Parental Legitimacy, Procedural Justice, and Compliance With Parental Rules Among Brazilian Preadolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to capture a snapshot of the lives of Brazilian preadolescents and gain a deeper understanding of the variables that influence compliance with parental rules. This analysis draws from the São Paulo Legal Socialization Study, a cohort study (<em>N</em> = 800; age = 11 years) from public and private schools. Descriptive statistics provide a perspective on normative Brazilian parenting practices and preadolescents’ perceptions of parental legitimacy across multiple domains. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that procedural justice, global legitimacy, issue-specific legitimacy, and disciplinary techniques all significantly predicted compliance across issues and between preadolescents. Parents who used constructive disciplinary practices paired with procedural justice practices were more likely to be perceived as legitimate authorities and to have their preadolescent children comply with their rules. Our findings broaden the literature on constructive parenting practices in preadolescence, and allow for greater generalizability of current Western research to a diverse metropolitan setting in Brazil.

The Effects of Victimization and Fear of Crime on the Legal Socialization of Young Adolescents in São Paulo, Brazil

“…While most empirical examinations of the role in procedural justice have mainly focused on U.S.-based samples, there are studies that have applied this framework specifically to Ibero-Latin America cultures, such as Brazil (Milnitsky-Sapiro, Turiel, & Nucci, 2006; Nucci, Camino, & Milnitsky-Sapiro, 1996; Rodrigues & Gomes, 2017; Thomas et al, 2018), Chile (Darling, Cumsille, & Peña-Alampay, 2005; Cumsille, Flaherty, Darling, & Martinez, 2006), and Spain (Baz & Fernández-Molina, 2018). Thomas et al (2018) note that Brazil has stark economic inequalities that make it a suitable place to examine the transition from childhood to adolescence.…”

Factors that Differentiate Preadolescents' Perception-Change of Parental Legitimacy

“…Some would argue that the answer is related to whether youth bestow "legitimacy" upon authorities, be they primary caretakers, institutions, or law enforcers (Tyler, 2006). It has been suggested that recognition of legitimacy or its lack informs the choices that children, adolescents, and adults make to comply or not with norms and rules Thomas et al, 2018;Trinkner et al, 2012). While there are documented and expected reasons for a decline in parental legitimacy (PL) in areas of personal domain such as choosing friends or what clothes to wear (Darling et al, 2008), there are individual factors that need to be further investigated, such as the role victimization plays in PL (Medina & Rodrigues, 2019).…”

“…The legitimacy of parental authority is a multifaceted construct and occurs within the developmental context. Legitimacy granted to those in authority initially develops in childhood, becomes more complicated during adolescence (Tapp, 1991;, and is influenced by multiple variables: family, school, neighborhood, and juvenile justice (Darling et al, 2008;Fagan & Tyler, 2005;Thomas et al, 2018;. Several of these variables are delineated in Urie Bronfenbrenner's (1977) ecological theory, in which he asserted that not only the immediate settings of family, school, and peers (what he termed the microsystem), and their interrelations (the mesosystem), but also the changing relations between an individual and such environments as social structures, media, and the legal system (the exosystem) impinge upon and impact development.…”

“…More recently, inquiries into how people acquire beliefs and attitudes about parental authorities have been the focus of multiple studies that command the attention of multidisciplinary scholars worldwide (Darling et al, 2008;Darling et al, 2005;Smetana et al, 2000;Smetana et al, 1991;Thomas et al, 2018;Trinkner, Jackson, & Tyler, 2017). A review of this literature revealed that central to the discourse of PL is legal socialization, generally defined as the process of acquiring dispositions and beliefs about the law, legal authorities, and legal institutions (Piquero et al, 2005;Trinkner et al, 2019), and that PL is often studied within the context of legal socialization .…”

Por que as crianças obedecem autoridades e seguem regras?

“…Para as pessoas interessadas no tema, existem alguns trabalhos--chave que demonstram o desenvolvimento dos primeiros estudos de socialização legal até discussões mais recentes que ressaltam o papel da escola e do sistema de justiça como instituições responsáveis pela aprendizagem das leis (TAPP; LEVINE, 1974;COHN;WHITE, 1990;FAGAN;TYLER, 2005;JUSTICE;MEARES, 2014). Além disso, baseando-se em publicações recentes, fruto de resultados de pesquisa realizada pelo Núcleo de Estudos da Violência da Universidade de São Paulo, podemos afirmar que os estudos de socialização legal já ocorrem no Brasil (RODRIGUES et al, 2017;RODRIGUES;GOMES, 2017;THOMAS et al, 2018).…”