Commands, competence, and cariño: Maternal socialization practices in Mexican American families.

Abstract

Early research on the socialization of Latino children has posited that mothers exercise authoritarian practices, compared with lateral reasoning (authoritative) strategies emphasized by Anglo mothers. This work aimed to categorize fixed types of parenting practices tied to the mother's personality rather than to culturally bounded contexts; it often ignored the emotional warmth or harshness present in compliance attempts and relied on interview questions rather than naturalistic observation. We built from ecocultural theory to observe daily home activities in which Mexican American mothers attempted to correct their young child's behavior or encourage completion of a task (compliance attempt). We observed 24 firstor second-generation mothers and their 4-year-old children and analyzed the activity contexts and multiple forms of 1,477 compliance attempts. Mothers typically led with direct verbal commands in their attempt to achieve compliance. Many blended commands with other compliance strategies, rather than repeating simple behaviors. Drawing on Crockenberg and Litman's (1990) differentiation of variable compliance strategies, we find that most mothers relied on low power-assertive methods, including verbal commands, rather than inductive strategies that involved reasoning. Few compliance episodes prompted high power-assertive or harsh strategies. The degree of reliance on verbal commands and the complexity of mothers' repertoires appear to be related to their education and acculturation levels.

Parent Training and Skill Acquisition and Utilization Among Spanish- and English-Speaking Latino Families

“…This hypothesis is consistent with research on the behavioral manifestations of respeto (e.g., giving orders and not expecting any questioning, asking questions as a way to give commands) and how Latino mothers teach their children these practices (Calzada et al 2010). For example, Mexican-American mothers seemed to rely on the use of commands as a way to indicate the normative behavior expected from their children (Livas-Dlott et al 2010). …”

“…For instance, widely referenced authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles defined by Baumrind do not fully capture the types of interactions among Latino families, such as interactions that can be intrusive and warm simultaneously (Calzada and Eyberg 2002; Calzada et al 2010, 2012; Livas-Dlott et al 2010). Furthermore, these parenting practices are influenced by acculturation and adherence to cultural values such as respeto , which refers to the empathy and respect that children are expected to show toward authority figures (e.g., caregivers, teachers), and familismo , which is the strong bonds among the nuclear and extended family members (Barker et al 2010; Calzada and Eyberg 2002; Calzada et al 2010, 2012; Livas-Dlott et al 2010). This acculturative process has been conceptualized as a bidirectional progression of adopting new values, customs, and behaviors from a culture-receiving country, as well as simultaneously retaining those from the culture of origin (Berry 2003).…”

Parent–Child Cultural Value Gaps and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican American Youth

“…Specifically, youth are expected to obey and respect their elders. Indeed, research has established that respect for parental authority is paramount for Mexican American families (Calzada et al 2010;Guilamo-Ramos et al 2007;Livas-Dlott et al 2010;Zucker and Howes 2009). Diaz-Guerrero (1994) termed this defining core value as affiliative obedience.…”

“…The majority of research on respeto has focused on describing parental expectations of pre-school aged youth (e.g., Calzada et al 2010;Livas-Dlott et al 2010), but has not linked this expectation to youth outcomes. Two past studies have examined the role of affiliative obedience and outcomes in adolescence using the problem suppression-facilitation model.…”

Behavioral Parent Training in Infancy: What About the Parent–Infant Relationship?

“…Our findings also suggest the need to further examine parenting don’t skills targeted in BPT programs, such as commands, particularly among racial and ethnic minority families. For example, Hispanic mothers frequently use verbal commands to receive compliance with their children, compared to other strategies (Livas-Dlott et al, 2010; Ramos, Blizzard, Barroso, & Bagner, under review). Thus, it may be that indicators of relationship quality (i.e., warmth, sensitivity, and intrusiveness) may be perceived and utilized differently across cultures.…”