Publication year
2017
Citation Title
The impact of family and community on children's understanding of parental role negotiation.
Journal Name
Journal of Family Issues
Journal Volume
38
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
435-456
DOI
10.1177/0192513X15573867
Summary
Family and community factors may influence a child's social reasoning about parental role negotiation. Interviews assessed children's judgement of two parent role negotiation scenarios. Differences between demographic, family type (traditional or nontraditional), and community type (near a military base or metropolitan) groups were examined. Factors from all three groups affected children's judgement of the parental role negotiation scenarios.
Key Findings
Children from schools within 10 miles of a large military base were less likely than those from metropolitan schools to think it was acceptable for the mother to get a job.
Most children in both the traditional (those children with only a father working) and nontraditional groups (children with a mother working outside the home) rated the father's desire to stay at home as acceptable.
In making a judgement, younger children were most likely to use social convention reasoning and older children were more likely to use personal choice reasoning.
Implications for Military Professionals
Provide support to military families with changing parental roles by offering training on parental role negotiation
Collaborate with other professionals on ways to facilitate program activities that support military families involved in parental role negotiation
Implications for Program Leaders
Enhance education, activities, and curriculum related to helping military families cope with parental role changes
Provide workshops to military families on negotiating parental role changes
Implications for Policy Makers
Promote the development and continuation of programs that help military families resolve conflicts around parental role negotiation
Recommend education for service providers around the possible effects of parental role change on military families' functioning
Methods
Children were recruited from schools in either a metropolitan community or within 10 miles of a large military base.
Interviewers presented children with two scenarios involving a parent wanting to switch to a nontraditional role. Children then judged the acceptability of the role change and the other parent's opposition.
Demographic and group (family and community type) factors affecting the children's judgments and reasoning were compared.
Participants
Participants were 272 children; 131 were aged seven years (M = 7.13, SD = .39) and 141 were aged 10 years (M= 10.43, SD = .57).
Gender for the seven year old group was 49% female and 51% male, and gender for the 10 year old group was 55% female and 45% male.
Race of the study participants was not included; though, the metropolitan community was 48% White and 18% Black and the community near a military base was 41% White and 50% Black.
Limitations
The scenario involving the father wanting to stay at home gave a reason but the other scenario did not. This may have increased the perceived acceptability of the scenario involving the father.
The study used only participants aged seven years or aged 10 years; results may not generalize to other child age groups.
Only children from families with two, opposite sex parents were included; thus, the findings may not generalize to children from less traditional households.
Avenues for Future Research
Explore how children from nontraditional families use social reasoning to judge parental role negotiations
Replicate the current study using more equivalent judgement scenarios
Assess child social reasoning about parental role negotiation in children from different age ranges
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
This study investigates the influence of family context and community context on children’s social reasoning about parental negotiation of the gendered roles of breadwinner and caretaker. Participants included 272 seven- and ten-year-old children from traditional and nontraditional parental employment situations, who lived in either a U.S. east coast metropolitan area or in a military-minded community. Children provided judgments and justifications about a parent’s desire to switch roles, the other parent’s opposition, and the use of stereotypes to defend their opposition. Children’s judgments were affected by the gender of parent wanting a new role, age of child, and both personal contexts. The current study provides evidence that children, not just adults, are aware of, and can reason about, parental roles and that it is important to investigate community norms in addition to direct family contexts.
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