Parenting Syles

Abstract
Parenting is a complex activity that includes many specific behaviors that work individually and together to influence youth. A parenting style is defined as a psychological construct representing standards, strategies, and mindsets that parents use in child rearing. Developmental psychologists have long been interested in how parents impact child development. Theories and opinions concerning which ways are most constructive in rearing children, as well as how much time and effort should be invested, vary amidst different people and different cultures. Many parents create their own style by merging selected components from two or more existing parenting methods; these may evolve when the children develop individuality and their own personalities as they move through life’s stages. Moreover, parents often learn parenting practices from their own parents; some may be emulated while others may be avoided. Parenting styles affect how well a family may function as a system, as well as increasing the risk of troubled behavior as the children grow up and move into adolescence. In this essay, I will be explaining the four most well-known parenting styles: authoritative style, authoritarian style, indulgent style, and neglectful style; also, I will briefly explain some of the effects they have on children raised within each style.
Keywords: parenting styles, children, adolescents, behavior, effects.

Introduction
A parenting styles paper would not exist without the historic work of developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind. Diana is credited for the distinction of the three primary parenting styles in her studies: Authoritarian, Authoritative, and Permissive. The correlation between parental behavior and the development of children held a mass amount of significance in her research. Baumrind believed that parents should develop rules for their children but still be an active, stimulating, and affectionate parent. Maccoby and Martin expanded the styles to four by adding neglectful parenting in 1983 (Maccoby and Martin, 1983). These four styles of parenting involve combinations of acceptance and responsiveness on the one hand, and demand and control on the other (Santrock J.W. 2007). In addition, it is important to recognize that most parents do not fall perfectly into one category, but fall somewhere in the middle, showing characteristics of more than one style.
Authoritative parenting is associated with the child being demanding and responsive. Also referred to as “assertive democratic” or “balanced”, it is parenting that is child-centered and holds expectations of maturity. “They monitor and impact clear standards for their children’s conduct. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive. Their disciplinary methods are supportive, rather than punitive. They want their children to be assertive as well as socially responsible, and self-regulated as well as cooperative” (Baumrind, 1991, p. 62). Also, authoritative parents may hold high demands for their children, but foster these demands through open communication, induction, and encouragement of independence.
Authoritarian parenting, on the other hand, is parenting that is associated with children being demanding but not responsive. Also called strict parenting, authoritarian is characterized by high expectations of conformity and compliance to parental rules and directions, while allowing little open dialog between parent and child. “They are obedience- and status-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation” (Baumrind, 1991, p.62). Instead of having open communications with their children like authoritative parents, authoritarian parents do not communicate the rationale behind rules; the “because I said so” mentality is at large with authoritarian parents.
According to Baumrind (1978), indulgent parents are moderate in responsiveness but excessively lack expectations for maturity, while their tolerance of misbehaviour is relatively low. To permissive parents, socializing their children is not a concern. “They are non-traditional and lenient, do not require mature behavior, allow considerable self-regulation, and avoid confrontation” (Baumrind, 1991, p.62). Indulgent parents do not require children to regulate themselves or behave appropriately. This may lead to children of indulgent parents to become “spoiled brats,” depending on the behavior. Indulgent parents tend to have very little, if any, rules or boundaries for the children to understand social norms and rules of society.
Recognized by Maccoby and Martin, neglectful parenting has the total opposite approach of authoritative parents: neglectful parents are neither demanding nor responsive. Neglectful parents are also referred to as being uninvolved, detached, dismissive, or hands-off. While these parents may fulfil the child’s basic needs, they are generally detached from their children’s lives. In extreme cases, these parents may even reject or neglect the needs of their children (Maccoby and Martin, 1983).
These parenting styles were ultimately analyzed into two dimensions of demandingness vs. undemanding, and responsiveness vs. unresponsiveness (Baumrind, 1967, 1971, 1978, 1991). Demand refers to the demands parents make on their children to become integrated into the family and society. Aspects of parental demand include the extent to which parents hold maturity demands for their children, provide supervision, and enact disciplinary efforts when needed (Baumrind, 1991). Responsiveness refers to parental behaviors that intentionally promote individuality, self-regulation, and self-assertion in their children. Aspects of parental responsiveness include the extent to which parents are sensitive toward and supportive of their children (Baumrind, 1991).
Authoritative Style: Assertive Democratic / Balanced
Parents who use authoritative methods are characterized by a child-centered approach that involves high expectations of maturity, but also an understanding of children’s feelings. Also referred to as “assertive democratic” and/or “balanced” parents, authoritative parents act as role models and exhibit the same behaviors they expect from their children; kids are more likely to internalize these behaviors. Consistency with the rules is very important to authoritative parents, along with consistency within discipline, as this allows children to know what to expect. Some characteristics of authoritative parents are that they encourage independence, express warmth and nurturance, allow children to express opinions, and provide firm and consistent guidance with love and affection. Clear standards are set for their children, yet they allow their children to develop independence and freedom (Santrock, 2007). Punishments for misbehaviour are not arbitrary nor violent; they control their children’s behavior with care and response, eliminating the “because I said so” mentality that breeds resentment and frustration within the family environment (Santrock, 2007). Authoritative parents are attentive to their children’s needs and concerns and will usually forgive and teach instead of punishing if a child falls short. According to Baumrind, authoritative parents are warm and nurturing toward the children.
Baumrind’s study on preschool children provided a valid amount of evidence to support her theory of authoritative parents. The results she acquired showed that preschool children of authoritative parents showed more maturity and independence and were more social, active, and achievement-oriented in comparison to those of non-authoritative parents. To solidify the stability of these results, Baumrind examined these correlations between parenting and adolescence again and she found that parenting styles and their relationship to school outcomes were consistent with the earlier preschool findings (Baumrind, 1989).
Authoritarian Style: Strict Parenting In contrast to authoritative parents, authoritarian parents are described as demanding but not responsive. Often referred to as “strict parenting”, authoritarian parenting enforces rigid rules and demands strict obedience to authority. Authoritarian parents view their children as having few rights but set adult-like responsibilities for them to obey. They have high expectations for their children, but generally do not explain the reasoning for the rules in the first place; thus, the “because I said so” mentality is set within the authoritarian family environment. As authoritarian parents, children are expected to stay out of trouble and accept what parents regard as right or wrong. According to Baumrind, authoritarian parents often utilize punishment rather than discipline and the children are left in the dark towards what they have done wrong. Although not all authoritarian parents enforce physical punishment, the levels of physical punishment are higher in authoritarian families compared to the other parenting styles.
Children and adolescents from authoritarian families tend to perform moderately well in school and be uninvolved in problem behavior, but they have poor social skills, lower-esteem, and higher levels of depression. Children of authoritarian parents often tend to be shy or may act fearful around others. Also with Baumrind’s preschool student study, her results remained consistent with children of authoritarian parents as well. Because authoritarian parents expect absolute obedience, children raised in such settings are typically very good at following rules because they have virtually been trained to; however, they may lack self-discipline. Children raised by authoritarian parents are not encouraged to explore and act independently unlike authoritative families, so children of authoritarian parents never learn how to set their own limits and personal standards.
Indulgent Style: Permissive Parenting Indulgent parents are described as being responsive but lacking demand. Indulgent parenting is also known as permissive, nondirective, or lenient parenting. Having few behavioral expectations for the child, indulgent parenting is a style of parenting in which parents are very involved with nurturing and emotional aspects, but lack demands or place lenient control on them (Santrock, 2007). According to Baumrind, these parents consult the child about standards of behavior and use reason rather than punishment to exercise their childrearing duties. These parents love and accept their children and are responsive to the child’s needs, but do not require children to regulate their behavior in any shape or form. Baumrind also said that this parenting style may result in creating self-indulgent children who show little or no respect for other people. The effects of indulgent parenting consist of children having a tendency to be more impulsive and possibly an urge for misconduct or drug use in adolescence. Santrock (2007) explains: “Children never learn to control their own behavior and always expect to get their way”. Children raised by indulgent parents may sometimes have poor social skills, may be self-involved and demanding, and may feel insecure due to lack of boundaries and guidance. Various studies have shown that teens with permissive parents were three times more likely to engage in heavy drinking in their teenage years. Researchers also suggest that permissive parenting is linked to other risky behaviors such as drug use.
Neglectful Style: Uninvolved Parenting Parenting categorized as neglectful are considered uninvolved, detached, dismissive, and/or “hands-off.” Baumrind characterized parents of the neglectful parenting style as being low in warmth and control, generally not involved in their child’s life, disengaged, undemanding, low in responsiveness and neglectful of setting limits. Neglectful parents are generally not involved in their child’s life aside from providing their basic needs. Children whose parents are neglectful may develop complexes where they believe that other aspects of life are more important than they are, with many children attempting to provide for themselves or half dependence on the parent to become mature beyond their years (Santrock, 2007). Children may avoid becoming emotionally withdrawn from socializing with their parents; along with showing contradictory behavior, this behavior also impacts relationships later on in life as adolescents who have neglectful parents may show patterns of delinquency (Santrock, 2007) The effects of neglectful parenting consist of children attempting to provide for themselves, becoming emotionally withdrawn, or experiencing fear, anxiety or stress due to a lack of family support. Moreover, they also have an increased risk of substance abuse in their teenage years and into adulthood (Bahr, S. J & Hoffmann, J.P., 2010) Due to the lack of emotional responsiveness and love from their caretakers, children raised by uninvolved parents may have difficulty forming attachments later in life. The total lack of boundaries in their household makes it difficult for these youths to learn appropriate behaviors and limits in school and other social situations.
Conclusion
All things considered, Diana Baumrind’s theory on the three popular parenting styles that were later expanded by Maccoby and Martin had a massive impact on understanding parenting through developmental psychological research; although it must be noted that most parents do not fall perfectly into one category. In this essay, I covered the four main parenting styles and described their effects. Some other important points to recognize within studying different parenting styles are culture, personality, family size, the parental background, socioeconomic status, educational level, and religion. Also, considering families with two parents, one parent may express a specific style while the other may express a completely different style of parenting. In order to create a cohesive approach to parenting, it is essential that families with two parents cooperate as they combine various elements of their unique parenting styles that they feel would be the most productive for their child. (Maccoby and Martin, 1983).

Works Cited
Bahr, S. J.; Hoffmann, J. P. (2010). Parenting style, religiosity, peers, and adolescent heaving drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. (Vol. 71, pp. 539-343).
Baumrind, D. (1967). Child-care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behaviour. Genetis Psychology Monographs (Vol. 75, pp. 43-88).
Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence. (Vol. 11, pp. 56-95)
Baumrind, D. (1978). Parental disciplinary patterns and social competence in children. In Youth and Society (Vol. 9, pp. 238-276).
Baumrind, D. (1989). Rearing competent children. In W. Damon (Ed.), Child development today and tomorrow. (pp. 349-378). San Franciso: Jossey-Bass.
Maccoby, E.E; Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In P. Mussen and E.M Hetherington (Ed.). Socialization, personality, and social development. (Vol. 4, pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley.
Maccoby, E.E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization fo children: an historical overview. Developmental Psychology. (Vol. 28, pp. 1006-1017)
Santrock, J. (2007). A topical approach to life-span development. (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Cited: Bahr, S. J.; Hoffmann, J. P. (2010). Parenting style, religiosity, peers, and adolescent heaving drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. (Vol. 71, pp. 539-343). Baumrind, D. (1967). Child-care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behaviour. Genetis Psychology Monographs (Vol. 75, pp. 43-88). Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence. (Vol. 11, pp. 56-95) Baumrind, D. (1978). Parental disciplinary patterns and social competence in children. In Youth and Society (Vol. 9, pp. 238-276). Baumrind, D. (1989). Rearing competent children. In W. Damon (Ed.), Child development today and tomorrow. (pp. 349-378). San Franciso: Jossey-Bass. Maccoby, E.E; Martin, J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In P. Mussen and E.M Hetherington (Ed.). Socialization, personality, and social development. (Vol. 4, pp. 1-101). New York: Wiley. Maccoby, E.E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization fo children: an historical overview. Developmental Psychology. (Vol. 28, pp. 1006-1017) Santrock, J. (2007). A topical approach to life-span development. (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.