Functions%20of%20Families:

1

• Functions of Families
• Survival of offspring
• Economic Function
• Cultural Training

2

• Socialization Process through which children
  acquire values, knowledge, skills, and behaviors
  appropriate for their culture

3

• Methods of Socialization
• Parents are
• Direct Instructors Teaching, advising
• Indirect Socializers Modeling

4

• Providers/managers of opportunities Control
  exposure to experiences (e.g., toys, other
  children, activities)
• Particularly prominent when children are younger

5

• Age-Related Changes in Socialization
• As infants become mobile, parents typically
  increase their attempts to control infants
  behavior

6

• Between 12-18 months, children show an increasing
  ability to comply with parental
  requests/directions
• Dont touch!
• Come here

7

• As children get older, parents gradually increase
  their expectations for mature behavior

8

• Parental behavior varies along at least two
  dimensions
• Responsiveness/Acceptance
• Control (Demandingness)

9

• Authoritarian
• High control
• Low acceptance/responsiveness
• Power-assertive discipline
• Ex Do it because I say so
• More likely to use physical punishment

10

• Authoritative
• High acceptance/responsiveness
• Moderate control
• Set clear standards and consistently enforce
  rules
• Responsive to childrens needs and point of view

11

• Discipline based on reasoning/explanation
• Its not ok to hit people because it hurts
  them.

12

• Permissive
• High acceptance/responsiveness
• Low control
• Make few demands for mature behavior

13

• Neglecting/Disengaged
• Low acceptance/responsiveness
• Low control
• Parents often overwhelmed by stress have little
  time/energy for children

14

• Authoritarian
• Childhood
• Anxious
• Unhappy
• Dependent/Easily Frustrated (esp. girls)
• Hostile/Aggressive (esp. boys)

15

• Authoritative
• Childhood
• High self-esteem
• High self-control
• Generally positive mood

16

• Permissive
• Childhood
• Low self-control
• Overly demanding and dependent on adults

17

• Neglecting/Disengaged
• Childhood
• Low self-control
• Low self-esteem
• Disturbed attachment relationships (disorganized)

18

• Bidirectional Influences
• How do childrens characteristics and behavior
  affect parenting style?

19

• Infants and children with difficult temperaments
  are more likely to receive less optimal parenting
• Less optimal parenting increases childrens
  problem behaviors
• Negative cycle of interaction can be established

20

• Correlation vs. Causation
• Most research on parenting styles is
  correlational
• Cant randomly assign kids to different kinds of
  parents
• Therefore, cant infer cause-and-effect
  relationships
• Cant say that parenting style CAUSES childrens
  behavior (positive or negative)

21

• However, some research has examined experimental
  parenting interventions
• Interventions Designed to improve parenting
  behavior
• Use random assignmentsome families receive the
  intervention and others do not
• Can infer cause-and-effect relationships

22

• Experimental parenting interventions have shown
  improvements in parenting behavior and
  improvements in childrens adjustment

23

• Parenting styles (and their effects) may not
  generalize to all ethnic groups
• Chinese parents more likely to be classified as
  authoritarian (high control)
• Authoritative parenting does not have more
  positive effects than authoritarian parenting for
  1st generation Chinese-American children

24

• Marital Conflict and Childrens Adjustment
• Marital conflict can include both verbal and/or
  physical aggression between partners
• Consistent exposure to marital conflict is
  related to childrens
• Aggression with siblings and peers
• Symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Insecure attachment relationships

25

• Why?
• Direct Effects Model
• Indirect Effects Model

26

• Short-term Consequences of Divorce
• Financial
• Mother-custody households typically experience a
  sharp drop in income after a divorce
• On average, these households have 50-75 of their
  pre-divorce income

27

• Psychological
• Compared to mothers in intact families, divorced
  mothers report more
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression

28

• Parenting Behavior
• Compared to intact families, in divorced families
• Family routines (e.g., meals, bedtimes, chores)
  are likely to be disrupted
• Custodial mothers are less responsive/warm, more
  likely to use power-assertive discipline, and
  less likely to supervise children
• Non-custodial fathers are likely to be more
  permissive than mothers

29

• Childrens Behavior
• Compared to children in intact families, children
  in divorced families are
• More non-compliant/disobedient
• More aggressive and hostile/defiant
• More impulsive
• More demanding/dependent

30

• Long-term Consequences
• Within two years after divorce
• Parenting quality improves for mothers and
  fathers
• Most children show improved adjustment

31

• As a group, children of divorced families are
  slightly more likely to have lasting adjustment
  problems than children of intact families
• Exs lower self-esteem lower social competence
  lower academic achievement
• But the majority of children from divorced
  families do not show lasting adjustment problems

32

• Individual Differences in Adjustment
• Parent/Family Factors
• Exposure to conflict between parents prior to,
  during, and after a divorce
• Less exposure to conflict is related to better
  child adjustment

33

• Parent/Family Factors (cont)
• Authoritative parenting by the custodial parent
  (typically the mother) is associated with better
  child adjustment
• The quality of contact with non-custodial fathers
  is more strongly related to childrens adjustment
  than the quantity (frequency) of contact
• Authoritative parenting by non-custodial fathers
  and support for the mother in her parenting role
  are associated with better child adjustment

34

• Parent/Family Factors (cont)
• Adequate financial support is related to better
  child adjustment
• Likely to reduce stress of custodial parent and
  promote more positive parenting
• Social support is also related to better
  adjustment in parents and children

35

• Child Factors
• Age of Child
• Childrens reactions to divorce differ by age
• But not clear evidence that younger children show
  more problems in long-term adjustment than older
  children

36

• More difficult for younger children to understand
  the reasons for divorce
• Preschool/early school age children are more
  likely than older children to
• Blame themselves
• Fear abandonment

37

• Sex of Child
• Some research indicates that boys are more likely
  to show persistent problems in adjustment after a
  divorce (in mother-custody households)
• But
• Some recent evidence that boys in father-custody
  families show better adjustment
• Girls may show adjustment problems that are more
  subtle (e.g., depression, anxiety) and may
  experience more problems beginning in adolescence
  (e.g., early sexual activity, difficulties with
  intimate relationships)