Parenting practices

This article covers a very specific parenting practices associated with social class in the broader feild of social stratification. For more general information read the articles in Parenting.

In social stratification (a specific area of study in sociology) different Parenting Practices lead children to have different upbringings. Differences in child rearing are identified and associated with different social classes. These differences cause children to undergo different kinds of childhoods.

The two types of child rearing that are introduced by Annette Lareau are concerted cultivation and natural growth. Concerted cultivation parenting is associated with white collar, middle class, while natural growth parenting is associated with blue collar, working class. Parenting Practices do not apply exclusively to social classes, but they are highly correlated. It is important to understand that the only defining factor as to how a child is raised is the amount of money that their parent (or parents) have. There is not a complete correlation between money and child rearing practices; however wealth and income is the single largest defining factor as to which child rearing practice will be used.

Critical Overview

The techniques in child rearing that a parent uses when raising a child ultimately have a great effect on the child and how they develop. The difference between the two types presented by Annette Lareau is that concerted cultivation will in most cases provide a child with skills and advantages over natural growth children in the classroom and eventually in there careers. This is where parenting practices play into a larger social inequality issue. Social inequality provides a lack of education, employment, and status to the poor. This creates the difficulties for the poor and their are less opportunities to provide attentive care for their children. These circumstances under which natural growth parenting arise. Natural growth is then perpetuated because these children will not be as well suited for the work force, therefore make less money, and not be able to give their children a concerted cultivation upbringing. The critical issue is the differences in opportunities. Children of concerted cultivation, along with their upbringing, are typically provided with connections from their parents, friends, and activities that give them a step up in life. These advantages are perpetuated and inequality continues to exist.

Concerted Cultivation

Middle class parents engage in concerted cultivation parenting by attempting to foster children's talents through organized leisure activities, which teach them to respect authority and how to interact in a structured environment. Learning how to interact in a structured environment much like a classroom gives them a head start in school because they are identified as intelligent or as a good student. Other aspects of concerted cultivation include emphasis on reasoning skills and and language use. Parents challenge their children to think critically and use correct language. These skills also set the child apart in academic settings as well as give them confidence in social situations with adults. By learning these traits they are advancing themselves in their surroundings. Another difference is the involvement parents have in their children's lives. Parents are much more involved in following and intervening in their children's academic progression. Through this process children from a concerted cultivation upbringing will feel more entitled in their academic endeavors and will feel more responsible because the know that their parents are highly involved. This sense of entitlement becomes important in institutional settings because middle class children question adults and consider them relative equals.

Natural Growth

Parents in the working class (and typically with less money) engage in the accomplishment of natural growth. Parents provide conditions under which children can grow but leave leisure and other activities to children. This environment is far less structured and provides less opportunities to learn how to interact in an structured settings such as schools. In working class households, the parents have less time to spend challenging the children and do not have the money to hire help. This leaves the activities up to the children ans there is less structure involved. Accompanying the strain on time, working class parents are left with less time to get involved with their children's schooling and activities, therefore they leave this up to the professionals. The parents do not do this on purpose but frequently have jobs that are less lenient with their hours and they have difficulties making it to meetings with teachers. This frequently leaves parents frustrated and feeling powerless and the children do not receive the sense or entitlement and support that concerted cultivation children get. Having less time outside of jobs can also lead to less congruency between parents in their child rearing practices. Having less consistency can cause the child to become more inhibited and reserved.

Race Differences in Parenting

In parenting, race has a much slighter impact on a child's development than social class. Social class, wealth, and income have a much more of an effect on what child rearing practices will be used, rather than the race of the parents or children. The correlation between race and social class comes from the perpetuated inequality in the distribution of wealth in America. The lack of money is the defining factor in the style of child rearing that is chosen, and minorities are more likely to have less wealth or assets available for use in their children's upbringing. Wealth and connections among middle class parents also defines how these children enter the labor market, with or without help in finding jobs.

Inequality

Inequality is important to understand on its own. Inequality exists in the opportunities that lead to different child rearing practices but they also cause many other differences such as the quality of schools, as a result of differences in wealth, income, and assets. The schools in the wealthier neighborhoods have more money to hire more teachers, staff, and materials that improve education. In addition to having better teaching and materials; the schools have more money to make renovations, the schools look nicer, and the children develop a sense of confidence and entitlement because they feel that they are learning in an environment of excellence. The quality of the parents work life varies dramatically as well, and this plays into how much time and energy parents have to spend engaging their children. If inequality was not such a powerful force in America then resources, funds, and schools would be distributed more evenly.

References

• Lareau, Annette (2003), Unequal Childhoods, Berkeley: University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-23590-4{{citation}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)