| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for examining the parenting process. Tasks, roles, rules, communication, resources, and relationships are described as essential components of parenting. The conceptualization of parenting is not tied to a particular family structure or type. Rather, parenting is examined as a process undertaken with the goal of ferrying children from conception and birth through developmental challenges and life events to adulthood. As a bridge between the conceptualization of parenting and its application to single parent families, questions are raised concerning what it takes to parent adequately. Notions of the successful or ‘‘good enough’’ parent are derived from facets of the conceptual framework. The challenge of providing adequate parenting for single parent families is presented. Single parent families are not described as automatic ‘‘at risk’’ situations for children. However, identification of the ingredients needed for adequate parenting provides a useful framework for evaluation of the effectiveness of single parent families in the many forms and situations con- sidered in the other papers in this special volume of Marriage & Family Review. |
