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Christie Tursi
Dr. Gabriela Rios
ENC 1102
June 11, 2014
Does Parenting Matter? Parenting Styles and Child Development
Society, like parenting, is centered on human development and functions by balancing individual
freedom and control. The 1950s societal norm of family consists of a mother and a father, and they are
responsible for teaching their children values. Children will either develop positive or negative habits
during this stage. Back then, divorce wasnt common due to societal pressure. Women were not hired to
work or able to hold office, so they depended on marriage. Men were also expected to be married like a
proper fella by their neighbors and boss. People also had many children in order to take care of their
elders. People just didnt live alone. Only 9.3% of homes had only a single occupant in 1950, up slightly
to 16.3% in 1960. Today that number is over 25%. Along with the baby boom, home ownership rose. The
idealist view of family structure was portrayed in television shows like Father Knows Best which
showed obedient kids, working dads and stay-at-home moms who cooked and cleaned. In todays
modernized society, families vary in size and gender and many parents adopt. Diverse household
structures can influence parenting styles and the way children develop differently, specifically their
behavior. Parents are the power structure in a household because they are the providers; they have
more knowledge and teach their children. Children are constrained by obeying and pleasing their
parents that have particular parenting styles, overall affecting their development. There are three types
of parenting styles: authoritarian, permissive and authoritative. Authoritarian parents are characterized
by strict rules, harsh punishments and withdrawal of love. Permissive parents are very lenient, have few
or inconsistent rules, and tend to spoil their child. Authoritative parents are medians that hold high
expectations, act as role models, and display unconditional love to their child. My first source, Choi,
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provides support on how single mothers and nonresident fathers affect child behavior. Gauvain,
confirms that by combining and fluctuating nurture and discipline within the styles of parenting, children
develop differently. John Locke presents how children develop from personal experiences and
observations since birth. In my fourth source, Tan shows how family stress and parenting styles impact
the behavior of adopted children who are at a clinically inclined risk of behavior problems. Ujis case
study reveals how parenting styles in Japan have long term effects on a childs mental health and
psychological well being. Lastly, Xu proves how parenting influences childrens dietary behavior. All six
sources work together to answer the questing regarding how parenting styles affect child development
within various households. These sources suggest that children learn by experience, and authoritative
parenting provides the best learning experience for children and promote optimal child development,
compared to authoritarian and permissive styles.

Choi, Jeong-Kyun, and Ho-Soon Pyun. "Nonresident Fathers Financial Support, Informal Instrumental
Support, Mothers Parenting, And Child Development In Single-Mother Families With Low
Income." Journal Of Family Issues 35.4 (2014): 526-546. PsycINFO. Web. 5 June 2014.
In this article, Dr. Choi, editor of the Journal of International Social Issues, and Ho-Soon Pyun, an
Adjunct Professor at WSU, studied how single parent homes and how a fathers child support
effects child development. They claim that the fathers financial support is positively associated
with signs of child well-being, such as behavioral adjustment, academic achievement, and
cognitive outcomes. For example, nonresident fathers financial aid support can be
supplemental economic resources for single mothers and their children, which allow mothers to
buy necessary material goods and services such as medical insurance, child care or school, books
and toys, which may enhance childrens developmental processes. Not only do fathers t who
pay child support help give their child the necessary tools they need but these fathers also
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alleviate the mothers stress of a financial burden, which may affect her parenting. Research
shows that increased stress on a mother is associated with more frequent problematic child
behavior (10).

Although I do believe that fathers who pay child support lessen economic hardship and ideally
improve a childs behavior by providing him/her with toys and child-care, we cant trace what
exactly mothers are really using the money for and it depends on the mothers parenting more
as she deals with stress. In my view, what affects a childs behavior the most in a low-income,
single mother household is not being able to have a relationship with their father. Active father
figures may reduce behavior problems in boys and reduce psychological problems in girls. Not
all father figures have to be biological either. They are usually older men with power, authority,
strength which generate a deep psychological bond that promotes love and wise advice. In my
experience, when I lived with my mom she directly took care of me. As a result, I had an
insecure relationship with my dad; I was reluctant to see him. This influenced how I view family
structures and how much I admire strong women are for raising children on their own. Another
behavior pattern I noticed in a single mother home is my brothers. He did not have a father
figure to look up to so, correspondingly, he misbehaved and did academically worse than me in
school. In sum, I believe non-direct financial assistance improves child development by relieving
financial burdens that cause single mothers to alter their parenting style; yet, having a direct
father-child relationship improves childrens psychological development more.
Gauvain, Mary, Susan M. Perez, and Heidi Beebe. "Authoritative Parenting And Parental Support For
Children's Cognitive Development." Authoritative parenting: Synthesizing nurturance and
discipline for optimal child development. 211-233. n.p.: American Psychological Association,
2013. PsycBOOKS. Web. 5 June 2014.
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In the article Authoritative Parenting and Parental Support for Childrens Cognitive
Development, psychologists Mary Gauvain, Susuan M. Perez and Heidi Beebe suggest that it is
important to consider the manner of of parent-child relationship that may contribute to
different learning results. Through studying mother-child interactions, they compared two
groups of children with the same IQ and matching pre-tests, and gave them a task to complete.
They have concluded that one aspect that may both contribute to and be informed by
childrens cognitive and sociomotional development is parenting style. In this light, parenting
style may serve as an index of the dynamic nature of learning opportunities in social context
(5).Their research shows that the mothers of the non-compliant children expressed more
disapproval toward their children by using more behavioral consequences and by constraining
their children to explore independently, as opposed to mothers of compliant children that
assumed for responsibility for the task.

I agree that a childs learning and cognitive development is associated with parent-child
experiences, such as how they were disciplined in this case, which may inhibit their ability to
learn and may inhibit their social skills. For example, authoritarian parents are characterized by
strict rules, harsh punishments with little or no explanation and withdrawal of love by
associating love with only success and accomplishments. In the study, a child of the
authoritarian mother may assume less responsibility for the task because the child may not
want to disappoint their mother and may fear punishment. Yet, I do believe that children of
authoritarian parents may perform better due to the pressure of their parents. For example,
many families I know enforce strict rules that dont allow their child to go out in order for them
to study more and not get in trouble, as well as punishing them if they do not earn an A, so they
usually perform better than average on tests caused by the pressure of their parents high
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standards. This authoritarian style parent-child relationship can be tied to inclined academic
performance but negatively affects the social life of children from being too sheltered.
"John Locke." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. William Uzgalis, 10 July 2012. Web. 6 June 2014.
This article focuses on an English philosopher and physician during the Enlightenment, John
Lockes theory, known as tabula rasa. Locke compares our minds to a blank sheet of paper,
containing no ideas at birth. Therefore, our knowledge is shaped by our experiences. The term
idea, Locke explains stands for whatsoever is the Object of the Understanding, when a man
thinks (The Limits of Human Understanding). Although Western philosophers, Plato and
Descartes, disagree on the grounds that certain habits are innate or occur naturally. I believe
that the reason certain habits seem to occur naturally is because those habits are inherited from
our parents just like animal instincts. This has sparked the nature vs. nurture debate. For
example, if someone does well in school, is it because he or she is a gifted prodigy or a result of
an enriched environment? Or if a husband abuses his family is it because he is a violent person
or something he learned from observing his parents relationship? This question has remained
unanswered for centuries. I believe that environmental forces- parenting styles above all else-
exerts the greatest force on children than nurture, or inborn traits, because behavior is
determined by experience and parenting styles are known to have a profound effect on child
development.

In my rationale, these questions remind me of a rhetorical situation. In Edbauers theory of a
rhetorical situation, rhetors have all control and the meaning the product can change depending
on the perception of others. Whereas Bitzer, another rhetor, would argue that a situation itself
is urgent and brings attention. In this rhetorical space, parenting styles are the constraint, which
is also the power structure. A rhetorical situation is established by exigencies, in this case
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childrens needs, which the opposition, parents in this case, have to respond while
simultaneously establishing rhetorical constraints, parenting styles, that limit the strategies
available for response, in this case child behavior. I also agree with Vatz, another rhetor, on the
grounds rhetors have control in persuading the audience and in this case parents use parenting
styles in order for children to act a certain way, or behave, using different levels of affection and
punishment in different households and outside places. For instance, perhaps a parent would
raise their voice inside their home to control their child but would not be so authoritarian in
public. Perhaps if a child was throwing a temper tantrum at a grocery store for not buying him
or her candy, the parent might get it to make him or her quiet and under control.
Tan, Tony Xing, et al. "Family Stress, Parenting Styles, And Behavioral Adjustment In Preschool-Age
Adopted Chinese Girls." Early Childhood Research Quarterly 27.1 (2012): 128-136. PsycINFO.
Web. 10 June 2014.
In the article "Family Stress, Parenting Styles, And Behavioral Adjustment In Preschool-Age
Adopted Chinese Girls", psychologist Tan and colleagues studied family stress, parenting and
child behavior in adopted Chinese families. Foster care itself is known to have a negative effect
on a childs cognitive behavior and development; children who are taken away later in age are at
a higher risk due the torn separation from their parents. This makes parenting more challenging
because their adopted child may have had a history of abuse or may be already emotionally
damaged and from the process. In fact, over 88% of the 60 studies examined, stress and child
psychopathology were positively correlated (Stressful life events, parenting, and children's
behavioral adjustment). Results showed that adoptive mothers reported moderate family
stress, authoritative parenting style, and few behavior problems. In contrast, authoritarian and
permissive parenting is associated with higher stress levels and behavioral problems.

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In sum, not all adoptions turn out beneficial to the child because not all parents are the same.
For instance, my aunt and uncle adopted two girls, who had the same mother, because they
couldnt have kids but they cared more about how much money they were getting from the
government than they cared for the girls. They are the authoritarian type parents and in my
opinion arent good parents because the girls are mostly locked in separate rooms for time out,
even on family occasions. In short, I believe adoption is a successful natural intervention that
promotes healthy development because adoptive parents are usually loving and offer a better
environment for growing up than foster homes, but not all parents have the same parenting
style and results on child development may vary.
Uji, Masayo, et al. "The Impact Of Authoritative, Authoritarian, And Permissive Parenting Styles On
ChildrenS Later Mental Health In Japan: Focusing On Parent And Child Gender." Journal Of Child
And Family Studies 23.2 (2014): 293-302. PsycINFO. Web. 7 June 2014.
In the article "The Impact Of Authoritative, Authoritarian, And Permissive Parenting Styles On
Childrens Later Mental Health In Japan: Focusing On Parent And Child Gender", Japanese
graduates of psychology, Uji, Sakamoto, and Adachi have examined the three parenting styles:
authoritarian, authoritative, and passive in Japan and its long term effects on a childs mental
health, psychological well being and possible risk to others. I would like to focus on their passive
parenting results. First off, passive parenting is characterized by parents that are lenient and
have few and inconsistent rules. According to these psychologists, passivity and modesty no
longer benefit individuals in the social environment in Japan; instead, assertiveness and self
confidence are necessary in order to maintain positive mental health attributes such as life
functioning, psychological well-being, and self esteem(8). Also worth noting is only paternal
permissive parenting led to an increase in respondents symptomatic problems. Maternal
permissiveness did not affect childrens mental health. Thus its important for Japanese fathers
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must make a commitment to parenting and avoid leaving the mother for the sake of their
children to live mentally healthy lives. I agree that passive style parenting does not set enough
limits for children and they will more than likely develop a lack of self discipline. In my
experience, my friends who had parents that cared less as to where they were and how late
they stayed out engaged in underage and binge drinking and other drugs and always had
detention in school. Clearly, permissive parenting has negative effects on a childs development.
Xu, Huilan, et al. "Parenting Style And Dietary Behaviour Of Young Children. Findings From The Healthy
Beginnings Trial." Appetite71.(2013): 171-177. PsycINFO. Web. 10 June 2014.
In the article, "Parenting Style And Dietary Behaviour Of Young Children. Findings From The
Healthy Beginnings Trial, Xu investigates child development, including their diet behavior,
based on the role of parents. Childrens dietary behavior is strongly related to parenting styles
and parenting interventions are used to prevent child obesity and health risks. According to Xus
experiment, most mothers were aged 25 years or older (64%), married (95%) and employed
(62%), with annual household income more than $40,000 (74%), but only a quarter had tertiary
education (26%). Just above half of the children (54%) were reported as consuming 2 or more
serves of vegetables a day, 71% reported consuming 2 or more serves of fruit a day and 74%
reported they did not consume any soft drink, while more than half of the children (56%)
reported to eat snacks more than 1 time per week (Results). Fruit portions were considerably
higher for those families who made over $40,000. On the other hand, mothers less than 25
years old reported children with a higher soft drink use, as well as families with lower incomes
who allowed children to consume more unhealthy snacks. Childrens dietary behaviors are a
reflection of parental styles (warmth and hostility) and parental-efficacy (how well parents can
interpret their child). The proportion of 2 servings of vegetables or fruit was higher among
children of mothers with higher parental-efficacy (60% vs. 38%) and parental warmth (58% vs.
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43%) compared to lower parental-efficacy and lower levels of warmth. Inversely, the ratio of
consuming soft drinks was higher among mothers with low parental-efficacy and snack
consumption was higher with among children with mothers who tend to be hostile.

On the contrary, in my view, authoritarians, those who are not warm and are strict/demanding,
may have the better qualities to enforce children to eat their fruits and vegetables. For example,
my parents would not let me leave the dinner table until I ate all my food on my plate, even if it
became cold. This might sound harsh, but it worked. In contrast, permissive parents tend to be
very loving, yet too lenient and lack discipline and may fail to enforce children to eat their
vegetables by letting them scrape whatever they dont like into the trash. Authoritative parents
in my opinion would be the most effective because they are warm, yet stern. Perhaps, they
might offer an incentive like dessert or offer to cook their childs favorite vegetable. In sum,
parenting styles can negatively or positively affect dietary behavior of children. These eating
habits usually carry onto adulthood and will have more serious effects when theyre older.