Parenting Practices Over Generations

Assignment 3: Parenting Practices Over Generations

One important issue to consider when studying child development is cohort effects. To understand cohort effects, consider that the experiences of a child growing up in the 1940s are different in many ways from a child growing up today. Cohort effects can be studied by examining a family. Information about a family can be organized in genograms. A genogram is a pictorial representation of family members, much like a family tree. It shows members’ relationships to each other, as well as where they lived, ages, dates of marriage, and dates they passed away (Nichols & Schwartz, 2001). Typically, males are represented with squares and females with circles, with their respective ages in the center.

Interview three generations of one family. Ask interviewees about their parenting practices. You can also ask interviewees about their childhood experiences, which would tell you about the previous generation’s parenting practices. Under parenting practices, include matters such as sleeping arrangements, toilet training, bottle weaning, breast-feeding, discipline, chores, responsibilities, school and extracurricular activities, and rules for dating. Organize the information you gather in a genogram or in a chart as shown below. Comment on the noteworthy differences and anything that surprised you.

Present the chart and your comments in a 3-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M1_A3.doc. For example, if your name is John Smith, your document will be named SmithJ_M1_A3.doc.

By Monday, February 6, 2012, deliver your assignment to the M1: Assignment 3 Dropbox.

Nichols, M. P., & Schwartz, R. C. (2001). Family therapy: Concepts and methods.Needham Heights, MA: Allyn& Bacon.