SOCIAL PRISMS: AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF CHILDREARING MANUALS1

Abstract This paper presents findings from a comparative study of childrearing values and practices in four countries–Japan, People's Republic of China, France, and United States–based upon a content analysis of the ten best-selling childrearing manuals in each country during the last decade of the twentieth century. A uniform set of procedures was used to classify and analyze the content of the manuals. Selected findings are discussed regarding: (1) management of the child's body and bodily functions: 12) management and shaping of the child's behavior; and (3) roles and role relationships within the family and outside. While cultural differences remain, two general trends emerge from the analysis. One is a trend toward more flexible child care practices and greater sensitivity to the character and needs of the individual child. The second is a convergence of opinion on many aspects of children's upbringing. Global trends that are affecting the production and dissemination of childrearing advice are also discussed.     

Childrearing,social stress,and child abuse: Clinical considerations with Hispanic families

Child abuse in our multicultural society is a national emergency. As a nation, our approach to managing this societal crisis has been one of indifference to cultural variations among families and children, under the prevailing belief that cultural diversity does not play a part when serving a single society. Experience, however, shows that consideration of ethnocultural factors is warranted if we are to effectively treat and prevent child maltreatment. In this paper, a sociocultural perspective on child maltreatment in the United States Hispanic population is presented. Social stresses experienced by Hispanics along a continuum from emigration and migration, to arrival and adjustment to a new culture, and to the sociocultural and economic conditions they face in the United States are linked to factors of individual psychology. Traditional childrearing values and practices and factors of assessment and intervention are discussed with an emphasis on the changing characteristics of Hispanics.     

The links between women’s employment and children at home: Variations in low- and middle-income countries by world region

As fertility declines in low- and middle-income countries, the time women devote to childbearing and rearing may also be reduced. This shift has been described as one of the positive consequences of the demographic transition, as it opens opportunities for women to pursue educational and employment opportunities that were previously constrained by the demands of bearing and raising children. We estimate the numbers of children residing at home (with their mother) for women in 58 countries in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. We then examine the association between women’s employment and having children at home. Finally, we assess trends over recent decades in the relationship between employment and childbearing, and differences in this relationship by mother’s occupation. We find a negative association between women’s employment and having children at home; this association varies substantially by world region, age of child, and mother’s occupation.     

Race Identity and Race Socialization in African American Families

Abstract

In recent decades, theoretical and empirical efforts have enhanced our understanding of race identity and race socialization in African American families. This review of that literature identifies ways in which this growing knowledge base might assist social workers who work with African Americans. Prominent theories of race identity are outlined with a brief summary of research that has found linkages between race identity and well-being. Race socialization is defined and research investigating age, gender, and social class differences in socialization are discussed. Finally, research that examines the consequences of race socialization for psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and identity development is summarized, along with recommendations for social workers.     

Changing Childrearing Beliefs Among Indigenous Rural‐to‐Urban Migrants in El Alto,Bolivia

Sociologists have long noted that childrearing shapes young people's life chances. Worldwide, rural‐to‐urban migration is growing, yet we know little about whether or how migrants adopt new childrearing beliefs during this rapid social transformation. Using interviews with 63 parents and ethnographic observation at a public school, I examine how rural‐to‐urban migration affects the childrearing beliefs of indigenous peasants who move to the city of El Alto, Bolivia. Many migrants reject rural childrearing's reliance on corporal punishment and limited verbal communication, instead embracing more open communication, limited physical punishment, and parent–child trust. Urban organizations and social ties expose parents to a new childrearing model, and parents find this model credible when they observe that it buffers children from urban dangers that threaten young people's mobility chances. Adopting urban childrearing ultimately entails accepting an underlying model of children's agency, wherein children need internal motivation instead of external impulsion. This case shows that individuals’ childrearing beliefs are more malleable than previous sociological studies suggest. I close with policy implications for parental education and child well‐being initiatives.     

Families Formed Outside of Marriage

Cohabitation and childbearing outside of marriage are increasingly common family arrangements in the United States. Cohabitation is becoming more like formal marriage in that both are childrearing institutions. Attempts to study the meaning of families formed outside of marriage face the challenge of studying a moving target because the rapid rise in nonmarital families contributes to new meanings and institutional supports. Among these institutions are state policies that formalize ties between members of nonmarital families. This review summarizes the changing demography of cohabitation and nonmarital childbearing, considers the causes and effects of these changes, and describes some recent policies that formalize the relationship between members of families formed outside of marriage. These policies may affect family members' behavior.     

The concept of a child within sub‐Saharan African migrant homes: Reconciling culture and child rights

As international migration increases, the Australian socio‐cultural and political context in which sub‐Saharan African migrant families are settling is causing tension between traditional sub‐Saharan African migrant definitions of child and childhood experiences and host nation definitions particularly when compared with the child protection system. This paper seeks to explore and highlight the fundamental values and differences that determine perceptions and treatment of children within traditional sub‐Saharan African communities. Using a qualitative design, this study was influenced by acculturation theory. Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (a) culture and the sub‐Saharan African child, (b) moulding good children, (c) family functioning and relationships, and (d) host context: perceptions of Australian mainstream parenting. The study found that in order to successfully make decisions that are in the best interest of sub‐Saharan African migrant children that come to the attention of the child protection system, discussions about children rights can only yield good outcomes when the child's socio‐cultural environment is considered.     

Childrearing Responsibility and Stepfamily Fertility in Finland and Austria

We investigate the hypothesis that the propensity of a step family couple to have a shared child is inversely related to the responsibility for rearing pre-union children. We compare effects of coresident pre-union children to those of nonresident, and effects of the woman's children to those of the man's. Shared children and stepchildren reduce the risk of a birth to a couple, and the reduction is larger for each shared child than for a stepchild. We find larger effects of coresident pre-union children than of nonresident children, and larger effects of a woman's pre-union children than of a man's. The differences are more pronounced in Austria where public support for childrearing and gender equality is lower than in Finland. Our study demonstrates that in addition to the number of pre-union children, coresidence and parentage of pre-union children also need to be considered in future fertility research. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

儿童养育习俗及其研究价值的教育人类学分析

教育活动作为一种人类社会的基本活动,并非只发生在制度化的学校教育里,儿童个体生命的成长与社会化离不开养育习俗的影响。教育人类学视野中的儿童养育习俗是人们在长期的儿童保育和教育实践中形成的教育思想、教育经验和教育智慧。深入研究存在于本土的、民间的儿童养育习俗对于促进现代幼儿教育理论的“本土生长”、回应现代幼儿教育的异化现象、实现对本土儿童及其教育知识的人文关怀等方面具有一定的理论与现实意义。