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Chapter 7

Uninvolved

Asthewordsuggests,parentswhouse
theuninvolvedparentingstyleare not
involvedintheirchildren’sdevelopment.
Theyplacefewdemandsonthechild,so
theyratelowincontrol,butarealsonon-
responsive.Inextremecases,thisparenting
stylecanbecharacterizedbybehaviorsof
rejection,hostility,andneglect.Earlierin
thischapter,wementionedthefatherand
motherinMary Poppins.Theirinvolvement
consistedofhiringanannytocarefortheir
childrenandlittleelse.Whilenotabusive,
theydemonstrateonekindofneglectseenin
anuninvolvedparentingstyle.
Childrenfromuninvolvedhouseholds
havethepoorestoutcomes,ascomparedto
otherparentingstyles.Theydopoorlyin
schoolandexhibitthepoorestsocial
behaviors,makingthemtheleastcompetent
ofallthegroups.Theyalsoaretheleastself-
reliant,curious,andself-controlledofany
group(Baumrind,1971).Adolescentsfrom
uninvolvedhouseholdshavethehighest
levelsofpsychologicalandbehavioral
dysfunction(Lambornetal.,1991).
Wecansurmisefromscientificstudies
thatparentalresponsivenessornurturingis
apredictorof socialcompetenceand
psychosocialfunctioning,whileparental
controlordemandingnesscorrelateswith
academicperformanceandchilddeviance.
Inexaminingtheliteratureregardingthe
fourparentingstyles,itbecomesapparent
thatauthoritativeparentingisassociated

withhighersocialcompetence,higher

academicperformance,andfewerproblem

behaviorsinbothboysandgirlsatall

developmentalstages.Butwhatdetermines

thetypeof parentsomeonewillbe?

Surprisingly,aswewillseenext,itisnot

justabouttheparents.

The Determinants of

Parenting Style

In determining what components

influence certain parenting styles,we will

focus on four areas: the parents’

contribution,the child’s contribution,

parenting styles and gender,and ethnic

variations in parenting styles.

The Parents’ Contribution to

Parenting Style

The origins of parental beliefs and

actions regarding childrearing are

extremely complex.One of the biggest

determinants of parenting style is the

ethnic and cultural heritage of the parents,

the grandparents,the community,the

church,and even the media.Parents tend

to parent either the way they were

parented,or exactly opposite to the way

they were parented.An“in-between”style,

while not impossible to adopt,is difficult

to maintain because there is no role model

for it.This explains why in an acutely