Chapter 14 Family

1. Chapter 14 – Family Review Chapter 1 Class Notes: history of childhood, roles within the family. Changes with industrialization. Review Chapter 1: Bronfenbrenner. Families are social systems.

2. FAMILY (Cont’d) One of the most important roles: socialization of children Socialization: Process of teaching the rules of society. explicit implicit Different ways of socializing children

3. FAMILY (Cont’d) Affection Basic needs Socialization: overt and covert, modeling Guidance New parents little preparation and support

4. FAMILY (Cont’d) Context of the family: community/ies workplace school daycare place of worship neighbourhood extended family friends

5. FAMILY (Cont’d) Styles of childrearing: Baumrind classification Two dimensions: responsiveness and demandingness (high or low) results in 4 types: authoritative authoritarian permissive uninvolved

6. FAMILY (Cont’d) Factor A: high/low standards – how much a parent demands, expectations. Factor B: accepting and responsive vs rejecting and unresponsive. A & B are laid out in a continuum, not as a dichotomy – Baumrind too simplistic.

7. FAMILY (Cont’d) 4 styles of childrearing: authoritative:demanding + responsive authoritarian:demanding + unresponsive permissive:undemanding + responsive uninvolved:undemanding + unresponsive Baumrind ignores significant differences between the two parents. Also parents can change over time e.g. authoritarian with first born and authoritative with second several years later.

8. FAMILY (Cont’d) Also issues of granting autonomy: Authoritative: gradual, according to child capabilities Authoritarian: low autonomy Permissive: too much autonomy, child cannot handle it Uninvolved: also too much autonomy

9. FAMILY (Cont’d) Authoritative: reasonably demanding, consistent, warm. Children are: self-confident, happy, lively, master new tasks, non-disruptive, cooperative, friendly, good social and emotional skills.

10. FAMILY (Cont’d) Authoritarian: demanding, expect conformity, low give-and-take, use punishment and withdrawal of affection if child disobeys. Children are: anxious, withdrawn, unhappy, hostile when frustrated; boys anger and defiance; girls dependent; withdraw from challenge

11. FAMILY (Cont’d) Permissive: warmth and affection high, acceptance, but low demands and controls; no schedules, little discipline; some parents disorganized and ineffective. Children are: immature, low impulse control, uncooperative, unreliable, dependent on and demanding of adults, low persistence in tasks, low achievement.

12. FAMILY (Cont’d) Uninvolved: undemanding, indifferent, rejecting Children are: noncompliant, demanding, impulsive, poor emotional control, poor school performance

13. FAMILY (Cont’d) Childrearing not a cookbook recipe. Baumrind ignores circumstances such as death, divorce, chronic illness, accident, wars and other environmental forces that interact with family socialization. Child temperament: important variable that affects childrearing style.

14. FAMILY (Cont’d) Cultural difference and clashes, Canada is an immigrant society. Social class: more complex than textbook description. Many skilled/semi-skilled parents have professional children. Many middle and upper-middle class parents have unskilled children.

15. FAMILY (Cont’d) Poverty: mostly negative outcomes. Interaction with other variables, such as urban/rural, ethnicity, previous status of parents, level of education, temporary vs. chronic, available supports (Can./U.S.) presence of mental or physical illness

16. FAMILY (Cont’d) Other variations: only child adoption gay/lesbian parents communes

17. FAMILY (Cont’d) Caveats: Most parents are not a “pure” type. Often mother and father different style. Child’s temperament. Family size.

18. FAMILY (Cont’d) Other variables: SES outright poverty ethnicity adoption gay and lesbian families single parent divorced parents

19. FAMILY (Cont’d) Parenting middle childhood: Gradual introduction of co-regulation. Parenting adolescents: Text has many speculative statements.

20. FAMILY (Cont’d) Important: parents report this the most challenging time gap between physical development and full adult role (long education, dependence) fine line between developing autonomy and becoming rebellious fine line between parental monitoring and parental control: importance of communication

21. FAMILY (Cont’d) need to find own identity, pushing at the limits, trying possibilities survey of 180 societies: style is responsive and moderately demanding: no operational definition of terms, great variation (p. 568)

22. DIVORCE 2002 figures – StatsCan Canada 37.9% NL: 22% Quebec highest: 47.6%

23. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Important variables: degree of strife between parents financial situation custody issues changes in housing, school, geographical extended family length and severity of legal battle depression, etc. in parents, esp. custodial parent degree of uncertainty parents’ relationships with another person

24. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Immediate effects: increase in physical morbidity (illness) increase in emotional morbidity: crying spells, depression, anger, sleeplessness, nightmares, insecurity, acting out, drinking, drugs, withdrawal, denial, clinginess, regression, self-blame decrease in school performance These effects last approximately two years

25. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Emotional: fear of abandonment self blame confusion drop in self-esteem intense fantasies of reconciliation anxiety pain++++

26. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Relational: disorganized household, routines broken custodial parent unavailable (physically and/or emotionally) stress++++ inconsistent discipline

27. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Behavioural: clinginess withdrawal school performance nightmares crying spells irritability uncooperativeness anger outbursts increased illness

28. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Financial: mother usual custodial parent: lower income 50% fathers fail to pay child support affects all child expenses: clothing, school supplies, school trips, extracurricular activities often means move to cheaper neighbourhood and house may mean lack of car

29. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Important child variables: child’s age child’s sex child’s temperament

30. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Even amicable divorces affect children’s paths “Children of divorce feel less protected by their parents, and they’re much less likely to go to their parents for comfort when they are young, or for emotional support when they are older. They often feel a need to protect their mother emotionally.” (Marguardt, 2005)

31. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Long term effects: Boys fare better with father, girls with mother Wallerstein longitudinal studies: affected into 30s: self-esteem and intimate relationships

32. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Joint custody: sometimes works, often fails strife, parents move away, remarry disruptive Divorce mediation: depends on the skill of mediator and characteristics of individuals.

33. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Blended families: easier when children young, hardest on adolescents. Mother + stepfather fare better Girls more conflict

34. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Long term effects: some have persistent emotional problems some have persistent school difficulties more likely to do drugs, alcohol more likely to have early sex girls more likely to get pregnant

35. DIVORCE (Cont’d) many fathers indifferent, low or no contact boys more likely to be aggressive at home parents’ boyfriend/girlfriend more likely to get divorced fear of marriage

36. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Custody Variables that affect how a child fares: Age of child Personality, temperament Supportive others: relatives, friends, teachers, community Clear answers to: What will happen to me? What is my life going to be like? What will change?

37. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Level of Hostility: children as Pawns Reassurance: Not their fault. Parents love you. Financial Status: Change lifestyle? House? (School, Friends, …) Gender of Child, parent, age. Parent overwhelmed ?low tolerance Paternal withdrawal: physical, emotional, financial.

38. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Wallerstein longitudinal study of children of divorce Into their 30’s: mistrust harder to establish intimate relationships level of sadness higher divorce rate

39. DIVORCE (Cont’d) Caveat: These respondents went through divorce in the 50’s and 60’s stigma high paternal abandonment However, more recent research similar findings

40. EFFECTS OF MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT Cultural belief: mothers are THE “natural” caregivers. pregnancy, breastfeeding. maternal hormones. Bonding. Other cultures: some variations. Paternal involvement: increased but lower than in pre-Industrial era.

41. EFFECTS OF MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT (Cont’d) Other care: Review relevant parts of chapter 10. High vs. low quality

42. EFFECTS OF MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT (Cont’d) Good daycare: (text figures too high, U.S.) low ratio (2 infants, 4 toddlers per adult) max. 12 (noise and activity level, size of physical place not too large) lots of individual attention, interaction contingent responses

43. EFFECTS OF MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT (Cont’d) low staff turn-over adults ECE grads equipment facilities: bright, clean, airy, outdoors access parental involvement program nutritious food

44. EFFECTS OF MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT (Cont’d) After school care: similar facilities, higher ratio possible, homework help, other conditions similar. “Latchkey” kids: self-care Important variable: child’s temperament and maturity level.

45. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT Abuse can be: physical, emotional, sexual Neglect can be: physical or emotional.

46. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) Examples of physical abuse: hitting, shaking Examples of emotional abuse: name-calling, put downs, intimidation Examples of sexual abuse: inappropriate touching, making child touch adult’s genitals, rape Examples of neglect: not providing food or supervision

47. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) Contributing factors found in: parents child family community culture

48. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) Consequences for child: emotional development academics social skills substance abuse delinquency depression

49. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) aggression low self-esteem high anxiety self blame suicide CNS damage runaways, prostitution

50. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) Characteristics of parents who abuse: abused in childhood alcohol and drugs, other addictions belief in harsh discipline low educational level emotional problems, low self-esteem

52. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) Children at higher risk of abuse: sick premature difficult developmental problems hyperactivity

53. CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT (Cont’d) Family: low income homeless marital strife abuse cramped, overcrowded poverty isolation mental illness However, there are no real social class differences!: lower SES get reported more often.