Title: Choices in Relationships
1Choices in Relationships
2Roles Involved in Parenting
- Caregiver
- Emotional Resource
- Economic Resource
- Teacher
3Roles Involved in Parenting
4Roles Involved in Parenting
5Choices Perspective of Parenting
- Nature of Parenting Choices
- The absence of a parental decision is a decision.
- Parental choices involve trade-offs.
- View bad choices positively.
6Choices Perspective of Parenting
- Five Basic Parenting Choices
- The five basic choices parents make include
- Deciding whether to have a child
- Deciding the number of children
- Deciding the interval between children
- Deciding ones method of discipline and guidance
- Deciding the degree to which one will be invested
in the role of parent
7Transition to Parenthood
- Transition to Motherhood
- Although childbirth is sometimes thought of as a
painful ordeal, some women describe the
experience as fantastic, joyful, and unsurpassed. - Emotional bonding may be temporarily impeded by a
mild depression, characterized by irritability,
crying, loss of appetite, and difficulty in
sleeping.
8Transition to Parenthood
- Transition to Fatherhood
- Children from intact homes or those in which
fathers maintained an active involvement in their
lives after divorce tend to - Make good grades
- Be less involved in crime
- Have good health/self-concept
- Have a strong work ethic
- Have durable marriages
- Have a strong moral conscience
- Have higher life satisfaction
9Transition to Parenthood
- Transition to Fatherhood
- Children from intact homes or those in which
fathers maintained an active involvement in their
lives after divorce tend to - Have higher incomes as adults
- Have higher education levels
- Form close friendships
- Have stable jobs
- Have fewer premarital births
- Have lower child sex abuse
- Exhibit fewer anorectic symptoms
10Transition to Parenthood
- Transition from a Couple to a Family
- Researchers disagree over whether children have a
negative or positive impact on a couples marital
relationship. - Regardless of how children affect the feelings
spouses have about their marriage, spouses report
more commitment to their relationship once they
have children.
11Transition to Parenthood
12Parenthood Some Facts
- Each Child Is Unique
- Parents soon become aware of the uniqueness of
each childof her or his difference from every
other child they know. - Parents Are Only One Influence in a Childs
Development - Siblings
- Teachers
- Media
- Internet
13Parenthood Some Facts
- Parenting Styles Differ
- 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.
14Principles of Effective Parenting
- Give Time, Love, Praise, and Encouragement
- Since children depend first on their parents for
the development of their sense of emotional
security, it is critical that parents provide a
warm emotional context in which the children can
develop.
15Principles of Effective Parenting
- Monitor Childs Activities
- Abundant research suggests that parents who
monitor their childrenknow where their children
are, who they are with, etc.are less likely to
report that their adolescents are involved in
delinquent behavior and drinking alcohol, poor
academic performance, and sexual activity.
16Principles of Effective Parenting
- Set Limits and Discipline Children for
Inappropriate Behavior - The goal of guidance is self-control.
- Guidance may involve reinforcing desired behavior
or providing limits to childrens behavior.
17Principles of Effective Parenting
- Provide Security
- Security provides children with the needed
self-assurance to venture beyond the family. - Encourage Responsibility
- Giving children increased responsibility
encourages the autonomy and independence they
need to be assertive and independent.
18Principles of Effective Parenting
- Provide Sex Education
- Although they are reluctant to discuss safe sex,
their doing so often has positive consequences. - Express Confidence
- If the parents show the child that they have
confidence in him or her, the child begins to
accept these social definitions as real and
becomes more self-confident.
19Principles of Effective Parenting
- Respond to Teen Years Creatively
- Catch them doing what you like rather than
criticizing them for what you dont like. - Be direct when necessary.
- Provide information rather than answers.
- Be tolerant of high activity levels.
- Engage in some activity with your teenagers.
20Gay Parenting Issues
- Several issues unique to gay parents
- Identity issues
- Concerns about parenting effectiveness
- New intimate relationships
- Boundary issues
21Approaches to Childrearing
- Developmental-Maturational Approach
- Ages-and-stages approach to childrearing
- Behavioral Approach
- Behavior is learned through classical and operant
conditioning.
22Approaches to Childrearing
- Parent Effectiveness Training Approach
- Parent effectiveness training focuses on what
children feel and experience in the here and
nowhow they see the world. - Socioteleological Approach
- Because children feel powerless in the face of
adult superiority, they try to compensate by
gaining attention, exerting power, seeking
revenge, and acting inadequate.
23Approaches to Childrearing
- Attachment Parenting
- Overall, the ultimate goal is for parents to get
connected with their baby. - Once parents are connected, it is easy for
parents to figure out what works for them and to
develop a parenting style that fits them and
their baby.
24Approaches to Childrearing