Child Rearing Essay Research Paper To a

Child Rearing Essay, Research Paper

To a great extent, culture determines the way children are brought up and raised. Child rearing practices vary from culture to culture. Families in all societies have three basic goals for their children (LeVine, 1974). First, families have the survival goal, which promotes the physical survival and health of the child. Second, there is the economic goal, which is used to foster skills and behavioral capacities that the child needs for economic self-maintenance as an adult. Lastly, there is the self-actualization goal, which is used in order to foster behavioral capabilities for maximizing cultural values such as morality, religion and achievement. While these basic goals that parents have for their children are similar, culture can produce variations in the behavior and beliefs of parents. These differences in behavior and beliefs the parents hold affect their child-rearing practices. The child-rearing practices among the Mexican-American families and Native-Americans are examined throughout this paper.

The Mexican culture has a very rich heritage of both Indian and Spanish ancestry, which have great influence on raising children. Mexico was a patriarchal society under the Spanish legal system. Traditionally children were wards of their fathers. Women only had rights over their children in extreme circumstances such as default of a natural or appointed male relative. The premise of Spanish family law was primarily unchanged until the late 19th century and was not significantly revised until the 1960s (Lavrin, 1991).

Today, in Mexican households in both the United States and Mexico there is still a traditional division of labor by gender. For example, girls help their mothers in the kitchen and boys help their fathers in the yard. In addition to the division of labor by gender, in the Mexican culture adult males are “expected” to be dominant over adult females (Bronstein, 1994).

It is very interesting to know that as in other Latin American countries, the study of parenting in Mexico is extremely limited. In fact, much of what is known comes indirectly from studies of Hispanic families living in the United States (Bronstein, 1994) or is obtained from Mexico City and the surrounding areas.

In Mexican families the mother is the primary caretaker of the children. Typically, Mexican mothers are very affectionate especially to children under 3 years of age (Bronstein, 1994). While there appears to be defined roles for males and females, Mexican mothers did not differ in their treatment of children based on gender (Bronstein, 1994).

Parental authority, children’s obedience, and respect for the parents are major values within the Mexican family (Diaz-Guerro, 1975). Both mothers and fathers discipline their children. In fact, discipline in Mexico and in the United States is quite similar. This is true for Mexican mothers (Solis-Camara & Fox, 1995; 1996) and Mexican fathers (Fox & Solis-Camara, 1997).

In traditional Mexican culture the male is the disciplinarian and his wife and children both respect him. The father’s role has been characterized by “aloof authoritarianism”. Recent research has shown that fathers in Mexico and in the United States are quite similar in their discipline style. In both countries, fathers from lower socio-economic status families were less nurturing and used more frequent and harsh discipline styles (such as spanking and yelling) than fathers from higher socio-economic status families (Bronstein, 1994; Mirande, 1988; Fox & Solis-Camara, 1997).

Mexican fathers treat their children differently based on gender. Fathers often pay more attention to their sons, and are less punishing of their daughters (Bronstein, 1994). Despite traditional gender roles there has been some changes in the fathers role. Today, fathers are more involved with their children than in the past. The involvement, however, is typically physical and outdoor play (Bronstein, 1994).

In regards to the culture of Native-Americans, there many separate Native-American societies that are broken up into tribes. All tribes are somewhat different with regard to culture, customs, beliefs, and behaviors. It would not be a good idea to generalize across tribes because each tribe employs different child-rearing practices. Nevertheless, some basic similarities are found among tribes.

The traditional Native-American community is collective, cooperative, and has extensive non-competitive social networks. Most aspects of life have spiritual significance, and there is an interdependence of spirituality and culture. Important traditional values include harmony with nature, respect for elders and traditional ways, centrality of family and tribal life, and cooperation (Coll, Meyer, & Brillon, 1995).

Responsibilities for child-rearing are often shared among many adults including parents, extended family members, and other adults (Harrison et al., 1990). Children are treated permissively and there is less interference in the affairs of others and in the regulation of activities (Phillips & Lobar, 1990). Being part of a group and blending in are important virtues and children are not encouraged to assert their individuality. Patience is a virtue and Native-American children do not seem competitive by the standards of the dominant society. Traditional Native-American bel