ERIC Number: EJ817993
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Jan
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1357-5279
EISSN: N/A
Rethinking "Harmonious Parenting" Using a Three-Factor Discipline Model
Greenspan, Stephen
Child Care in Practice, v12 n1 p5-12 Jan 2006
Diana Baumrind's typology of parenting is based on a two-factor model of "control" and "warmth". Her recommended discipline style, labeled "authoritative parenting", was constructed by taking high scores on these two factors. A problem with authoritative parenting is that it does not allow for flexible and differentiated responses to discipline situations. It is argued that a simpler, and more adequate, approach would be to switch to a model of discipline with a third factor, labeled "tolerance". Parents of the most socially competent children are adept at knowing when they have a problem and when they do not. An example of the latter would be when a child expresses negative affect while complying fully with a request. Baumrind's notion of authoritative parenting was a useful "dialectic", demonstrating that control and warmth are independent and equally necessary behaviors, but it did not go far enough. Baumrind's category of harmonious parenting (high warmth, moderate control, high tolerance), which she sees as an anomaly, should be substituted for authoritative parenting as the preferred discipline pattern.
Descriptors: Discipline, Parenting Styles, Child Rearing, Interpersonal Competence, Piagetian Theory, Adolescents, Parents, Preschool Children
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A