Being a parent is a great blessing of God. Parenting is a process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the activity of raising a child rather than the biological relationship. In case of human, it is usually done by biological parents of the child in question, although government and society take a role as well. In many cases, orphaned or abandoned children receive parental care from non parent blood relations.
A parenting style is a physiological construct representing standard strategies that parents use in child bearing. There are many different theories and opinions on the best ways to rear children, as well as differing levels of time and effort that parents are willing to invest.
Many parents create their own style from a combination of factors, and these may evolve over time as the children develop their own personalities and move through different life stages. Parting styles are affected by both the parents and children temperaments, and is largely based on the influence of one’s own parent and culture. Most parents learn parenting practices from their own parents – some they accept, some they discard.
Developmental physiologists have long been interested in how a parent affects child development. However, finding actual cause and effects link between specific actions of parents and later behavior of children is very difficult. Some children raised in dramatically different environments can later grow up to have remarkably similar personalities. Conversely, children who share a home and are raised in the same environment can grow up to have astonishingly different personalities than one another.
Despite these challenges, researchers have uncovered convincing links between parenting styles and the effects these styles have on their children. Diana Baumrind identified four important dimensions of parenting. These dimensions are as follows:
- Disciplinary strategies
- Warmth and nurturance
- Communication styles
- Expectations of maturity and control
On the basis of these dimensions, Diana proposed three different parenting styles. Further research also suggested the addition of the fourth parenting style. These parenting styles are as follows:
- Authoritarian parenting
- Authoritative parenting
- Permissive parenting
- Uninvolved parenting
Authoritarian parenting is the style of parenting in which, children are expected to follow the strict rules established by the parents. Failure to follow these rules usually results in punishments. Authoritarian parents fail to explain the reasoning behind these rules. If asked to explain, the parent might simply reply, “Because I said so”. These parents have high demands, but are not responsive to their children.
Like authoritarian parents, those with an authoritative parenting style establish rules and guidelines that their children are expected to follow. However, this parenting style is much more democratic. Authoritative parents are responsive to their children and willing to listen to questions. When children fail to meet the expectations, these parents is more nurturing and forgiving rather than punishing.
Permissive parents, sometimes referred as indulgent parents, have very few demands to make on their children. These parents rarely discipline their children because they have relatively low expectations of maturity and self-control.
An uninvolved parenting style is authorized by few demands, low responsiveness and little communication.