Parents and Children Over the Life Course

1
Chapter 11

• Parents and Children Over the Life Course

2
Chapter Outline

• Parents in Modern America
• Mothers and Fathers Images and Reality
• Authoritative Parenting
• Social Class and Parenting

3
Chapter Outline

• Racial/Ethnic Diversity and Parenting
• Newly Visible Parenting Environments
• Parents and Adult Children
• Toward Better Parent-Child Relationships

4
(No Transcript)
5
Factors That Make Parenting Difficult

1. Employers place work demands before parenting
   demands.
2. Parenting requires learning new attitudes and
   techniques.
3. Society is characterized by diverse and
   conflicting values.

6
Factors That Make Parenting Difficult

1. Emphasis on the malleability of children makes
   parents feel anxious and guilty.
2. Child-rearing experts sometimes disagree among
   themselves.
3. Parents are given full responsibility for raising
   successful or good children, but their authority
   is often put to question.

7
Factors That Make Parenting Difficult

1. Many parents are responsible for working, raising
   children and caring for aging parents.
2. Differing family forms can cause parents special
   difficulties because they are different form the
   idealized norm of the intact, nuclear family.

8
Transition to Parenthood

• In a classic analysis, social scientist Alice
  Rossi analyzed the transition to parenthood.
• Rossi compared circumstances in assuming the
  parent role with those of other adult roles, such
  as worker or spouse.
• The transition to parenthood, Rossi asserts, is
  more difficult than the transition to these other
  roles for several reasons.

9
Reasons the Transition to Parenthood is Difficult

1. Cultural pressure encourages adults to become
   parents even though they may not really want to.
2. Most first parents approach parenting with little
   or no previous experience in child care.

10
Reasons the Transition to Parenthood is Difficult

1. The transition to parenting is abrupt. New
   parents suddenly are on twenty-four-hour duty,
   caring for a fragile and mysterious and utterly
   dependent infant.
2. Adjusting to parenthood necessitates changes in
   the couples emotional and sexual relationship.

11
(No Transcript)
12
Fathers as Primary Parents

• 5 of all U.S. children under age 15, (3.3
  million) live with single fathers.
• 1.1 million children under age 15 live with a
  single father who is cohabiting.
• 5 of black and Hispanic children live with
  single fathers, compared with 4 of non-Hispanic
  white children and 2 of Asian and Pacific
  Islander children.
• 1.5 million children under age 15 live in
  two-parent families with a stay-at-home father.

13
Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian - low on emotional nurturing but
  high on parental direction and control
• Laissez-faire - permissive, allows children to
  set their own limits
• Authoritative -combines emotional nurturing and
  parental direction

14
Spanking

• More than 90 of U.S. parents spank their
  children.
• Boys under the age of two are spanked most often.
• Spanking is linked to depression, suicide,
  alcohol or drug abuse, and physical aggression
  against parents and intimate partners.

15
Stages of Parenting

• Transition to parenthood
• Parents with babies
• Parents with preschoolers
• Parents with school-age children
• Parents with adolescents
• Parents with young adult children

16
U.S. Poverty Rates by age, 1959 to 2002
17
New Parenting Environments

• Gay and Lesbian Parents
• Grandparent parents
• Foster Parents

18
Gay and Lesbian Parents

• Number of children of gay and lesbian parents
  ranges from 6 to 14 million.
• Polls show that 36 of American and 90 of gays
  and lesbians believe that gay couples should be
  able to adopt.

19
Factors in Good Parenting

• Adequate economic resources.
• Being involved in a childs life and school.
• Using supportive, rather than negative
  communication between partners in the family.
• Support from family and/or friends.

20
Quick Quiz
21

• Fathers typically engage in more hands-on
  parenting and take primary responsibility for
  children.
• True
• False

22
Answer False

• Fathers do not typically engage in more hands-on
  parenting and do not take primary responsibility
  for children.

23

• Research shows that spanking is usually more
  effective than timeouts.
• True
• False

24
Answer False

• Research shows that spanking is not usually more
  effective than timeouts.

25

• 3. According to Alice Rossi, the transition to
  parenthood is more difficult than the transition
  to worker or spouse. Which of the following is
  NOT one of the reasons for this?
• Parenting is more challenging than work roles or
  spousal roles.
• Cultural pressure encourages adults to become
  parents even though they may not really want to.
• Most parents approach parenting with little or no
  experience in child care.
• Adjusting to parenthood necessitates changes in
  the couples relationship.

26
Answer a

• According to Alice Rossi, the transition to
  parenthood is more difficult than the transition
  to worker or spouse. That parenting is more
  challenging than work roles or spousal roles is
  NOT one of the reasons for this.

27

• 4. __________ parents would agree with the
  statements I communicate rules clearly and
  directly, I consider my childs wishes and
  opinions along with my own when making
  decisions, and I expect my child to act
  independently at an age-appropriate level.
• Authoritarian
• Laissez-faire
• Punitive
• Authoritative

28
Answer d

• Authoritative parents would agree with the
  statements I communicate rules clearly and
  directly, I consider my childs wishes and
  opinions along with my own when making
  decisions, and I expect my child to act
  independently at an age-appropriate level.