TUTORIAL 4

UNIT 4:
PARENTING
UNIT OBJECTIVES:
Define parenting.
Discuss macrosystem influences on parenting, namely
political ideology, culture, socioeconomic status and
ethnicity or religion.
Describe how child-rearing attitudes have changed
throughout history (chronosystem influences).
Describe the four basic parenting styles and how each
affects a child’s development.
Define and discuss developmentally appropriate
parenting practices such as guidance and discipline.
UNIT OBJECTIVES:
Define and discuss inappropriate parenting practices such
as physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Discuss various causes of child maltreatment.
Define and discuss types of non-parental child care as
well as the characteristics of quality care.
Discuss macrosystem, chronosystem and mesosystem
influences of non-parental child care on psychological,
social and cognitive development.
UNIT OBJECTIVES:
Describe four theory-based non-parental child care
curricula, explaining the socialisation outcomes of each.
Explain the caregiver’s legal role in cases of child
maltreatment.
Describe various indicators of child maltreatment.
MACROSYSTEM
INFLUENCES ON
PARENTING
Kagan (1975): defines parenting as when parents
decide what is best in terms of socialising their
children and putting that decision into action.
Whatever parents decide for their children is greatly
impactful on the children’s lives.
Parenting can be both bidirectional and dynamic.
How adults react to their children may be dependent
on the nature of the child and how he or she
behaves.
What causes certain behaviours to happen can be
seen from a spiral perspective and not in a straight-
forward correspondence (Cowan, Powell & Cowan,
1998).
Political Ideology
Political ideology: beliefs and principles related to the
administration of the society and country.
As we are raising our children to function well as
members of the society that we live in, understanding the
political ideology of the society is very important.
Autocracy: a member of society who is of utmost
influence over the rest of the people and he or she is
appointed to rule the country. This aristocratic ruling is
passed down from generations of royalty.
Democracy: people who govern the country are of equal
level or rank as the people who are being governed.
Through the democratic process, people choose among
themselves who they should appoint as leader through
the process of election or voting.
• In societies where tyrannical rulers dominate every aspect
of the people’s lives, children were raised to fulfil the
ultimate purpose of the country
Examples are those under the ruling of Napoleon
Bonaparte of France, Adolf Hitler of Germany and present
day China.
People in some other countries raise their offspring to
serve the purpose of the family.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

People who come from different SES raise their children
differently as they may be subjected to varying
opportunities, resources and other factors that affect the
children’s upbringing.
• Families of higher SES come from higher rank in society. They
have higher household income, work in more professional jobs
and possess a higher level of education.
Families of lower SES usually work in sectors that do not
require specialised skills and competencies, thus are paid
less.
Families of medium income bracket may be well educated
but may not yet reach a higher level of SES as they may still
be working their way upwards.
Hence parenting styles of people of different SES also differ.
Generally, parents of lower SES tend to raise their children
to be fearful and obedient towards their instructions.
• Parents of higher SES are less restrictive of their children,
often give free reign to their children to determine their
own future and are more ready to listen to their
children’s views.
• Parents of lower SES are usually subjected to stressors in
obtaining basic necessities, such as food, shelter, clothing
and income. Thus they are more emotionally and
physically unsettled compared to parents of higher SES.
• Financial shortcomings suffered by lower income families
correspond to increases in anxiety, depression and
irritability.
• Being forceful and direct with their children seem to get
the job done with less hassle and in less time especially
in periods of stress.
• Parental occupation may also influence the upbringing of
children as the parent’s position in his or her job reflects his or
her socioeconomic status.
Parents whose jobs are of middle income level and lower
income level showed vast differences in the way they
raise their children.
Jobs of the middle income level often require workers to
determine the direction of the job themselves and to
utilise whatever available reources deemed necessary by
the worker himself.
Jobs at the lower income level are typically repetitive and
restrictive and workers are subjected to being in control
by their supervisors.
• Parents of middle income level jobs raise their children to
develop the ability to set their own direction in life.
Parents of lower income level jobs raise their children to
conform to standards set by society.
Traits desired by middle class parents are directed
towards being inquisitive and highly educated,
dependable and self-reliant.
Traits desired by lower class parents are basically being
courteous and polite, obtain good results in school and to
be able to comply to rules and obligations.
Parents’ roles in their jobs are impactful on their outlook
on life and their relationships with family members.
• Our culture and religion govern our principles, morals, ethics and
ideals and, in turn, determine how we behave and react towards
certain things.
How parents see themselves and what they perceive their roles are
in their children’s upbringing are highly influenced by the culture
and religion that they practise, cited Greenfield, Suzuki and
Rothstein-Fisch (2006), Parke and Buriel (2006) and Rogoff (2003).
In contemporary societies, children are raised to be able to read,
write and count to be able to develop into independent adults and
able to earn a living on their own.
In certain agricultural societies, children are raised to become
hunters and gatherers and to cultivate their lands in order to earn
their keep.
• Teachings of various religions rquire parents to instil moral
principles and ethics in raising children by having a set of
instructions (or codes of conduct) on the specific teachings of
each religion in all areas of living.
The mother’s behaviour emphasises the aspect she
values the most, which reflects what the culture places a
great deal of importance on, cited LeVine, Richman, New
and Howrigan (1988).
Children in collectivistic cultures are raised to be
interested in and to have extensive relations with other
people by constantly having people around them. They
are demonstrated how to do certain things.
Children in individualistic cultures are raised to be
interested in objects with opportunities for self-
exploration. They are usually instructed on how to do
certain things (Trumbull, et. al., 2001).
• Some information regarding children raised in
cooperative/interdependent (collective) orientation based
on several aspects:
Authority roles: Children understand who they should obey
and those that deserve their utmost respect. Elders should
be obeyed without question.
Communication: Modes of communication differ from one
collectivistic society to another. Some societies are more
generous in non-verbal communication while in others,
silences and pauses are considered meaningful.
Displays of emotion: Although feelings can be expressed
through a non-verbal manner, they do not necessarily reflect
the individual’s true emotions (Stewart & Bennett, 1991).
• Discipline/guidance of children: Guidance and discipline of the young are provided by
elders as they are considered more experienced and competent. Children are rarely
given the opportunity to express their true desires and needs and are expected to obey
and model after the elders.
Skills emphasised: The spirit of cooperation and
teamwork are emphasised, whereby individuals set aside
their selfish needs and concentrate on fulfilling what is
expected of them as a member of the community. What
others think and feel are more important than one’s own
thoughts and feelings.
• Some information regarding children raised in
competitive/independent (individualistic) orientation based on
several aspects:
Authority roles: One becomes a leader through sheer hard
work thus are regarded with higher esteem by followers
(achieved authority). Rules are enforced regardless of one’s
position in society and their conditions.
Communication: More frank and straight-to-the-point. To
develop precision, messages are delivered through writing
and via text and e-mail messages.
Displays of emotion: How a person chooses to display
emotions is dependent upon their past experiences and
which works best for them.
• Discipline/guidance of children: children are encouraged to reason to better understand
a situation and not repeat mistakes. Socialised in a “preventative” manner, they must
bear full responsibility and take the necessary course of action to prevent future
conflicts (Stewart & Bennett, 1991).
Skills emphasised: Children are instilled to be distinct
from others and are urged to decide on matters on their
own. One’s own achievements, preferences and what he
wishes to convey are deemed important. Children are
required to take ownership in whatever they do. They are
also held accountable for behaviours that lead to both
winning and losing.
CHRONOSYSTEM
INFLUENCES ON
PARENTING
• In the current rapidly changing society and with scientific
and technological enhancements and innovation, we could
no longer turn to only the experiences of our elders to
answer our growing concerns regarding parenting.
Because of changing trends and technology, we are
desperately lacking in assistance in all areas which may
lead to families being fragmented and members go their
separate ways.

Historical trends
18th century humanism believed what people are
concerned with and the principles they hold on to are
more important than what is happening in their
environment and within their religious or mystical beliefs
(Berger, 2003).
• The concept of tabula rasa introduced by John Locke likens
babies as a “blank slate”. It is up to people around them to
shape them by “painting” on the blank slate.
In 18th century America, children are required to obey
their elders without question. The upbringing of children
were greatly shaped by faith, beliefs and practices of
society.
French philosopher , Jean Jacques Rousseau advocated
that children are born innocent and pure in nature and
should be given ample space to develop. Thus it is crucial
for children to have positive adult role models around
them or else their development will be distorted.
Pestalozzi agreed with Rousseau and believed mothers
are the main educators of the young.
• In the 19th century, G. Stanley Hall shared Rousseau’s
views and added that the upbringing of children were
gradually directed towards the desires of children
themselves rather than furthering the purposes of adults,
but adults remain in control of parenting practices.
Children should be showered with love and affection in
the process of their upbringing, as reflected in writings in
the 19th century.
In 1950, Stendler recommended mothers to discipline
their babies by ensuring their commands are obeyed, not
to give in when their babies act up and reduce touching
and cuddling their young.
1920s. It believed that learning happens through the manner in
which we react to events. If our reaction is strengthened or if we
obtain incentives in reaction to the occurrences, chances are the
occurrences will recur. Otherwise, it is likely that the reaction
will not be reproduced.
According to Freud, when children undergo
psychologically damaging occurrences earlier on in their
lives, these occurrences may become hidden within the
innermost recesses of the unconscious or “repressed”
mind if they are not permitted to be released. This will
eventually lead to fixations, whereby children will
become stuck at a particular stage of growth during their
process of development, resulting in psychological
problems in later life.
• In the 1940s, Benjamin Spock’s book entitled The Common
Sense Book of Baby and Child Care produced in 1946 served
as the main guide for parents in raising their children.
Spock believed that it is important for children to learn
how to navigate through life on their own, making them
active and independent learners. Parents should possess
greater awareness of the development of their children
and more accommodating in guiding their growth.
In the 1950s, Jean Piaget believed it is important to set
up positive surroundings for children in order to fuel their
interest in learning and grasping new ideas and
perspectives.
• In 1957, Spock added that, although parents should treat their
children with love, affection and respect, they should also raise
them to conform to certain standards of conduct in order for
them to become contributing and valuable members of society.

Family dynamics
Related to the form of interaction among family
members, which closely influences how children are
raised. It is also related to the typical nature of every
member of the family and how they interact with each
other.
Children’s characteristics: During the growing up years,
discipline is enforced on children based on their ability to
understand the consequences of their actions.
• As children get older, they are allowed to make their own
decisions, to resolve disagreements in an amicable manner
and to face negative and positive outcomes for their actions.
Parents may alter the approaches they use to parent
their children as they get older. However, the
fundamental approaches should remain the same.
Temperament: One’s unique, inner characteristics in
which reactions to particular situations or relations with
others are dependent upon.
The “bidirectional” concept of temperament works both
ways; it affects the reaction of babies towards their carers
and also the reaction of carers towards their babies.
The temperament of a child may influence the parenting
approach used by his or her parents.
 Three types of temperaments can be concluded from
children as early as two to three months old, which are:
Easy: Possess a pleasant disposition, bodily processes
perform as expected, able to adjust to new situations
easily, sociable, responses are of average or lower in
forcefulness.
Difficult: Take longer time to adjust to new situations and
tend to isolate themselves, responses very forceful,
disposition may be rather unpleasant, bodily processes
are intermittent.
Slow-to-warm-up: Begin by isolating themselves in new
situations but gradually able to adjust, less active in most
situations, responses are less forceful.
• Parents’ adjustment to their children’s temperament is
referred to as goodness-of-fit.
Parents should attempt to alter their parenting approach to
accommodate their children’s temperament.
How parents can manage the temperament of their children:
Easy: A rather easy-going process as the child is typically able to
accommodate to whatever style their parents adopt.
Difficult: Parents should be firm, constant, tolerant and
understanding of their child’s frequent mood changes.
Perhaps set shorter time periods for their child to complete
tasks rather than expect them to focus for long periods.
Slow-to-warm-up: Needs an average amount of forcefulness and
to be tolerant with the child’s sluggish activity level. The child
should be allowed to make adjustments in his own time.
More easy-going and sociable children tend to value the
opportunity to relate to others and would gain valuable
lessons through this experience.
Laid-back children are more contented to be left to their
own devises whereby they can get in touch with their
innermost thoughts and feelings and perhaps will be able to
discover more about themselves.
Parents whose temperaments are different from their
children may affect their children differently through their
approach to parenting and their reactions to their children’s
conduct.
• Genetic predisposition: A person who is genetically predisposed
to be comfortable in a particular area is highly likely to set his
sights on that area.
Gender: Parents raise children of different genders in
dissimilar ways probably because they themselves were
subjected to these differences when they were younger.
Fathers are more likely to have higher expectations of their
children that do mothers.
Mothers are less tolerant and accommodating towards their
daughters, while fathers towards their sons (Power, 1987).
Parents raise their girls to be more reliant, loving and
expressive. Boys are allowed to play further away from
parents’ supervision than girls are (Huston, 1983).
• Presence of a disability: How parents deal with this is dependent
upon type of disability, when it began, how serious it is and
whether they possess good support system.
Guilt may stem from strong feelings of frustration and
hatred by having to raise a special child that parents
ideally should not be feeling. They also feel guilty because
they should be able to prevent their child’s disability from
happening.
Parents may feel extreme strain and anguish in dealing
with their children’s condition, causing relationships with
other family members to suffer. They will also feel a
decreased sense of worth.
Projection of the parents’ ill-feelings onto the child may
bring negative consequences thus some disabled children
are abused and neglected.
Family characteristics
- determine the forms of interaction within the family and
how parents raise their children.
Size: When parents have many children, the nature of
interaction within the large family will be more frequent
as there will always be a member interacting with
another.
Parents of large families, especially of lower SES, manage
the household in a more demanding and controlling
manner, using physical reprimands and do not really
rationalise their actions and rules.
Configuration: The position of a child in the family and
how far apart the child is from other siblings will make a
difference to how the family is run and how children are
raised.
• How the eldest child is raised is vastly different than the other
siblings. They are privileged since they signify the beginning of a
couple’s life as parents.
The role of older brothers and sisters usually as guides
and overseeing younger siblings are common practice.
Parents, however, must intervene when there are clashes
among siblings or “sibling rivalry” to maintain the
harmony within the family.
The only child tend to be closer and have better
relationships with their parents. They are more
developed in establishing friendships and in touch with
their own and others’ feelings when interacting.
• Parents’ life stage: Parents must undergo six phases in transforming
what they expect their children to be able to achieve and the way
they raise children from babies up until they become teenagers.
The phases are: image making nurturingauthority
interpretiveinterdependentdeparture
What parents have undergone with their own parents since
young has bearing on how they raise their own children.
Parents who have had less stable relationships with their
parents are often less efficient in raising their own children
and vice versa.
Marital quality: Parents who are cooperative and
supportive towards each other will less likely be
manipulated by their children.
• Children with hands-on fathers are more likely to prosper
in their relationships with others and in school.
When parents are not happy with their marriage, they
get caught up in their marital problems and become
oblivious to their children’s feelings and are no longer
utilising their knowledge of parenting.
Mothers tend to be more strict and controlling, while
fathers become more lenient and accommodating,
usually in the earlier stages of separation.
Children become more defiant, destructive and
manipulative.
• Ability to cope with stress: Parents who are less effective in coping with stressful
situations in their daily lives, be it because of illnesses, fatigue or anxiety are
proven to be less accommodating and more restrictive with their children.
Families whose members do not communicate well with
each other will produce less disciplined children who are
unable to relate well to others.
Jobless fathers may cause a great deal of strain within the
family and hostile behaviours towards the spouse and
children, along with reduced household income.
Certain dispositions of family members and the
interaction among them may help improve the situation.
Also by receiving solid assistance and encouragement
from friends and extended family.
PARENTING STYLES
• Parenting style may vary from one parent to another.
Parenting styles are based on two dimensions (Maccoby
and Martin, 1983):
Acceptance/responsiveness (warmth/sensitivity): Parents are
always supportive, shower their children with love and
tenderness and are understanding and responsive towards
what their children require.
Demandingness/control (permissiveness/restrictiveness):
Parents lay down the law for children to follow and ensure
that they comply with the parents’ wishes.

Another option, being “uninvolved”, constitutes being

unresponsive or unconcerned, without any demands placed
on their children.
Elements of parenting styles:
 Authoritarian (parent-centred)
Demandingness/Control 
Acceptance/Responsiveness 
Authoritative (democratic)
Demandingness/Control 
Acceptance/Responsiveness 
Permissive (child-centred)
Demandingness/Control 
Acceptance/Responsiveness 
• Uninvolved:
Demandingness/Control 
Acceptance/Responsiveness 
According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory,
the microsystem constitutes the family, i.e. parents and
their children.
Their relationship is reciprocal- how parents deal with
children will influence their mannerisms.
Some issues that will affect children’s mannerisms are:
Prosocial behaviour (positive conduct): Conduct that
does good or brings advantages to other people.
Competence: Mannerisms that are sensible in the eyes of
society, autonomous, sociable, helpful, influential,
focused and geared towards success.
• Other issues are attachment, self-regulation and
achievement motivation.
Attachment: In order for babies to be attached to
parents/caregivers, adults should be approachable, exude
warmth and be attentive to the babies’ needs. Only then
can these babies be socialised.
Babies who are securely attached to adults are better
able to act in accordance with what is being taught to
them.
Secure attachment develops when adults respond to
infants in a pleasurable and suitable manner and fulfills
the needs of the infant at all times, without much delay.
• Insecure attachment happens when there is a lack of
responsiveness or a delay in responding in the part of the
adults or by giving inappropriate responses to the infant.
Securely attached babies are more alert, inquisitive and
self-assured. They are able to discover all sorts of
different surroundings, are more sociable with other
babies around their age and are better able to obey adult
instructions as they get older.
Self-regulation and prosocial behaviour: The ability for
children to do these are dependent on how they were
raised by their parents.
Capable and satisfied children have parents who are
overprotective and have high expectations of them, at the
same time displaying warmth and attention and are
reasonable towards their children (authoritative parents).
• Parents who are uninvolved, overprotective and lacking in
warmth tend to produce children who were introverted
and dissatisfied (authoritarian parents).
Parents who are less protective, do not possess high
expectations of their children and are rather affectionate
towards them generally produce children who were
reckless and lacking in maturity (permissive parents).
How parenting is enforced will affect children’s
behaviour.
Children who are somewhat dependent and not very
socially responsible come from authoritarian parents.
Children who are prominently dependent and lack social
responsibility come from permissive parents.
Children who are self-reliant and responsible towards
• Authoritarian parents frequently restrict their children’s
behaviour while permissive parents are always in awe with their
children’s behaviour that they do not find any faults with them.
Authoritative parents consider their desires and perspectives
as well as their children’s. They enforce rules and discipline
when required but understand that their children should
learn to make their own decisions.
Teenage children of parents who practice authoritative
parenting style tend to do better in academics as they
promote independence in a positive manner, cultivating
adolescents into responsible individuals.
However, in most social environments, the authoritarian
style is more suitable as it will greatly help in preventing the
young from being drawn towards negative activities.
• Therefore, the negative effects of the authoritarian parenting
style as advocated by Baumrind may not be applicable to all
cultures.
Competence and achievement motivation: The Harvard
Preschool Project by White and Watts (1973) has found
that children were generally viewed as competent or
otherwise between the ages of 10 and 18 months. This is
usually the period when they pick up important
milestones of growth, such as talking, walking and
relating to others.
Mothers of competent children set up their home to be
conducive to the curiosity and explorative attitudes of
their children.
• They respond positively to chaos and clutter resulting from
their children’s exploratory activities.
Rules are enforced with unrelenting conviction but in a
loving and understanding manner.
They are knowledgeable in the different ways to get their
children to comply to their wishes according to the
children’s respective ages.
Mothers of incompetent children employ various
strategies that may be damaging to children.
They are more likely to neglect their children’s
psychological needs and find difficulty coping with
everyday routines.
• They tend to dote too much on their children and force them to
achieve excellent academic standards. Sometimes they curb their
children’s natural ability for exploration.
Knowledge that the child gains informally at home
creates a lasting influence on him or her, even more so
than the school is able to provide. It encourages the child
to grasp future knowledge and instills in them the drive to
succeed.
How parents raise their children are positively related to
how well their children do in school.
Mesosystem influences: It takes the collaboration of several
microsystems (namely parents, school and community,
among others) with a common purpose in order for the
socialisation efforts of parents to be optimised.
• Parents who devote their time to converse with their teenagers about school-
related matters and are supportive and encouraging of their children’s
competencies tend to produce teenagers who are competitive and high-achieving.
The community is essential in providing support for
parents who feel stressed out in raising their children.
Informal support- friends and family members; formal
support- people in the helping professions and also
bosses and colleagues.
How parents raise their children is dependent upon the
surroundings they live in, whether the city or the
suburbs, in a secure or dangerous area or a condition
which is constant or always on the move.
 APPROPRIATE AND
INAPPROPRIATE
PARENTING PRACTICES
• Parents should possess appropriate parenting practices, be well-versed in how
children develop and possess skills in guiding children towards positive
attitudes and behaviour and in disciplining children when they misbehave.

According to the Child at Risk Field (CARF) by DePanfilis and

colleagues (1986) and Dubowitz and DePanfilis (1999),
parenting is considered appropriate when:
It takes into account the competencies of the child at
his/her age
It sets realistic targets for the child to achieve
It accepts the positive and negative traits of the child and
uses these traits and other limitations to an advantage
It disciplines the child in a permissible manner
It provides the necessary tender loving care and
encouragement
• It shows good examples of being in control of oneself.

Parents should be aware of developmental appropriateness-

how children develop or the type of skills they are able to
achieve in their developmental milestones. They should also
be aware that what children generally achieve and the
variations in each child’s achievements when compared to his
peers.
If the behaviour of your child is not up to par, parents should
be able to gauge why this is so. It may be caused by a number
of reasons, perhaps things that the child is lacking. Parents
should find out the cause and try to rectify the situation.
• When parents provide guidance, the actions are to direct,
demonstrate, supervise and persuade or inspire. They show their
followers how to do something well.
When discipline is enforced, one will be punished,
corrected and trained to assist in regulating actions and
behaviour. Thus discipline involves the use of coercion to
get children to obey and to maintain stability in their
environment.
A combination of both methods of guidance and
discipline must be employed for more effective methods
of socialisation.
The usage of either guidance or discipline methods is
dependent upon a number of factors.
• Aspects of inappropriate parenting practices outlined by
DePanfilis and colleagues (1986) and Dubowitz and DePanfilis
(1999):
Follows only the parents’ wishes and desires
What is expected of the child is unattainable for him or
her to achieve
Takes no notice of what the child is competent in, his
shortcomings and his requirements; loathes being
parents
Disciplines child severely or by using excessive force such
as employing brutality, intimidation and/or using
offensive language
Typically lacking in the simplest forms of nurturance and
assistance towards the child
• Intentionally displaces anger and disappointment on the child;
thinks whatever parents do is right.

Child Maltreatment: Abuse and Neglect

Children who are being maltreated are deliberately
subjected to injury, damage or danger.
It may come in many forms such as cruelty, strictness,
abandonment, inattention, withdrawal of needs or wants,
ill-treatment and/or brutality.
Maltreatment can be very damaging as the basic needs
and feelings of children are neglected.
Children will feel distrustful towards parents for not
protecting them or providing for their needs.
• Children will turn out to be maladjusted and will often face problems such as
trust issues, dejection, lacking in self-respect, problems with sex and intimacy,
being overweight or underweight, problems in school and with substance abuse.

Abuse: ill-treatment in the form of bodily, sexual and

mental or emotional harm.
Neglect: ill-treatment in the form of inattention,
deficiency in guidance and care and neglectful in
providing sufficient nourishment, medical and dental
assistance, clothing, security and cleanliness.
Physical abuse: purposely causing damage to parts of the
child’s body. They may be beaten with various tools, set
on fire, kicked, shaken, strangled, scalded with boiling
water or hot iron, frozen, pushed and shoved, locked up
in a dark and enclosed spaces and given other forms of
• Sexual abuse: coercion, deception or intimidation into establishing sexual relations
with the child. Includes adults showing his/her intimate areas, showing of explicit
photographs or video recordings of sexual relations, molestation, rape and everything
in between.
Psychological or emotional abuse: continuous attack on
children’s psychological and emotional competence and
their relations with others which are damaging to their
psychological well-being. Includes rejection, isolation,
intimidation, coercion, giving the cold shoulder and
imparting fraudulent or damaging thought.
In order to understand the causes of abuse and neglect,
we must understand the forms of communication among
family members, the viewpoints of the culture regarding
violent and hostile behaviours and how much assistance
society will provide.
• Risk factors (aspects that may bring about a higher
tendency of child maltreatment) must also be understood.
An example of ongoing risk is parents may have been abused
themselves and transient risk is parents undergoing stressful
events.
Resilient factors are aspects that may somewhat “improve”
the condition of child maltreatment, such as the child’s easy-
going character (ongoing) and the improvement of the
family’s economic situation (transient).
Those who were subjected to maltreatment in childhood
would often feel worthless, deficient in many aspects of their
lives and unwelcomed by others. As a result, they will be
lacking in self-worth.
• Their children will then take after their parents and how they
are raised by them, thus a cycle of abusive behaviour begins.
When children are raised in a damaging environment,
blamed for many disadvantaged situations, humiliated
and continuously shown disapproval in whatever they do,
it can be difficult for them to show what they are truly
capable of and to become fully functioning adults.
Some may even suffer from psychological turmoil, unsure
of themselves and direct their resentment inwardly.
Hostile behaviours are considered a norm and their
maturity of thought are usually dysfunctional.
• Parents who have been ill-treated in childhood, when faced with
various life stressors, are highly likely to maltreat their own
children.
Role reversal: psychological immaturity requires parents
to look for love and care that they have been deprived of
in childhood. They would turn to their own children to
fulfill these needs.
If their needs are not fulfilled, they will become abusive
towards their children.
Children may show evidence of being maltreated by
weeping uncontrollably (more than others), are
hyperactive and are unable to provide a suitable reaction
to parents.
• If children have similarities with the abusive parents of their parents, the
connection between parent and child will be turbulent and the child will be
blamed for negative incidents and bear the brunt of the parents’ frustrations.
Families whose children suffer from maltreatment generally
separate themselves from other members of the community.
They also lack supportive people to help out physically and
emotionally when things become unbearable in their
household or people to lead them towards the right path.
If punishment are meted out sporadically, they can hardly be
considered abusive. However, these forms of punishment
may cause negative results, especially by giving children the
message that problems should be dealt with in a hostile
manner.
NON-PARENTAL
CHILD CARE
• Employed parents often need to send their children to day care if
they do not have a live-in maid or helper to look after their
children at home when they are working.
The quality of child care must be optimised to avoid
untoward incidents and to provide the best form of
education and care for our children.
Day care: the child is given to people other than the
child’s parents to be looked after when the parents are
not available during the day, usually when they are at
work.
Extended day care: the type of supervision provided for
children outside of school hours and during the holidays,
when parents are not around to look after their children.
Quality child care:
- Carers should exude warmth and affection in caring for and
guiding the children under their care.
They should cooperate with the children’s family to
ensure that their growth are optimised.
The child care setting should be stable and safe and
ensures that the health of the children are not
compromised.
Children should always be stimulated in all aspects of life
under the care of the caregivers- physically, emotionally,
socially and psychologically, as outlined by Clarke-Stewart
(1993) & the National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD) (2005).
• At the macrosystem level, the provision of child care and
education are influenced by political beliefs, the economy and
scientific and technological advancements.
There are several issues pertaining to the decision to place
children in the care of people:
Detachment of children from their mothers, especially when
they are infants, will have an effect on their growth.
The environment of the child care institution itself has the
potential to influence the intellectual growth of children,
their rapport with their peers and the bond with their
mothers.
Recent studies have focused on interaction among aspects
related to the family, child care and culture that collaborate
to shape the development of children.
Experts’ views regarding the bond between mother and child
(in terms of psychological development):
Spitz’s study (1946): babies raised in prison, although their
mothers were arrested for various misdemeanours,
displayed a regular process of development and fared much
better compared to babies raised in a “foundling home”,
cared for by women who were emotionally and
psychologically unstable with the ratio of one adult to eight
babies.
Bowlby, an expert on attachment since 1952, discovered
that babies who were isolated from their mothers for an
extended period of time would become emotionally,
socially and intellectually disadvantaged.
• The mothers’ lack of attachment with their babies will make
babies suffer from depression, become physically and mentally
disabled, misbehave and would later turn to criminal behaviour.
Skeels (1966), through his 30-year longitudinal study,
believed that a bond established with a caregiver does not
necessarily have to be the child’s parent. How the child is
nurtured is more important than the connection the child
has with the person providing the nurturance.
Therefore, in the case of “nature” vs. “nurture”, we can see
that Spitz and Bowlby advocated nature, while Skeels
advocated nurture.
Fraiberg (1977): mothers are the sole best caregivers of their
young and that babies are entitled to the love and affection
of their mothers.
• Thus the community should ensure that mothers are able to
establish everlasting bonds with their own children instead of
helping them find other people to look after their own children.
Sandra Scarr (1984) has proven that babies and toddlers
are able to be raised well by people other than their
mothers.
Within the first year of birth, infants typically become
attached to a “primary caregiver”, the person who feeds,
clothes, soothes, cuddles and entertains them, usually
the mother.
If the mother is unavailable, other members of the family
will become the primary caregiver.
An attachment is cultivated between the infant and the
primary caregiver. (Please refer to the various types of
• Jay Belsky (1988 & 1992): infants before the age of one who were cared
for by people other than their primary caregiver for more than 20 hours
per week were highly likely to be insecurely attached to their mothers.
Clarke-Stewart (1988 & 1992) and Philips and Howes
(1987) disagreed with Belsky, saying that there is not
enough proof to conclude that infants who are looked
after by others in a full-time setting will be insecurely
attached. These infants may have individualised strategies
to cope with the daily change of hands of caregivers.
Not every infant raised in day-care will turn out to be
dysfunctional, as is the case for infants who were raised
by their own mothers.
• Many factors come into play in determining whether infants will
be positively adjusted or otherwise if they are placed in the care
of others since they were born.
The factors are:
the child’s disposition and gender
the SES of the family
the relationship between parents,
the relationship between parents and the child
how long the child is in non-parental care daily
how good the care is, mainly in terms of the warmth and
receptiveness of the adults providing the care (Langlois &
Liben, 2003 and the NICHD, 1997 & 2005).
• When the low standard of day care that the infant is sent to coincides
with the neglectful and uncaring parenting by the primary caregiver, the
undesirable outcomes of attachment becomes apparent.
Social development: Children who have been exposed to
peers early on in life will naturally become well-versed in
interacting with others, although they may not be readily
accommodating with grown-ups.
They are generally more independent, confident,
extroverted and daring than their counterparts who were
raised at home.
Cognitive development: In terms of academics, children who
are sent to better equipped day care centres are more
articulate and interact more with grown-ups, regardless of
the SES of their families.
• They are at par with prerequisites to attend lower primary school and score
higher on intelligence tests and are generally reported to be higher achievers
than their peers who did not attend good kindergartens.
The society is able to play an instrumental part in
working towards improving the quality of child care
centres as there is a continuous requirement for them.
It should be more closely associated with schools, the
community, the country’s administration and various
organisations to increase the number of centres, making
it accessible to more people by making them more
reasonably priced.
Although parents differ in the type of care that they
prefer their children to be in, more working parents opt
for child care centres for their children regardless of age.
• Lengthening hours of supervision in schools can become a way to strengthen ties
among the child, the family and the school because it supplements, sustains and
broadens the educational principles of the school and provides assistance to families in
guiding and educating the young.
Communities can play a part in providing supervision by
regulating the help of non-governmental bodies such as
the YMCA and other recreational clubs or associations as
they are able to develop the potential of children in all
aspects- emotionally, socially, physically and cognitively.
As these children become adolescents, they are prone to
the influences of their peers thus they are more in need
than ever of positive adult supervision at all times in a
day care centre.
• Latchkey children: children who possess their own set of keys to
the house to let themselves in after school; often being left alone
without any supervision whatsoever outside of school hours.
It is essential for communities to become involved in
providing child care as this will make families healthier and
more prosperous (Garbarino, 1992). As a result, it will
reduce the likelihood of children being abused and
neglected (Garbarino & Sherman, 1980).
By providing child care services, more jobs will be provided
to members of the community.
Countries like China, France and Belgium have unrelenting
assistance from their governments in terms of child care
through subsidies so that parents can be employed.
• In the United States, child care facilities are provided by a number
of organisations to appeal to prospective employees and to
ensure that the welfare of existing employees are safeguarded.
Karoly (1988): children who attended schools that
offered modules which were part of “quality preschools”
performed considerably better than those who did not in
areas such as emotional and cognitive growth, higher
achievement in education, being more financially
independent, less involved in immoral and vice activities
and better quality of health and general well-being.
Sending children to day care produces long-term
benefits. Children obtain positive experiences of being
recognised for their achievements, making them feel
accepted and appreciated thus becoming more invested
in school. Negative conduct will eventually be pushed
• Organisations are moving towards accommodating to the needs of their employees in
terms of caring for their children. Parents may be allocated extra off days, are able
work around flexible hours and are encouraged to approach certain groups for support
and assistance.
They may be given special privileges to enrol in schools if a
parent is attached to certain companies, provide monetary
support in paying for child care and, even better, provide
child care services in the premises of the organisation
specially for employees.
Companies that provide child care services tend to
attract more potential workers, report fewer worker
absences, possess workers who are optimistic in their
jobs and report less cases of worker resignation and
new recruitments.
• Also children become more informed about their parents’
employment and workplace and parents are able to cultivate a
closer bond with their children as a result of their close proximity.
There are generally three types of child care:
In-home care: Care is mainly located in a person’s home
and it can be the home of a relative or friend. Parents must
pay on their own for this service. Setting may not be
purpose-built. The relationship between child and caregiver
is closer and more personalised. Socialising with peers may
be limited or non-existent. Children raised in this setting
scored the least in the areas of cognition, social
competence, teamwork, sociability and self-reliance. They
do well in dealing with a single person and coaching by
grown-ups.
• Family day care: located in a person’s home, some adjustments have been made to
include child-friendly equipment and sections purpose-built for learning and recreation.
Caregivers may have skills related to child-rearing and often possess close relationships
with children under their care.
Children who attend family day care excel in areas of
sociability but are somewhat lacking in self-reliance. They
are very competent in interacting with children of all levels.
Centre-based care: located in purpose-built premises,
equipment, toys and apparatus are catered specially for
children. Staff are often qualified and experienced to work
with young children. Communication with adults can be
limited as there are other children to care for. Classrooms
activities are laid out for the single child and for children as
a group.
• Children in centre-based care typically attain better results on test of cognition,
social competence, teamwork, sociability and self-reliance. They are proficient
in relating to others, are more mature and show progress in academic subjects.
Early childhood education centres often subscribe to a
particular curriculum.
Curriculum: specifies aims and purposes of learning,
teacher’s responsibilities, items and apparatus utilised,
layout of the learning areas, implementation of the
learning processes and duration and timetable of learning
that takes place.
A curriculum may be teacher-directed: the teacher sets
the form of learning that takes place, or
Learner-directed: the form of learning that takes place is
dependent upon what appeals to the child with the
• The Cognitively Oriented Curriculum (Learner-directed):
formulated by David Weikart and colleagues at the High/Scope
Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
It utilises the theory of cognitive development introduced by
Jean Piaget, one of the leading learning theorists of all time.
It combines the objectives of education with learning
processes that are abstract and comes from the child.
According to Piaget, children learn through their interaction
and contact with everything around them. Through this
interaction they will psychologically adjust themselves to
their surroundings.
Children are seen as constantly and enthusiastically learning
and building up a repertoire of information.
• Children make adjustments through assimilation: when learning
or adjusting happens by integrating occurrences or experiences,
or by
Accommodation: bringing together the variations in the
occurrences or experiences.
Piaget advocated that children learn in phases or “stages”.
Sensorimotor stage (age of 1 ½ to 2 years): children learn
about their surroundings through their senses and
movement (or “motor abilities”) to promote exploration,
can only understand the concept of “here and now”.
Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years): they comprehend the
fact that words reflect things around them and that what
they comprehend is the same as everyone else. Only one
feature of an item can be taken into consideration at a time
and they accept things the way it is observed.
• Concrete operations stage (ages 7 to 11): children’s understanding evolved to
incorporate things that they can observe, hold or control and they begin to grasp
concepts like measurements, speed, time and so on. They still cannot comprehend
theoretical or “abstract” concepts.
Formal operations stage, (age 11 years and above): these
abstract concepts begin to take shape and common sense
is more widely used, along with actual information.
In this curriculum, children are recommended to play an
active part in their learning processes. Teacher will only
act as a guide in children’s learning by suggesting
activities that may strengthen their competencies in a
particular area.
• The Direct Instruction Curriculum (Teacher-directed): based on
behavourist principles; knowledge is separated into chunks to
make it easier for it to be learned and strengthened.
Theorist B. F. Skinner (1954) introduced the principle of
behaviourism that advocates the behaviour that can be
seen is the only basis for studying human behaviour and
not what one is thinking.
This “teacher-directed” curriculum is also dubbed as
“academic preschool” and was formulated by Carl
Bereiter and Siegfried Engelmann at the University of
Illinois.
Behaviourism believed that children can be made to
learn.
• Basically, what children learn is determined by the school (the
curriculum) and they are expected to be competent in what is
being taught.
Obedience to teachers’ instructions were greatly
emphasised, hence during learning children should
remain silent and seated and did as they were told.
The Montessori Curriculum (Learner-directed): An Italian
medical doctor, Dr. Maria Montessori initially devised
approaches to educate children who were suffering from
mental retardation.
She believed that children should be valued for their
individuality and people around them should not expect
children to subscribe to similar thoughts and feelings.
• During the “sensitive period” of a child’s life, he is able to grasp knowledge efficiently.
Adults are responsible to make full use of this period by providing suitable tools and
environment for the best possible learning processes to take place.
The Montessori curriculum is led by teachers who
identify themselves as “directress”.
Learners come from various ages and are involved in
their own learning processes. The directress arranges the
classroom setting so that individualised learning can
occur for each child by having them do things on their
own.
Children are given everyday tools and equipment to work
with to resemble activities in their daily lives.
They must show consideration for others by having to
share and wait for their turn in using a limited number of
• The Developmental Interaction Curriculum (Learner-directed): Elizabeth
Gilkeson and colleagues (1919) attached to the Bank Street College of
Education in New York City, formulated the Bank Street curriculum.
This curriculum emphasises on building children’s
confidence level and helping them become more
responsive, inventive and productive.
Also known as the developmental interaction curriculum-
caters to each child’s level of ability at a particular age. At
the same time, children are presented with activities that
require peer and adult involvement and interaction.
Dewey (1944) possessed the awareness that children are
inquisitive in nature and gain knowledge by discovering the
world around them.
• Freud (1938) expressed that the occurrences in a child’s life when
he is between newborn and five years of age sets the tone for the
development of the child’s character.
The curriculum is formulated in such a way that allows
children to gain better understanding of what they have
discovered on their own.
Teachers must evaluate children from time to time to
ensure that children are being given more difficult tasks
from what they have mastered to further increase levels
of achievement, similar to Montessori.
The curriculum revolves around topics relevant to what
children encounter in their daily lives, for instance, plants
and animals, thus ideas and perceptions are related to
the topics presented. From this, tasks are set to reinforce
children’s understanding.
• Children are interested to learn as the tasks they carry out
are relevant to their daily lives and they enjoy doing them.
In comparison:
Children under the teacher-directed approach tend to
emphasise more on academic results, scoring higher in
achievement tests as they were taught more scholarly
skills and expect continuous praise.
Children under the learner-directed approach tend to do
better on “non-verbal reasoning” and activities that
require them to solve problems as they are used to being
resourceful, exploring choices and ideas and interacting
with others.
• Ideology: beliefs and principles regarding one’s life and
mannerisms. How children are socialised are based on the
parents’ ideology of culture or ethnicity.
The ideology that a person holds on to will affect the type
of child care services that they seek.
Parents who possess a particular ideology regarding child
care tend to look for carers with similar ideology as they
do.
The way caregivers communicate with children
influenced the perpetuation of principles or morals,
functions in the family and society and certain conducts
specifically based on one’s culture (Miller, 1989).
• Children go through the process of maturation whereby
transformations in one’s development occurs as one gets older.
When a child matures, it signifies that learning can occur
in the child.
Adults who practise developmentally appropriate
caregiving have a good understanding of how children
develop and what they are able to achieve at certain ages
of their lives.
They use this understanding to develop the curriculum
and will be more aware of what children are interested to
learn and at which ages learning about a certain topic
would be most beneficial.
They are also more in tune with what children like and
• These caregivers should continuously observe, be aware of
children’s needs and be responsive.
The learning setting should inspire interest to learn, as
with the assigned tasks and should also provide
opportunities for children to take the first steps in
learning.
Collaborative Caregiving: It is highly recommended that
parents join forces with caregivers to offer the best
possible care to children.
In the individualistic society, children are raised to value
independence and that their duty to others is based on
their own preference.
• In the collectivistic society, children are raised to value
interdependence. They are trained to work for a supreme
being or one in a higher position and it is their duty to
establish connections with others.
Parents and caregivers may hold opposing views of
individualism and collectivism and affect how children are
raised.
Hence it is best for parents to have intermittent discussions
with their children’s caregivers as to how best to raise the
child.
The collaboration can be more effective if parents seek the
assistance of caregivers in several areas such as paying
attention to parents, providing empathy, affirming and
acting on feelings and showing how to guide and discipline.
• It is the responsibility of caregivers to shield children from
damaging incidences and being maltreated.
Since caregivers are the closest to children other than
their families, they should report any discrepancies,
suspicious mannerisms and concerns to local authorities.
Therefore, caregivers play an important role in ensuring
children are protected in every aspect and develop into
well-adjusted individuals.