Chapter 7
Parenting Styles
Control is often thought to be a
parenting goal.“If I can control my child’s
behavior,then we can live together
peacefully in the same household.”Earlier
in this chapter,we pointed out that the
goal of parenting is not to control
children,but to help children mature
enough to make good decisions for
themselves.When we control children,we
get them to do what we want them to do,
following our set of rules.When we
nurture children,we give them the love
and support they need,with appropriate
levels of responsibility,in order to help
them make their own decisions.
Baumrind describes control as parental
demandingness,which she defines as“the
claims parents make on children to
become integrated into the family whole,
by their maturity demands,supervision,
disciplinary efforts and willingness to
confront the child who disobeys”(1991).
Developmental psychologists have been
interested in the correlation between
parent behavior and child outcomes since
the 1920s.One way to examine these
effects is by studying the parenting styles
of the parents.Parenting style refers to the
broad pattern of parenting rather than the
specific parenting practices used.Most
research today is centered on Diana
Baumrind’s 30 plus years of longitudinal
research on parenting styles (1966,
1967,1971,1991,1996).Using the
construct of parenting style,she seeks to
capture parents’normal variations in
trying to socialize and control their
children.Parenting style involves two
primary elements: parental nurturing and
parental control or demandingness.
A typology of four parenting styles is
shown in Figure 7.1.Based on the levels
of nurturing (responsiveness) and control
(demandingness),the four parenting
styles illustrated are indulgent,
authoritarian,authoritative,and
uninvolved (Maccoby & Martin,1983).Nurturing a child means giving the love and
support children need,with appropriate levels
of responsibility,in order to help them
learn to make their own decisions.©JupiterImages