1. Chapter 11 Parenting

2. Roles Involved in Parenting Parenting involves: Caregiving—providing physical care – Boomerang generation: young adults who have moved back in with their parents after having lived on their own Providing emotional support Teaching

3. Parenting Roles Parenting involves: Providing economic resources Protecting – Oppositional defiant disorder: children fail to comply with the requests of authority figures – More likely to develop when not closely monitored

4. Parenting Involves Promoting healthy living Fostering rituals: building a sense of family cohesiveness

5. Choices Perspective Not to make a parental decision is to make a decision. All parental choices involve trade-offs. Regretted parental decisions may be reframed.

6. Choices Perspective Basic Parenting Choices: Whether to have a child The number of children The interval between children The method of discipline and guidance The degree to which parents will be invested in the role

7. Transition to Parenthood Transition to parenthood: period from the beginning of pregnancy through the first few months after the birth of a baby – Sociobiologists suggest that the attachment between a mother and her offspring has a biological basis. Oxytocin: a hormone released from the pituitary gland during the expulsive stage of labor that has been associated with the onset of maternal behavior in lower animals

8. Transition Baby blues: transitory symptoms of depression 24 to 48 hours after the baby is born Postpartum depression: a severe reaction following the birth of a baby usually in the first month after birth Postpartum psychosis: a rare reaction where the mother wants to harm her baby

9. Transition Gatekeeper role: term used to refer to the influence or control of the mother on the father’s involvement and relationship with his children – Particularly pronounced after a divorce Fathers and mothers benefit from the father’s involvement in parenting.

10. Transition Research consistently reveals that having a child has a negative effect on marital happiness. The negative effect is worst during the teen years. Children tend to increase marital stability.

11. Transition

12. Parenthood: Some Facts Views of children differ historically. – 13 th -16 th centuries: innocent, sweet, and source of amusement – 16 th -18 th centuries: in need of discipline and moral training – Today: focus of parental attention – Helicopter parents constantly hover over their children to ensure their success.

13. Parenthood Facts Permissive parents are high on responsiveness and low on demandingness. Authoritarian parents are high on demandingness and low in responsiveness. Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive. Uninvolved parents are low in responsiveness and demandingness.

14. Effective Parenting Give time, love, praise, and encouragement. Be realistic. Avoid overindulgence: giving children too much, over-nurturing and providing too little structure. Monitor activities and drug use.

15. Effective Parenting Set limits and discipline children for inappropriate behavior – The goal of discipline is self-control. – Time-out: a noncorporal form of punishment that involves removing the child from a context of reinforcement to a place of isolation Provide security.

16. Effective Parenting Encourage responsibility. Teach emotional competence: capacity to experience emotion, express emotion, and regulate emotion. Provide sex education and teach nonviolence. – Menarche: first menstruation signaling a woman’s fertility Establish the norm of forgiveness.

17. Single-Parenting Forty percent of births in the U.S. are to unmarried mothers. It is important to distinguish between a single- parent family and a single-parent household. Binuclear family: child lives in single-parent household but remains connected to the other parent.

18. Single-Parenting Single mothers by choice are usually middle to upper class, mature, will-employed, and dedicated to mothering.

19. Single-Parenting Single parents face challenges: Responding to the demands of parenting with limited help Meeting adult emotional needs Meeting adult sexual needs Coping with the lack of money Ensuring guardianship Obtaining prenatal care

20. Single-Parenting Single parents face challenges: Coping with the absence of a father Avoiding negative life outcomes for the child – More likely to drop out of school, get pregnant before marriage, have drinking problems, and get divorced themselves