Comments on: The 4 Parenting Styles: What Works and What Doesn’t

By: Christian Rene Friborg

Christian Rene Friborg — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:12:07 +0000

The obedience to be demanded and freedom to grant your kids is the most hard decision in my life yet a fulfilling part of a parent.

By: John

John — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:04:53 +0000

Thank you MJ. I could not agree with you more. The article was interesting but raises a lot of questions. The only study sited here focuses on extremes of parenting and how that relates to drug abuse (the study only had 1K participants as well). I am off to find out what other studies Rosenthal uses to back her opinions.

By: M.J. Kang

M.J. Kang — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:54:07 +0000

In Alfie Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting, he addresses this very aspect of different parenting styles. In the chapter, “What Holds Us Back,” he writes: “In fact, the “reasonable middle ground” option may not be all that reasonable when evaluated on its merits. One example in the discipline field is Diana Baumrind’s schema, which has been adopted by lots of researchers as well as practitioners. She describes parenting as being “authoritarian” on one side, “permissive” on the other, or “authoritative” in the middle. In reality, her favored approach, supposedly a blend of firmness and caring, is actually quite traditional and control-oriented – even if less so than option 1. In fact, a close reading of Baurind’s research raises questions about the recommendations she offers, particularly her endorsement of “firm control.”

The larger point is that we may be tempted to accept a certain approach just because of how discussion about parenting has been framed, and specifically because we believe that rejecting one or two other approaches requires us to embrace a given alternative. To recognize that there are many possible ways of raising children, and to question the validity of various other ideologies, is to free us to explore new directions that may end up making a lot more sense than conventional wisdom.”

All the best,

M.J.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:27:53 +0000

Thank you for posting this article. It was a great reminder and I loved re-reading the types of parenting styles out there. I definitely grew up in an authoritarian family and I strive though to be an authoritative parent myself. Sometimes it’s not easy but the end result is something that keeps me going.