theoretical thoughts
there's literature on parenting beliefs as regards infants, for instance what are appropriate feeding and sleeping and toilet training methods and patterns. there's literature on parenting beliefs around adolescent issues, like control of adolescents' behavior, etc. Even in the book on 'parental belief systems' that i have out from the library, one section is 'parental beliefs about young children' and it jumps right to 'parental beliefs about adolescence'.
i haven't seen anything on parental beliefs about middle childhood, so this is a contribution--one could almost construct a parenting 'stage' theory, perhaps, based on the cultural construction of child developmental stage. and in middle childhood the foremost concern, at least for these mothers, is negotiating that cusp between childhood innocence and adult awareness.
names to consider:
parental beliefs/parental ethnotheories: marc bornstein, super & harkness, jacqueline goodnow, judith smetana, andrew collins
maybe these are the people to focus on. it seems like if i focus on them i won't get caught up in irrelevant stuff.
hooray, i think that's the niche i need to carve.
also, there's the implications for the children to consider in why it is important to look at parental decision-making itself--is that construct used in the study of young children and adolescents? that's a construct i can advance as meaningful and important: everyday parental decision-making. it is different than parenting philosophy--and i have examples where people talk about their parenting philosophy but more interesting are the stories where we see parents negotiating the line because we see how they discursively construct the decision-making process in action.
ok, back to writing the analysis chapter. that's the task for today, not this.
i haven't seen anything on parental beliefs about middle childhood, so this is a contribution--one could almost construct a parenting 'stage' theory, perhaps, based on the cultural construction of child developmental stage. and in middle childhood the foremost concern, at least for these mothers, is negotiating that cusp between childhood innocence and adult awareness.
names to consider:
parental beliefs/parental ethnotheories: marc bornstein, super & harkness, jacqueline goodnow, judith smetana, andrew collins
maybe these are the people to focus on. it seems like if i focus on them i won't get caught up in irrelevant stuff.
hooray, i think that's the niche i need to carve.
also, there's the implications for the children to consider in why it is important to look at parental decision-making itself--is that construct used in the study of young children and adolescents? that's a construct i can advance as meaningful and important: everyday parental decision-making. it is different than parenting philosophy--and i have examples where people talk about their parenting philosophy but more interesting are the stories where we see parents negotiating the line because we see how they discursively construct the decision-making process in action.
ok, back to writing the analysis chapter. that's the task for today, not this.