Article2

The impact of culture upon child rearing practicesAnd definitions of maltreatment

Researchers: Anne M. Ferrari

Reviewed By:Dominique GoldringJaime WatkinsScott Wildesen

Psyc 308 – October, 28 2008

Introduction• This study was done to find a relationship between parents’ history of childhood abuse and their cultural views played out in child rearing.

• Previous studies have found that childhood neglect/abuse is most predictive of a parent’s abusive behavior.

• To study the cultural aspect of parenting, familism, machismo, and valuing children were looked at.

• This study investigated the possibility that parents who support familism and have a higher value for children would be more tolerant of children and less likely to physically or verbally abuse their children.

• Parents who had strong machismo attitudes may be more likely to abuse their children because it would be seen as more culturally acceptable- just normal punishment.

• It was hypothesized that a parents’ cultural views more than race/ethnicity would be predictive of their abuse towards children.

MethodsParticipants:

• 75 fathers and 75 mothers, non-traditional students enrolled in evening and weekend classes at local universities and community colleges

• The participants were volunteers who were awarded extra class credit for their participation

• Evenly divided according to their self-defined ethnic identity; 33% of the participants were African American, 33% were Hispanic and 33% were European American.

• Ages ranged from 19 to 60 with a mean of 34

• 56% had completed some college, 26% were college graduates, and 16% had just completed high school

• 86% were employed and 83% were full time

MethodsParticipants (continued):

• 96% of the fathers were full time employed

• 79% of the mothers worked and 68% were full time

• 38% lived with their child and their spouse

• 14% lived with their child and the child’s grandparents

• 15% lived with their child and other relatives

• 19% lived with their child and their boyfriend or girlfriend

• 15% were single parents and 25% of those single parents were fathers

MethodsMeasures:• Participants completed a demographic information questionnaire

• Independent variables included Machismo Scale, Familism Scale, Valuing Children Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire

• Dependent variables included Conflict Tactics Scale, the Nurturance Scale, and the Vignettes of child maltreatment

• The demographic questionnaire requested information about age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, living arrangements, occupational status, and highest level of education obtained

MethodsProcedures:• All participants received information about the purpose of the study

• Participants were able to write directly in the booklet to aid administration

• Any questions regarding the research were answered

• Students were told that the goal of the research was to determine parental values and characteristics that are associated with parenting styles and techniques

• All parents received a referral packet listing local clinics and therapists

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Results

Discussion• Ingredients of ethnicity

• Familism• Machismo• Valuing children

• Predicted components of ethnicity would be associated with outcome variables of parents :

• Use of physical punishment • Reasoning• Verbal punishment • Providing nurturance • Severity rating of the abuse • Cultural variables

• No moderating effects found

Discussion• Familism

• Fathers low regard familism more likely to use physical punishment than those who value

• Study could only conclude abusive behaviors occur less frequently when fathers high familism

• Lower frequency of nurturing • More likely to live in a household with an extended member

• Low in both possibly because the parents are not the only caretaker of the child

• Studies have found co- residence grandmothers are beneficial

Discussion• Machismo

• More use of physical punishment by fathers but not for mothers

• Physical abuse had a strong effect but not as strong as familism

• Responsible for lack of affection by Latin fathers

• Negatively correlated with nurturance in Hispanic families

• Valuing children• Fathers who valued children more used more verbal punishment

• Possibly see verbal punishment as innocuous

• Don’t know how fathers perceive verbal punishment

• Fathers perceive verbal mistreatment less serious than mothers

Discussion• Integration Transmission of Abuse

Parents History• Predictor for mothers verbal and physical punishment

• Fathers who were abused are less likely to abuse child

• Fathers spend less time with child

• Ethnic Differences and Similarities• Giovannoni and Becerra’s sample

• African American and Hispanic didn’t differ but European did

• European parents were more tolerant of parental behavior

• Fathers perceive verbal mistreatment less serious than mothers

Discussion• Differ in Nurturing behaviors

• African American parents more nurturing than Hispanic but didn’t differ from European American

• African American parents used more physical discipline

• African American mothers used more physical and verbal punishments

• African American parents tend to be authoritarian

Discussion• Deater-Deckard study found harsh discipline more prevalent among African American parents than European

• Didn’t cause the aggression as it did in European children

• African American parents are also high in nurturing

• Study found African American males who were disciplined well were likely to succeed

• European Americans less physical than African American parents and less verbal than Hispanic parents

• European Americans not any less tolerant of abuse and neglect behaviors

Discussion• Parenting behaviors are individualistic

• Finding indicate both ethnicity and gender are complex factors may exert a direct influence upon parenting styles and definitions of maltreatment

• Future research should continue attitudinal and behavioral components

• Should address factors that buffer the effects of previous abuse for fathers and attempt to discover what factors can buffer effect of maltreatment for mothers.

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