Authoritarian Parenting

Authoritative Parenting Styles and the Correlation with Positive Behavior in Children

Abstract
Authoritative parenting styles are consistently being shown in research studies to be effective methods to apply and that such applications are successful in developing children who are well behaved, productive and emotionally well adjusted. Unlike its counterpart, Authoritarian parenting, Authoritative parenting allows for more flexibility and this paper addresses the specifics of the methods through the analysis of empirical journal studies that support its effectiveness in the rearing of children who become productive, successful adults. Authoritative parenting styles adapt well to most children as its approach is less likely to be rendered too severe or impractical thus allowing it more opportunities to be applied. Authoritative parenting and its correlation with positive behavioral outcomes have led to it garnering consistent support from the child psychologists and the psychology field experts on the whole. Research studies consistently support the evidence of Authoritative parenting being as viable as it is a popular choice of discipline. The findings furnished from the research studies that were analyzed here provide support of just how effective authoritative parenting can and has been and extensive exploration of this method support such positive conclusions, which are provided within the confines of this paper that provides concrete evidence of such findings.

Introduction
There are numerous parenting styles available, from the most severe form of parenting, authoritarian to the least involved method of permissive and every parent selects a style that he or she believes will be the most effective in assisting them with the rearing of their offspring. In many cases, the parents’ choice to apply a particular style of parenting results from the methods that their own parents applied when they were children. When adults become parents, it is often their own childhoods, which come into play and depending upon the way that their own parents raised them, can result in their own children being properly or improperly parented. Authorities on child development have generally accepted the assumption that parents or primary caregivcaregivers exert the original and perhaps the most significant influence on the development of the child’s present and future emotional health, (Pretorius, N., 2000:1). Authoritarian parenting has received over the years, a large percentage of criticism in comparison to other forms of parenting styles such as authoritative, which has by comparison, acquired the reputation of being considered as one of the most effective. Studies have strongly supported the authoritative form of parenting as being worthy of application because it has consistently revealed data that reflects positive behavioral patterns for those children who were exposed to such a parenting style. Academic performance and overall socialization skills as well, have shown to be significantly higher for those children who were raised by parents who applied the authoritative parenting methods versus other forms of parenting styles. There is little question that the need for parents to find the most effective parenting method to apply for their children is a critical decision and therefore, it is imperative that one analyze closely the effects that one parenting style has over another and at this time, Authoritative, is one that is proving to be ahead of the others, as the most effective.

Parenting is one of the most important and difficult tasks facing an adult and life experiences contribute greatly to the decisions that lead to the choices that each person makes when it comes to the rearing of a child. Parenting styles and parenting practices play an equally central role in the rearing of children although they are both vastly integral to the development of the child, it is important to note that serve different functions. So what exactly is a parenting practice? Parenting practices are defined as specific behaviors that parents use to socialize their children (Darling and Steinberg, 1993). For example, when socializing their children to succeed in school, parents might enact certain practices such as doing homework with their children, providing their children with time to read, and attending their children’s school functions. Equally important to the rearing of a child would be the type of parenting style that is selected as it will ultimately affect and contribute to the parenting practices that the primary caregiver selects as well. So what is the parenting style? In contrast, Darling and Steinberg (1993) define a parenting style as the emotional climate in which parents raise their children. Parenting styles have been characterized by dimensions of parental responsiveness and demandingness, (Baumrind, 1991). The parental style that is selected very definitely contributes directly to the way a parent chooses to relate to their child on a social level. Depending on the type of parenting style, the parents’ level of responsiveness to their children’s behavior whether negative or positive in nature, can be abrupt, disruptive, uninvolved, dismissive, permissive, overbearing, intrusive or corrective, instructive and affectionate. Parenting styles are configurations of attitudes and behaviors of parents towards their child and create a context or a climate for the parent’s behavior and is displayed across many different situations (Darling and Steinberg 1993). There are three main parenting styles and each one embodies its own distinct set of characteristics that directly affects the way parents interact with and discipline their children. It is necessary to first identify the major components that define the three main types of parenting styles before fully exploring the evidence that supports the proven success of the authoritative style and its overall positive effects on children’s behavior and socialization. Of the three primary parenting styles, Permissive, which can in worse cases be borderline uninvolved or dismissive, easily offers the most lenient disciplinarian approach for rearing children. These parents are responsive to their children but place few demands or restrictions on the child. Parents believe that complete trust in the child and a minimal amount of restrictions is most beneficial to the parent-child relationship. The Permissive parent's philosophy is to glorify freedom and to perceive that restrictions limit growth, which is in stark contrast to the Authoritarian parents’ approach, which will be analyzed later. Children from these homes have been shown to have difficulty with impulsivity and goal setting. They have been found to have more behavior problems and a less positive orientation toward school, (Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A., 1983). They may be more socially competent & self-reliance than children from authoritarian & neglecting homes. Clearly the permissive parenting style offers both negative and positive effects on the child’s development. Although children reared by permissive parents and caregivers are more likely to be more socially adept and independent because of their parents’ limited involvement, they fall short in the area of scholastic performance and behavior. Unfortunately without any prescribed parameters to follow, which would be provided by both the authoritative and authoritarian parents, the child raised by caregivers who choose to apply the permissive parenting style are much more likely to throw tantrums when they don’t get their way and misbehave more often. These children do not face the possibility of punishment for negative actions unlike their authoritative and authoritarian counterparts, which is definitely an important distinction that contributes to their higher level of misbehavior. The complete lack of discipline and borderline dismissiveness in the less involved Permissive Parenting style encourages misbehavior in the fact that it does nothing to prevent or discourage the children’s unruliness and the parents are directly responsible for such outcomes. One important predictor of externalizing behavior is quality of parenting. (Olson et al., 2000; Narusyte, Andershed, Neiderhiser & Lichtenstein, 2007). Permissive parenting allows far too much freedom and not enough structure,