Child-rearing Practices

Abstract

The behaviour and adjustment of a child appear in general to depend on his family’s treatment of him; this seems particularly true in relation to the preschool years which are crucial in providing a basis for future development. However, psychological research in this area does not produce completely consistent results because parental practices differ subtly between families, yet psychologists have to lump together variations to form a basic classification system of child-rearing practices. Moreover, researchers often have to ask parents to remember how they dealt with their offspring in the past so that this material can be related to the characteristics of the child in the present; and recollections of the past can be hazy, distorted or seen through rose-tinted spectacles rather than a true memory.