My family is an American nuclear family composed of a father, mother and two siblings. My father Jim is a very successful architect and entrepreneur and my mother Michele is the CFO of their businesses, which allowed her to be a stay at home mother for me and my older brother Kristopher. My parents are a solid example of the authoritative parenting style; their parenting style created a stable, engaging, warm and nurturing childhood for me.
I believe the productive and effective business relationship they developed as business partners directly influenced how well they parented, and that their experience in joint decision making especially benefited their parenting, and ultimately me as well. Throughout my childhood and adolescence they were a solid authoritative parenting team, which helped them create a home with a lot of structure. Minuchin, as quoted by Omer, Steinmetz, Carthy and Schlippe (2013), says “Structure plays a crucial role in promoting a stable and secure frame for family life (Minuchin, 1974).” I strongly feel that the structure positively affected my development by minimizing conflict and confusion.
I believe my parent’s personalities also greatly influenced why and how they are authoritative parents. My mother
References: Bartol, R. C., & Bartol, M .A (2011). Criminal Behavior A Psychological Approach. (9th) Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall Omer, H., Steinmetz, S. G., Carthy, T., & Schlippe, A. (2013). The Anchoring Function: Parental Authority and the Parent-Child Bond. Family Process, 52(2), 193-206. doi:10.1111/famp.12019 Sartaj, B., & Aslam, N. (2010). Role of Authoritative and Authoritarian Parenting in Home, Health and Emotional Adjustment. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 20(1), 47-66. Samenow, E. S. (1984). Inside the Criminal Mind. (Revised Edition.)New York: NY: Crown Publishing Simons, R. L., Simons, L., Burt, C., Brody, G. H., & Cutrona, C. (2005). COLLECTIVE EFFICACY, AUTHORITATIVE PARENTING AND DELINQUENCY: A LONGITUDINAL TEST OF A MODEL INTEGRATING COMMUNITY-AND FAMILY-LEVEL PROCESSES. Criminology, 43(4), 989-1029. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2005.00031.x