your reactions to Diana Baumrind's work on Parenting Styles which was presented in Ch 6, but ...

All parents fall under four basic parenting styles. These styles include Authoritarian, Permissive-Indulgent, Permissive-Neglectful, and Authoritative. The authoritarian style of parenting is very strict. Parents set very high standards for children and enforce good behavior by threatening them with punishment. Children who come from authoritarian homes tend to develop behavioral problems, become very stressed, and lack social skills. These children tend to go wild when they become adults. Permissive-indulgent parents are very warm. They tend to be too warm towards their children. Parents who employ this style of parenting constantly try to make their children happy by any means including being a best friend instead of a parental figure and buying everything their hearts desire. Children who come from these homes tend to be very spoiled and develop behavioral problems. Permissive-neglectful parents do not set any standards for children and do not have close emotional relationships with them. These children tend to look for attention in negative places. When children look for attention in the wrong places, they tend to engage in delinquent behavior and suffer emotionally. According to Diana Baumrind, the optimal style of parenting is authoritative parenting. These parents set standards for their children while meeting emotional needs with a warm environment. Children who come from these homes tend to have a high self-esteem and tend to be very well behaved.

I was raised in a home with two different parenting styles. I was raised by my mother and she used two of them. She was authoritative and permissive-indulgent. She was always very involved in our lives, sometimes being too involved. She was a great parent who raised four very confident, productive adults.