Few responsibilities in life match those you assume when rearing a child. In the early years, you are solely responsible for providing the physical, emotional and intellectual support that forms a base from which your child views the world. Later, formal education takes over much of the responsibility for intellectual development, and parents begin the process of guiding your child toward adulthood. The parenting methods and practices you choose to accomplish this depend on your own ideas and attitudes as well as external, environmental factors.
Parenting Conflicts
HealthyChildren.org identifies how conflict between you and your spouse factor into child-rearing. Conflict can arise from differing expectations, usually concerning boundaries and methods of discipline. This can lead to inconsistency and competition. Inconsistent parenting results in multiple sets of rules and often leads to one parent undermining the authority of the other, according to HealthyChildren.org. Undermining can easily lead to competition as each parent attempts to “win,” putting your child in the middle of the conflict with no clear expectations or guidelines for behavior.
Religion
Research conducted by the James Rowntree Foundation, a charitable organization that focuses on social issues, presents a number of conclusions relating to religion as a factor in child-rearing. According to the JRF, parents who integrate religious beliefs in child-rearing are more inclined to involve extended family members, such as grandparents. In addition, parents tend to use a more authoritative style of parenting that includes boundaries, standards and expectations combined with support and responsiveness. This style of parenting encourages two-way communication and maintains respect for a child’s beliefs and values. This is in contrast to an authoritarian parenting style, characterized by “obedience without question” to a set of clearly defined rules and a highly structured, sometimes intrusive environment.
Sexual Orientation
The Williams Institute, a research center associated with the UCLA Law School, began a study in 1986 that focused on sexual orientation as a factor in child-rearing. The 17-year period of the study included 78 lesbian couples and their children, along with a control group of heterosexual couples and their children. Results showed that children reared in lesbian families rated significantly higher in positive traits, such as social and academic competencies, and significantly lower in negative traits, such as social problems, aggression, rule-breaking and acting-out behaviors. Researchers attribute these results to attentive parenting, inventive parenting styles usually developed as a way to protect children from the effects of homophobic bullying, and a high degree of parental involvement.
