Critical Analysis: Parenting Styles Taylor Duran Colorado Christian University April 12, 2014 Critical Analysis: Parenting Styles Broadly defined, parenting styles are the strategies that parents utilize while raising their child/children. According to Darling (1999), "Parenting style captures two important elements of parenting: parental responsiveness and parental demandingness" (p. 2). There are four main types of parenting styles, based on the following dimensions: expressions of warmth, strategies for discipline, communication, and expectations for maturity (Berger, 2011). These parenting styles are recognized as authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful/uninvolved parenting. This critical analysis paper will serve to explain the four types of parenting styles and demonstrate the impact that Christian scripture has on child rearing practices as well as identify the correct parenting style through dissection of scripture. The authoritarian parenting style is defined by low expressions of warmth, strict (often physical) discipline, high expectations of maturity, high amounts of parent to child to communication and low amounts of child to parent communication.
Parenting
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In the Corner. From A Home (26 watercolours)In this style of parenting, the parents will establish a strict, well-structured set of rules for the child to follow. The failure of the child to comply with these rules often results in punishment, which is usually physical although it is not necessarily considered abusive. The low level of child to parent communication in authoritarian households results from the child not being allowed to question, or offer opinions, as to why or how the parent(s) established their rules. Berger (2011) explains that authoritarian parents, "Do not expect children to offer opinions; discussion about emotions is especially rare" (p. 273). Children may be punished further for offering their opinion. Children raised by authoritarian parents often grow up to be obedient individuals that do well in school, but deal with low levels of self-esteem, high levels of depression, and poor social skills...