American Parenting Style

Asian American

                             

In America,Asian American society emphasizes interdependence, group solidarity, social hierarchy, and personal humility. Teenagers are at the stage in their lives where they want to break free from parental control and assert their own independence. Studies have shown that this assertion of independence can result in greater conflict and “less cohesion with their parents, often with direct negative effects on their psychological well-being”. This effect may be seen more in the cultural demands of Asian American parents.

 Asian Americans, on the other hand, have a completely different view on personal autonomy. The focus on an interdependent view of the self is what drives Asian American parents to ensure that their children develop a sense of contentedness with their families’ Personal autonomy is ignored as Asian American parents place a strong emphasis on obedience, reliability, proper behavior, social obligation, and group achievement.

 In contrast to Caucasian Americans, Asian American parents often remind children of past transgressions and invoked moral standards and social norms. This results in future obedience and a sense of shame, which may also lead to a decrease in self-esteem. These reprimands act to convey social norms and behavioural standards rather than allow for the child to freely express himself. Furthermore, Asian Americans place an important emphasis on the family unit Adherence to authority reinforces the child’s place and security within the family. Children are expected to obey and respect authority, get along with others, and learn good moral character. Asian American parents were more likely to adopt an authoritarian parenting style.

Source:http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi

Caucasian American

                           

Caucasian American society embraces independence and emphasizes self-expression, personal uniqueness, and self-sufficiency. Beside that Caucasian American parents are concerned with their child’s ability to build a “sense of self” (mean that a character may not truly know who he is but he always knows who he thinks he is.). The child’s ability to gain independence, assertiveness, and self-expression at an early age is emphasized by their parent. Children are offered choices in their daily lives in order to encourage them to practice asserting themselves. 

Being able to actively influence their own lives provides these children with a strong sense of self in that it allows them to feel that they are in control of their lives. This feeling of control, in turn, strengthens their self-esteem and makes them happier. Rather than remind children of past experiences that may hurt their self-esteem or make them feel ashamed, thus Caucasian American parents tend to remind children of past experiences that are of entertainment and affirmation. This acts to protect the child’s self-esteem even further. Caucasian American parents were not found to be more likely to adopt the more authoritative to permissive parenting styles.

Source:http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

Chinese American

Chinese American culture is largely influenced by Confucian philosophy. This philosophy emphasizes respect for authority, devotion to parents, emotional restraint, and the importance of education. With this the Chinese parenting practices are based on the concepts of chiao shun (is to train the children) and guan (to govern and to love of their children). Parents who want to train their children are very involved in their children’s lives; they show high levels of concern for them. For Chinese Americans, parenting becomes more difficult in the years following immigration. Physical discipline and other practices typical in China are less accepted in the United States.

Expectations for Chinese American children are high such as adolescents are responsible for many family functions, including they have to care for siblings and family members, cleaning the home environment, and cooking meals. A child’s duty to the family is an accepted norm in Chinese American households. Chinese parents are not necessarily driven to control their children; instead, they are expected to teach their children how to maintain harmony with others. For example, emotional expression is considered harmful to one’s health and relationships, and children are encouraged to avoid it. •Such practices create the context for “saving face.” This value or behavior is related to shame because it rewards conformity to society’s expectations for propriety and harmony.

For the Chinese American they are practicing 2 parenting style that is the authoritarian and the authoritative parenting style. Authoritarian parenting style, is an approach to child-rearing that is usually not associated with the best academic and emotional child outcomes. Authoritative parenting style is which the parents produce children who are more independent and self-reliant. It's true for many Westerners, and it's also true for many Chinese. When Chinese kids are raised by authoritative parents, they do as well or better than Chinese kids from authoritarian homes.

Parenting style between American and British.