The Family Flashcards
Function of the family
o To socialise the young o Socialise – the process by which children acquire beliefs, motives, values, and behaviours deemed significant and appropriate by older members of their society (Shaffer, 2005)
A family is…
o Two or more persons related by birth, marriage, adoption or choice’ who have emotional ties and responsibilities to each other (Shaffer, 2005)
Define and give an example of direct, reciprocal and indirect effects of parents
o Direct
Parent acts in a certain way and this influences the child o Reciprocal Difficult child will be responded to differently than an easy child o Indirect effects Mothers who have a supportive relationship with their husband are more sensitive in their interaction with their children
The three propositions central to Harris’s argument that parenting makes little difference (1995)
o 1. Parental behaviours have no effect on the psychological characteristics that children will have as adults
o 2. Peer groups are the primary environmental influence on psychological functioning
o 3. Dyadic relationships are situation specific although they may give rise to powerful emotions, they produce only temporary changes in behaviour
Socio-cognitive influences in child-rearing
o Modelling
o Enactive experience
o Direct tuition
Note: evaluative praise better,
Suggestions -> self-regulation
Commands -> external regulation
Socio-cognitive regulators
o Outcome expectations
Social sanctions
Self-sanctions
o Self-efficacy expectations
• Tridiadic bidirectional interactive model
o Environment
o Behaviour
o Person
Techniques for eliminating behaviour
o Physical/verbal punishment
If its proportional, measured, w/o emotion and consistent, may work effectively.
Punishment when emotional leads to a focus on punishment rather than lesson
o Extinction
o Time-out
Age specified and child reflects on behaviour and a more appropriate behaviour -> fosters self-regulation
o Withdrawal of love – don’t
o Reasoning
Inductive reasoning (Hoffman)
• Appeal to cognitive and affective system, elicit empathic reaction.
• Guilt will become internalised and generalised
o Reinforce alternative desirable behaviour
Techniques for strengthening behaviour
o Material rewards
Transferred reward from intrinsic to material reward with children present studies
External rewards undermine motivation
Reward contingent upon performance
o Social reward – praise with reason
o Verbal attributions – good girl for sharing – never negative.
o Direct instructions and maturity demands
Factors that influence the effectiveness of disciplinary practices
o Link between behaviour and consequences
o Reasoning
o Consistency
o Proportional
o Age-appropriate
o Demands enforced
o Promotion of self-regulation
Difference between physical punishment and physical abuse
o Behaviours that do not result in significant injury are considered corporal punishment whereas behaviours that cause injury are considered physical abuse.
Child behaviours and experiences associated with parental corporal punishment
o Immediate compliance
o Moral externalisation
o Delinquent, criminal and antisocial behaviour
o Mental health issues
o Adult abuse of own child or spouse
o Victim of child abuse
The 3 views on corporal punishment
o Pro-corporal punishment
o Anti-corporal punishment
o Conditional corporal punishment
Criticism of Gershoff (2002)
o Baumrind’s (2002) reanalysis of the studies in Gershoff’s review indicated that some categorised as involving harsh punishment could be considered physical abuse – and that outcomes were more negative for those studies
Methodological issues
o Varied definitions
o Retrospective reporting
o Spanking preceded negative behaviour
o Parents who spank less read more and hug their children more – co-effects
Immediate negative side effects of pp
o Imitation of aggression hypothesis
o Avoidance of parents
o Anxiety inhibits recall of disciplinary encounter
o Highlights external control
Cultural issues in PP
o Physical discipline associated with externalising problems in European US children but not AA
o Normativeness lessens effects but they still remain (Lansford, 2005)
Religious issues in PP
o Important to consider in parents’ discipline of their children (Rodriguez & Henderson, 2010)
o More literal interpretationa of the bible were associated with greater child abuse potential.
o However regression analysis revealed that this effect did not account for any variance beyond that from social conformity
Multi-generational families in same household
o Mothers primary c/g followed by grandmothers and then fathers
o Grandmothers increase the moral-relgious emphasis in the family
Chao (2011) – parent adolescent relationships – Asian American vs European American
o Suggested that authorative parenting may reflect relationship qualities that emphasise closeness and intimacy rather than parental respect
o School outcomes
Both first and second gen Chinese had significantly higher grades and effort than European American adolescents
First gen Chinese had significantly higher grades than second gen.
o No difference in authoritative parenting style but higher % Chinese adolescents rated their parents as authoritarian
o No difference in relationship closeness
o Authoritative parenting positively related to closeness for all but authoritarian only negative for EA
o Authoritative positively associated with school grades and effort for EA, and effort for 2nd gen.
Achieving autonomy
o AA tend to exert their authority longer than EA
Behavioural control
o Parents attempt to structure and monitor their child’s whereabouts
o Criticism – children’s self-disclosure has been shown to more strongly predict parents’ knowledge of their child’s whereabouts and externalsing problems rather than parents active attempts to monitor their children
Soenens et al (2006) – examined the links between parenting, self-disclosure and externalising – 3 step model
o 1. Parenting relates to adolescent self-disclosure – responsiveness strongest
o 2. Self-disclosure is positively related to parental knowledge
o 3. Parental knowledge negatively predicts substance use and delinquent behaviour
o Highlights importance of parents developing a warm, understanding, and personal relationship wth their adolescents
Smentana et al (2009) – disclosure/non-disclosure factors
o Prudential issues – health, safety, comfort or harm to self (e.g. smoking)
Most likely to disclose but might not if they fear parental disapproval
o Moral and conventional issues – other’s welfare, fairness
o Personal issues – control over one’s body, privacy friend and activity choices
Behaviours personal and not harmful
o Multifaceted issues
E.g. watching R-rated movies
o Anticipated parental disapproval was associated with partial disclosure and lying
o Full disclosure was associated with better relationships with parents and less depression
o Lying was associated with more parental behavioural control issues and poorer relationships with fathers
Social class and parenting
o Low SES
1. Stress obedience and respect for authority
2. More authoritarian and power assertion
3. Less reasoning, warmth and affection
Collective family efficacy effects for adolescents and parents
o Positively correlated with
Parental and marital efficacy (for parents)
satisfaction with family life
open communication with parents/adolescents
complying with monitoring
avoiding disagreements turning into hostility and aggression
Jones and Prinz (2005) Parental self-efficacy
o Evidence links PSE to parental competence
