Family Relationships

The Family
Families form a system of interacting
elements

Parents and children influence one another
Parents influence their children both directly and
indirectly

Children influence their parents
Childrens behaviors, attitudes, and interests affect how
their parents behave toward them
In the systems view, families,
parents and children influence
each other and parent-child
relations are influenced by other
individuals and institutions
Culture
School
Work
Extended
Family
Neighborhood
Religious
Organizations
Family
Mother
Father
Children
Parental Control
Parents efforts to supervise and monitor their childrens
behavior

Effective control
Setting standards that are appropriate for the childs age
Showing the child how to meet the standards
Rewarding the child for complying to these standards

Parents should enforce the standards consistently
Children and adolescents are more compliant when parents enforce
the rules regularly

Effective control is also based on good communication
Parents should explain why theyve set standards and why they
reward or punish as they do
How Can Parents Influence Their Children?
Direct Instruction
Telling a child what to do, when and why

Learning by Observing (modeling)
Learning what to do by watching
Learning what not to do (counterimitation)

Feedback
Parents indicate whether a behavior is appropriate and should
continue or should stop
Children who are spanked often
use aggression to resolve their
disputes with others and are more
likely to have behavior problems
Parenting behavior and styles evolve as a
consequence of the childs behavior.
Childrens behavior helps determine how
parents treat them and the resulting
parental behavior influences childrens
behavior, which can in turn cause parents
to again change their behavior.