Chapter 11

Parents and Children Over the Life Course

Chapter Outline Parents in Modern America Mothers and Fathers: Images and Reality Authoritative Parenting Social Class and Parenting

Chapter Outline Racial/Ethnic Diversity and Parenting Newly Visible Parenting Environments Parents and Adult Children Toward Better Parent-Child Relationships

Factors That Make Parenting Difficult

1. Employers place work demands before parenting demands.

2. Parenting requires learning new attitudes and techniques.

3. Society is characterized by diverse and conflicting values.

Factors That Make Parenting Difficult

4. Emphasis on the malleability of children makes parents feel anxious and guilty.

5. Child-rearing experts sometimes disagree among themselves.

6. Parents are given full responsibility for raising successful or good children, but their authority is often put to question.

Factors That Make Parenting Difficult

7. Many parents are responsible for working, raising children and caring for aging parents.

8. Differing family forms can cause parents special difficulties because they are different form the idealized norm of the intact, nuclear family.

Transition to Parenthood In a classic analysis, social scientist Alice

Rossi analyzed the transition to parenthood. Rossi compared circumstances in assuming

the parent role with those of other adult roles, such as worker or spouse.

The transition to parenthood, Rossi asserts, is more difficult than the transition to these other roles for several reasons.

Reasons the Transition to Parenthood is Difficult 1. Cultural pressure encourages adults to become

parents even though they may not really want to. 2. Most first parents approach parenting with little or no

previous experience in child care.

Reasons the Transition to Parenthood is Difficult 3. The transition to parenting is abrupt. New parents

suddenly are on twenty-four-hour duty, caring for a fragile and mysterious and utterly dependent infant.

4. Adjusting to parenthood necessitates changes in the couple’s emotional and sexual relationship.

Fathers as Primary Parents 5% of all U.S. children under age 15, (3.3

million) live with single fathers. 1.1 million children under age 15 live with a

single father who is cohabiting. 5% of black and Hispanic children live with

single fathers, compared with 4% of non-Hispanic white children and 2% of Asian and Pacific Islander children.

1.5 million children under age 15 live in two-parent families with a stay-at-home father.

Parenting Styles Authoritarian - low on emotional

nurturing but high on parental direction and control

Laissez-faire - permissive, allows children to set their own limits

Authoritative -combines emotional nurturing and parental direction

Spanking More than 90% of U.S. parents spank

their children. Boys under the age of two are spanked

most often. Spanking is linked to depression, suicide,

alcohol or drug abuse, and physical aggression against parents and intimate partners.

Stages of Parenting Transition to parenthood Parents with babies Parents with preschoolers Parents with school-age children Parents with adolescents Parents with young adult children

U.S. Poverty Rates by age, 1959 to 2002

New Parenting Environments Gay and Lesbian Parents Grandparent parents Foster Parents

Gay and Lesbian Parents Number of children of gay and lesbian

parents ranges from 6 to 14 million. Polls show that 36% of American and

90% of gays and lesbians believe that gay couples should be able to adopt.

Factors in Good Parenting Adequate economic resources. Being involved in a child’s life and school. Using supportive, rather than negative

communication between partners in the family.

Support from family and/or friends.

Quick Quiz

1. Fathers typically engage in more hands-on parenting and take primary responsibility for children.

a) True

b) False

Answer: False Fathers do not typically engage in more

hands-on parenting and do not take primary responsibility for children.

2. Research shows that spanking is usually more effective than timeouts.

a) True

b) False

Answer: False Research shows that spanking is not

usually more effective than timeouts.

3. According to Alice Rossi, the transition to parenthood is more difficult than the transition to worker or spouse. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons for this?

a) Parenting is more challenging than work roles or spousal roles.

b) Cultural pressure encourages adults to become parents even though they may not really want to.

c) Most parents approach parenting with little or no experience in child care.

d) Adjusting to parenthood necessitates changes in the couple’s relationship.

Answer: a According to Alice Rossi, the transition

to parenthood is more difficult than the transition to worker or spouse. That parenting is more challenging than work roles or spousal roles is NOT one of the reasons for this.

4. __________ parents would agree with the statements “I communicate rules clearly and directly,” “I consider my child’s wishes and opinions along with my own when making decisions,” and “I expect my child to act independently at an age-appropriate level.”

a) Authoritarian

b) Laissez-faire

c) Punitive

d) Authoritative

Answer: d Authoritative parents would agree with

the statements “I communicate rules clearly and directly,” “I consider my child’s wishes and opinions along with my own when making decisions,” and “I expect my child to act independently at an age-appropriate level.”