Parenting & Individualism (Kusserow 2005))

soft individualism is seen as

orchid

Soft Individualism - parents treat their child more

delicate, with praise and encouragement

Soft Individualism - parents see their child as

sensitive, delicate and require optimal conditions

Soft Individualism - parents see the world as

safe, welcoming, and open to uniqueness

Soft Individualism - Parenting style (concerted cultivation)

parents actively foster their child’s development through structured activities

Soft Individualism found more in

Higher SES

Soft Individualism - Advantages

sense of self, feel like they can question the authority (step up for yourself)

Soft Individualism - Disdavantages

overscheduling (frequent family conflict), difficulty with self-entertainment, and blurred boundaries between the child and parents

Hard individualism is seen as

dandelion

Hard individualism - parents treat their child as

tough, self-reliant, a lot of discipline, and challenge them

Hard individualism - Parents see their child as

resilient, can cope with stress and adversity

Hard individualism - parents see the world as

uncertain and only hard work earn rewards

Hard individualism - Parenting style (accomplishment of natural growth)

parents only are there for their basic needs. They believe children develop spontaneously.

Hard Individualism found more in

Lower SES

Hard individualism - advantages

greater autonomy, clear boundaries between the child and parents, lost of energy & creativity 

Hard individualism - disadvantages

Will not question the authority (cautious) -> cause to feel powerless in institutions/systems

Hard individualism - skeptic of Goldstein & Schwade experiment (response time affects infant talking, talk more or less)

They will say the kid doesn’t need the reinforcement all the time to talk faster

Hard individualism - skeptic of Yu & Smith (joint attention)

they will think that you don’t have to follow the infants’ attention; they will eventually attend to what you’re doing and learn by themselves.

there are environmental mismatch (between parents and teachers)

The teacher says there is smth wrong, parents said just let kids be kids

there are environmental mismatch (between children and teachers)

At home, kids get grounded for fighting, but at school, the teacher wants them to talk it out, which confuses them.

Heath (1985)’s ways with words

look at hard individualism: children naturally learn language on their own, just as they learn to walk, without needing to be explicitly taught

Language strength: Boys

Develop pragmatic skills by actively engaging (reading adults’ mood) and learn by experience (treated to see if they can respond to teasing with verbal and non-verbal, physical, put-downs)

Language strength: Girls

Develop pragmatics by observing first, are socialized to avoid “fussing“ with adults by not peers, and learn language through watching others, which the book suggests preparare them for future caregiving roles