12.2 Family Dynamics

family dynamics

how family members interact through various relationships including parent-child, parent-parent, and sibling-sibling

socialization

the process through which children acquire values, standards, skills, knowledge, and behaviors deemed appropriate within their culture

discipline

strategies and behaviours used by parents to teach children appropriate behavior

when is disciple most effective?

if is leads to a permanent change in the child’s behaviour because the child has learned and accepted the reasons for desired behavior — reasoning most common

psychological pressure in discipline

the appropriate amount of pressure applied by parents to promote internalization of desired behavior in children

internalization

the process by which children learn and accept the reasons for desired behavior

reasoning

discipline technique where children are taught the effects of behavior on others, promoting internalization

which discipline techniques are not effective?

discipline techniques that apply to much psychological/physical pressure on children are not effective at promoting internalization — punishment

punishment

a negative stimulus that follows a behavior to reduce the likelihood of that behavior occurring again

parenting styles

constellation of parenting behaviours and attitudes that set the emotional climate of interactions with children

two dimensions of parenting styles that are particularly important

1. the degree of parental warmth and responsiveness

2. the degree of parenting control and demandingness

parental responsiveness

how quickly and appropriately parents respond to children's needs and requests

parental control

extent to which parents monitor and manage children’s behaviours through rules and consequences

demandingness

expectation of conformance to the parent's desires with low tolerance for children’s interests

diana baumrind

differentiated among 4 styles of parenting related to the dimensions of support and control

authoritative parenting

a style characterized by high demandingness and high responsiveness, leading to competent and self-assured children — demanding but also warm

authoritarian parenting

a style marked by high demandingness and low responsiveness, often resulting in issues with children's social competence — cold and unresponsive to children’s needs

permissive parenting

style that is high in responsiveness but low in demandingness, leading to impulsive children with low self-regulation — responsive to children’s needs/wishes but over lenient with them

uninvolved parenting

style characterized by low demandingness and low responsiveness, often leading to children's attachment issues — parents are generally disengaged

differences in mother’s and fathers’ interactions with their children

• major differences in the amount of time spent caring for child

• differences in what types of child-rearing behaviours

• fathers spend greater proportion of their time playing with child both in infancy/childhood

child’s influence on parenting

• children’s behaviors can shape parents’ typical parenting style — through their behavior and expressions of temperament

• individual differences in child

coercive cycles

patterns where negative behaviors from parents and children escalate each other, leading to conflict.

bidirectionality

the mutual influence of parents and children on each other's behaviors and characteristics — key factor in parent-child relationships

sibling relationships

Interactions between siblings that can influence their development and the functioning of the family

sibling conflict

disagreements between siblings that can lead to the development of undesirable behaviors

cultural values

societal norms that may influence children's evaluations of differential parental treatment