall on a continuum, with authoritarian and permissive at the twp extreme ends, and authoritative in the middle (Wolfe, 1999). "Parenting styles have consistently been shown to relate to various outcomes such as youth psychopathology, behavior problems, and academic performance" (Turner, et al. 2009).

Wolfe (1999) points out that the parenting styles differ in terms of two aspects -demandingness and responsiveness. Demandingness is defined as the amount of parental control the parent exercises over the child. On the other hand, responsiveness is referred to the number of interactions (negative and positive, that the parent has with the child and the sensitivity to the child's needs versus the parents needs e.g. the parent's sensitivity to a child's voice and represents the child's wants and needs. Thus, by definition, responsiveness is the most important element in permissive parenting, and the least for the authoritarian parent, with the authoritative parent in the middle. Structure is another factor where these parenting styles differ, which refers to the limits and rules a child has to obey to (main component in authoritarian parenting).

AUTHORITARIAN PARENTING STYLE

Authoritarian parenting style has high parental control and highly demanding in their direction and not typically responsive. They are undemanding and unresponsive to the child, and usually not psychologically available for the child. These parents are interested in strict obedience and provide a well-ordered and structured environment. Parents tend use extremes, using strict rules and have high expectations and are extremely inflexible to change. Authoritarian doesn't always imply autocratic and intrusive. Some authoritarian parents are strictly black and white. The rules are never in question, except in the extreme cases, and they state their expectations clearly and the consequences are equally clear. However, it is coercive in terms of being unresponsive to the child's needs, with low child sensitivity where a child cannot question rules or have any input (Martin, 2005).

It is the authoritarian parent's overreliance on coercion that may impair the children development of social competence and moral reasoning. The parents demands are not balanced with the child's demands and wants (child sensitivity), thus resisting the child' attempt to participate in rule making. For example, there is no flexibility and the parent will not listen or negotiate with the child, say if a child was late coming home. The child would expect to be punished without being allowed to explain. If the child fails to complete their homework or other chores, there will be no discussion or negotiation, but the child will receive the consequences. This ...