Cultural differences in child rearing practices

Throughout the development of the world, child rearing has been one of the most

argumentative topics that childhood professionals have dedicated their lives to. As time has gone

on, more factors such as socioeconomics, culture, and past parenting has effected child rearing

practices today. Each region of the world argues who raises their children better and provides

evidence of this by showing off academic excellence, low crime rates, and/or their dedicated

work forces. While these do show the success of countries, it is important to take into

consideration that some countries are more prosperous than others, which includes third world

countries. But is one cultures children any less successful, obedient, or independent than any

other. In my paper, I will be breaking down how each region of the world raises their children

from infancy in hopes to enlighten others about practices that may be unknown and possibly

more successful than others.

Who is raising our children? Parents, families, and children: Multicultural perspective

As stated by American Mental Health, there are four different parenting styles. Indulgent parents

are those who choose to avoid confrontation and refrain from being demanding. Authoritarian

parents are those who demand to be obeyed, without offering an explanation as to why they

should be respected. Uninvolved parents are the undemanding and unresponsive ones. Lastly,

authoritative parents are assertive without being restrictive. They know how to support their

children and encourage independence, but they also expect their instructions to be respected.
This is most often the way parents choose to raise their children in America. Some countries,

such as China and Guyana, argue that the authoritarian parenting style is the best to produce

children who are more focused on academics and succeeding in life. While they are focused on

school there is less likely of a chance to be teen pregnancy, high adolescent crime rates, and more

of a chance for well-rounded students.

Not only are there several types of parenting styles, there is also different family members who

influence childrens development such as: fathers, grandparents, siblings, and friends who are

like family. Fathers play an important role in childrens development. Their involvement in the

lives in children at age 7 has been found to predict their sons and daughters mental health and

competence at age 33 (Flouri & Buchanan, 2003). This study also went to conclude that quality

of father son/daughter interactions show how well they do in school. Fathers are also less

involved in the nurturing part of child rearing and more into engaging physical play. Children

from some traditionally underrepresented groups are more likely to live in mother-headed

families such as African American and Puerto Rican. Grandparents in underrepresented groups

are more likely to be directly involved in child-rearing duties. For example, African American

grandmothers have been found to be significantly more active in their relationships with their

grandchildren than Euro-American grandparents (Minkler & Fuller-Thomson, 2005; J. L.

Pearson et al. 1990). Having a grandmother living in the house seems to be beneficial for young

children- particularly those in single-parent families. African American children who live with

their single mothers and grandmothers have been found to be emotionally and socially better

adjusted than children who lived only with their single show the same positive development as

those raised in traditional mother-father homes (Ruiz & Silverstein, 2007). Families from many

traditionally underrepresented groups in the United States include larger numbers of children
than Euro-American families (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2012). Not surprisingly, then, young

children of these families are more often played with and cared for by older siblings. In many

Puerto Rican, Mexican American, and African American households, for example, older siblings

are assigned specific child-rearing responsibilities (Hale & Franklin, 2001). This occurs within

cultures outside the United States as well. Whiting and Edwards report that children living in

India, Okinawa, the Philippines, Mexico, and Kenya are more likely to be cared for by older

siblings than are children living in suburban America (1988). Children of historically

underrepresented groups more often have primary caregivers who are nonfamily members.

Nonrelated adults of the same culture and community are often invited to join families and to

share child care responsibilities. In times of economic hardship, informal adoptions may occur in

which friends assume roles identical to those of birth parents. For instance, in African American

and Native American communities, a system of informal adoption has sometimes evolved in

which neighbors or friends care for children outside their own family (Stewart, 2006).

Because of differences in child-rearing beliefs, parents adopt several ways of interacting with

their children. Interactions vary across cultural groups in four major ways: communication,

responses to crying, teaching, and carrying and holding.

Various attributes of communication with children are universal. For example, parents in all

cultures use exaggerated intonations (the rise and fall of the voice in speaking) and unique words

and sentences when speaking to their sons and daughters (Augustyn & Zuckerman, 2007;

Bornstein et al., 2002). Parents of all cultures also use multiple nouns and comment on concrete
objects when talking to their infants. They do this because babies, toddlers, and preschoolers are

more attentive and smile more frequently when they are spoken to in these specific ways.

However, there are still many cultural differences in adult-to-child communication and one

instance of this is the frequency of verbalization. Talkativeness and silence mean different things

in various cultural groups. Quietness within cultural groups also does not mean there is no

communication. In addition, silence is viewed as a sign of respect in some cultures, and quiet

interchanges with children may be an early attempt to impart this concept (Basso, 2012; Menyuk

& Menyuk, 2004). English-speaking Euro-American parents often use lots of language with

children as well as Cuban and Puerto Rican families. In contrast, some Mexican American,

African American, and Native American parents have been found to be less talkative with

children.

Crying is the way infants and young children communicate needs, and parents responses to

crying will influence their childrens emotional and intellectual development. Parents of different

cultures respond in different ways to their childrens upset. Euro-American mothers vary

considerably in how quickly they respond when their babies cry; some wait a for quite some time

while others immediately respond. African, African-American, and Cuban American mothers, in

contrast, have been found to adopt a wait-and-see response to crying (Zeskind, 2008). Their

response times are delayed so they can fully get perspective on why their child is crying. An

overriding concern among these parents are that if they give their child too much attention they

will become spoiled or neglected, so they want to give the right amount of attention. African

American parents prefer using a pacifier or physical stimulation in response to crying, while

European mothers often use physical touch, holding, and breastfeeding. Cuban mothers were

found to use a combination of a pacifier and cuddling to soothe crying (Zeskind, 2008). There is
a variation in how each culture soothes and reacts to crying because it is viewed as a distress

signal and an expression of need. While others take this time to nurture attachment and feelings

of security, other parents are more concerned to seeing what the concern is and taking care of the

issue so the infant will be content once again.

Cultural diversity in methods of holding babies has inspired many misconceptions and

stereotypes. For example, carrying practices such as swaddling and bounding have been viewed

as detrimental to childrens development, and parents using these methods are portrayed as

misguided or neglectful. Likewise, parents who seldom carry their babies are sometimes viewed

as negligent. In fact, carrying and holding methods are a function of a cultural norms, the

practical demands of work and family life, and the temperament of infants themselves. In

America, babies of many cultures are carried in parents arms. Backpacks and slings are

sometimes used for short periods to travel from one place to another. Commonly infants are

cradled or held in a parents arms close to the chest, balanced on one hip, or bounced or rocked

on a knee or lap (Fotus, Roopnarine, Lamb, & Evans, 2012). African American babies are held

more often during the day and are carried until later in life than Euro-American infant. On the

contrary, Mexican American parents tend to pick up babies less often than other cultural groups

do (Hale-Benson, 1986). Parents do this, in theory, to promote independency to their children

without coming off as neglectful.