Abstract This paper analyzes various parenting styles - authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful and indulgent parenting. The paper describes the characteristics typical to each of these styles. The writer succeeds in proving, by reviewing several researches, that parenting styles do in fact make a difference on a child's life and on who she/he becomes.
From the Paper "Does parenting matter in the field of education? Developmental psychologist John Borkowski, PhD says yes. Along with Borkowski, Sharon Ramey, PhD has edited a book entitled "How do parents matter"? Ramey says, "Parenting influences are much more than parents" desires to mold children. Can you make your child be who you want? Of course not.? Ramey also says it is preposterous to even ask the question, "Do parents matter"? (Azar, 2000)
"Is there a way to parent children that is better than others? Diana Baumrind is a leading authority on parenting and she believes that parents should be neither punitive nor aloof. Baumrind believes that parents should develop rules for children while at the same time being portive and nurturant. (Santrock, 2001)
Four parenting styles that Baumrind says exist are authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, neglectful parenting, and indulgent parenting. (Santrock, 2001)"
Tags: psychology, authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, indulgent, family
Effect on human development. Defines various types of abuse & discusses studies that demonstrate developmental problems of sexually abused children into adulthood.
675 words (approx. 2.7 pages), 4 sources, 2001, $ 23.95
From the Paper "Sexual abuse in childhood contributes to a number of problems later in life, and research shows that human development is affected by abuse in a number of detrimental ways. Among the problems are the fact that those abused as children tend to become abusers themselves. Various psychological problems also derive from sexual abuse in childhood.
Sexual abuse is defined in terms of a variety of actions involving contact and noncontact maltreatment. Contact abuse is sexual contact with a youngster, with examples including molestation with genital contact, fondling, intercourse, oral or anal sex, and object intrusion. Noncontact abuse includes coercing the child to watch pornographic films or pictures, to observe sexual intercourse, to perform sexual activities, and to ..."
From the Paper " A parenting style is a pattern of behavior that influences child-rearing practices. Approaches vary based on several factors, ranging from how parents themselves were raised to the goals parents have for their children. The three most common parenting styles are authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative.
Parental discipline influences a child's social and emotional development. Parents are the primary educators and socialization agents of their children: "Studies have found that parental influence is a critical factor in the development of the child's self-esteem and in the child's academic achievement in school, and that parents often serve as a source of social support to the child and as role models for the child to imitate" (Beekman, 1989, p. 2). Children need to feel that they are.."
Discusses the legal and social restrictions, historical overview, statistics, impact of integration on interracial marriage, socioeconomics, gender alignments and children of these relationships.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 10 sources, 1999, $ 63.95
Abstract "Interracial marriage between Black and White Americans does not make up a very large percentage of the total number of marriages in the United States. But the impact of the these marriages on society--as well as on the participants and, especially, their children--is much greater than numbers might suggest.
From the Paper "Interracial marriage between Black and White Americans does not make up a very large percentage of the total number of marriages in the United States. But the impact of the these marriages on society--as well as on the participants and, especially, their children--is much greater than numbers might suggest. The level of racism in America--which is largely responsible for the small number of Black-White marriages in the first place--has declined considerably in recent decades. But racism persists at outrageous levels and the children of interracial marriages will suffer from it no less than the children of African-American families. A discussion of the effects of interracial marriage on children will follow a brief description of the state of interracial marriage in America; including a summary of forces that worked against it in the past,..."
Abstract The paper describes the health risks involved in smoking and asserts that teenagers begin smoking because of peer pressure and because of the way smoking is portrayed in advertisements and television. It describes how smoking then becomes a habit and an addiction for these children so that they are unable to quit. The paper suggests ways in which a smoker can quit, such as using nicotene patches, chewing nicotine gum, and undergoing therapy.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
How Kids Start Smoking
Peer Pressure
Advertising
Smoking in Film
Why Kids Continue Smoking
Habit
Inability to Quit
Addiction
How Kids Can Quit Smoking
Patches and Gum
Therapy
Conclusion
From the Paper "The health hazards of smoking are well known and documented. In 1992, over 400,000 people died from complications from smoking each year, including lung and throat cancer, stroke, and heart disease. The number today is even higher. Additionally, some studies have also shown that starting to smoke as a teenager has the potential to permanently damage lung tissue."
Abstract Argues that home schooling provides an adequate, if not superior alternative to public educatiion. Appeal of home schooling. Diverse characteristics. Problem of declining quality of public schools. Lack of quality education, growth of campus violence and drugs as reasons for popularity of home schooling. Cites research studies on the topic.
From the Paper "Over the last decade, home schooling has increased in popularity. According to different estimates, the number of home schooled children ranges from 500,000 to 750,000 (Lines, 1997, p. 4). Disillusioned by the inability of public schools to provide high-quality education to their children within a safe environment, parents all over the nation have taken the initiative of educating their children themselves. Home schooling refers to the education of school-aged children within a home instead of a school setting (Lines, 1993, in Lyman, 1998, p. 2). Home schools exhibit diverse characteristics, ranging from highly structured to liberal. Nonetheless, home schoolers share the basic belief that education should not be restricted to the school environment. By educating their children in their homes and communities, home schoolers believe their children will..."
Abstract Summarizes possible causes of depression and teenage suicide. Risk factors identified by psychologists and clinicians. External contributors (gender, birth order, substance abuse, social pressure, unstable families, conduct disorder). Internal contributors (hopelessness, coping skill deficits). Negative outcomes.; academic problems. Need to develop prevention tools. Paper contains many quotations.
From the Paper "INTRODUCTION
Depression has become a multi-million dollar industry. Mainstream daily life offers many stressful life events that are compounded by external stimuli such as the media. Too often, adolescents have received blame for acting out rather than receiving focus for reacting within. "The self is a multi-faceted dynamic entity that is involved in the construction of meaning, mediating and regulating emotions and motivating actions" (Orbach, Mikulincer, Stein, & Cohen, 1998, p. 435). With teenage suicide purported to be epidemic and rising, it is essential that the adolescent "self" be examined so preventive tools may be exacted and implemented. "Adolescent depression has also been shown to predict a variety of negative outcomes, including: academic problems, marital difficulties, delinquency ..."
Abstract A study on a national level, into crime and violence in American schools. The paper shows how effective zero tolerance policies are from the standpoint of the students who must abide by them. The federal government set in motion a policy that was to dovetail with the thousands of zero tolerance policies in place throughout the nation.
This research is centered on the opinion of the students themselves. The paper includes a comprehensive table of statistics relating to crime in schools in America.
Contents:
Abstract
Introduction
Context of Research
General Research Problem
Significance of the Research
From the Paper "In recent history the American public has become shocked by the amount of violence that is occurring within its school system. Students have brought guns to school and used them to kill their classmates. Teachers have been attacked in the halls and administrators have been accosted as they went from the building to the car and back again. Violence in the American school system is becoming a common occurrence by previous standards and as the nation watches in shock the demand for solutions becomes almost deafening. Several years ago when the attack occurred at Columbine the nation watched in horror while dead bodies of teens laid for days in the buildings and their parents were denied access to the carnage because of the ongoing investigation."
Abstract Because of its pervasiveness, mass media such as magazines and television programs are increasingly in a position to influence the behavior and attitudes of teenage girls. In fact, television programs such as ER and sports-oriented teen magazines have been lauded for providing girls with positive role models. Unfortunately, these programs and magazines remain the exception rather than the rule. Rather than promote healthy lifestyles or give positive role models, much of the media targeted to teens are both physically and psychologically harmful. This paper examines two of these main effects ? the promotion of unhealthy habits and lifestyles and the growing tendency of these media forms to sexualize teens and turn them into consumers.
From the Paper "This need to conform to unrealistic body standards infects girls at a progressively earlier age. A recent study of 12,000 children between the ages of 9 and 14 show that media's influence on girls' dieting and weight concerns equaled the influence exerted by parents and peers ("Weight concerns in preteens and young teens influenced by media..."). This represents a change from just a decade ago, when parents and peers were the biggest socialization factors in an adolescent's life."
Abstract Both anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders that affect teenagers. Teenagers with eating disorders usually have other problems such as low self-esteem, family problems or other emotional problems.
Abstract This paper examines how, considering the increasing use of drugs among today's youth, drug testing in schools has become necessary. It looks at how the ramifications of using these drugs are detrimental to both the individual and society as a whole and how drug testing is meant to protect students from the harmful effects and has been shown to deter drug use in a large percentage of those on whom it has been practiced. It shows how the procedures themselves are non-invasive and result in no side effects and how the United States Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of these evaluations. It also evaluates how the random drug testing of students involved in extra curricular activities is a positive and beneficial policy and should be mandatory in schools.
From the Paper "The argument that testing is an invasion of privacy and infringes on civil rights is easily discredited. The process of a urinalysis test goes as follows: "a faculty monitor waits outside the closed restroom stall for the student to produce a sample and must listen for the normal sounds of urination to guard against tampered specimens and ensure an accurate chain of custody" (Kozlowski 34). This is considered to be a negligible intrusion of privacy. These tests are compared to standard head lice checks. Katherine Ford, the director of the Florida Drug Free America Foundation says, ?No one claims it is a violation of a child's civil rights to have their head checked for lice."
Abstract Much research has been done into the effects of divorce on children. However this paper shows that much of this research has focused on what happens with children during the first few weeks or months after the divorce. Far fewer studies have been done into how divorce effects children in the long-term as they go through adolescence and into adulthood. It explains that the conventional wisdom seems to be that, as children grow up, they are able to see their parents' divorce with more objectivity and maturity and will not harbor any resentment over it in their adulthood. It follows to explain that common sense states that emotional scars inflicted in childhood are not so easily faded. In fact, those scars can grow into entirely new things as a child grows up. This paper explores some of the long-term effects of divorce on children.
From the Paper "These are all problems that either carry on into adulthood or manifest in adulthood for the first time. The shock of losing a parent to divorce, to only being able to see one parent occasionally, and of seeing their parents seemingly at war with each other causes severe psychological trauma to a child, and that child may wonder if he or she will ever feel safe and secure again. If not properly handled in the beginning, these children can grow up with lasting psychological damage. It can affect everything in their adult lives, from how well they do in school to their ability to keep a job to their success with interpersonal relationships. Children who do not get the proper psychological attention during and after a divorce are not being given a good start in life and can find themselves with emotional scars that will not heal."
Abstract Adolescent pregnancy has long been a societal concern, but in the past decade, this issue has become one of the most frequently cited examples of the perceived societal decay in the United States. This paper shows that, despite the recent decline in teen birth rates, pregnancy in this group remains a significant problem in America, and it is a problem that impacts nearly every community. The paper argues that the responsibility to solve this problem lies with all of us, including families, communities, and young people themselves. The paper includes a graph.
Table of Contents
Introduction and Problem of Teen Pregnancy
Teen Pregnancy and Risk Factors
Economics, Poverty, Social Issues and Teen Pregnancy
Media and Teen Pregnancy
Adolescent Birth Rates
Perspectives: Conservative, Centrist and Liberals
Conclusion
From the Paper "The younger the teenage mother is, the higher the chances are that she and her baby will have health problems. This is mainly due to late prenatal care (if any) and poor nutrition. (21) An adolescent mother and her baby may not get enough nutrients and, because the mother's body is not fully mature, she may have many complications throughout the duration of the pregnancy. (22) Along with the mother, the children of teenage parents too often become part of a cycle of poor health, school failure, and poverty."
Abstract This paper explains the multiple factors associated with obesity in American children such as environmental, parental and genetics, influence the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. The author points out that many obese children many have eating disorders. The paper is presented from the point of view of a professional psychologist.
From the Paper "There is a significant increase in the incidence of obesity in the American population according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alarmingly, this problem affects more children each day. There are many reasons for this. Among them are diets high in fat, sugar and calories, combined with a sedentary lifestyle among many Americans including children. Marianne Hurst writing for "Education Week" suggests that many overweight children may have eating disorders. This may be the reason of their abnormal weight gain. One of these eating disorders is ..."
Tags: Childhood obesity, causes, cures, role of parents, schools, communities, government, health factors, causes of compulsive overeating
Abstract This paper examines the enduring causes of poverty among single mothers in the United States. It discusses many of the social factors; including social stigma, paid work and parental time constraints, the cost of daycare and the perceived need for children to have a paternal input. It also details the governmental attempts to alleviate some of the problems and the differences in the problems faced by ethnic minority single mothers. The paper contains a lot of statistics and is well researched.
From the paper:
"They make the covers of news magazines and get to appear on the local news. We hear about them endlessly from public officials and during daytime talk shows. IN fact, if you were not careful you might begin to think that all of the problems in society today are caused by them.
"Single mothers.
But why should this group be so generally vilified" Why should so much blame for so many social ills be placed upon them? The answer is twofold. The first is that they violate conventional social ideals about what a family should be, which (even in our postmodern) age is still deeply imbued with ideas about the importance of a patriarchal figure. And, on a more pragmatic level, they require society to help them, for single mothers ? along with their children ? are in general amongst the poorest of Americans.?
