Family Processes

1. •

4.  “Lock-up” strategy
 Prevents inter-family
bonding
 Insulate children from
dangers of neighborhood
 Low social integration
 Not knowing names of
neighbors
 Individualistic style of family
management
 Criticizing social institutions

5.  Negative comparison
 Pointing out negative behavior of neighbors
 Message to children is they are different from other
families in community
 Lowers ability of parent to monitor children outside of
home
 Seek resources outside of community
 Schools, health care, programs, part-time jobs,

8. Discussion Questions
 How can we build trust with the parents in the
communities we serve so that they allow their children to
participate in our programs? How do we reassure them
of their child’s safety?
 Do you think close supervision and monitoring
encourages the youth to be more sneaky or behave
better?
 How can you spread the message of community
cohesiveness to families who are scarred of losing their
children to 'the streets'?

9. Successful Parenting in High- Risk Neighborhoods
Environment-
Impoverished inner-city
neighborhood
Possible Youth
Outcomes:
High school dropouts
Premature parents
Welfare recipients
Drug dealers
Drug Users
Violence perpetrators
violence victims
Parent Involvement-
Parenting Strategies:
Youth Monitoring
Resource Seeking
In-Home Learning
Optimal Neighborhood
Conditions:
Good quality schools
Youth programs
Libraries
Parks and organizations w/
developmental contexts for
youth.
Possible Youth Outcomes:
High school graduate
College graduate
Employment
Communitybridging

10. Parenting Strategies
• Youth Monitoring- supervising time, space and friendships (i.e. intensive supervision,
chaperonage, and exile)
Pros- youth are away from negative people and situations.
Cons- may damage parental and youth relationship. Youth may become sneaky to
gain freedom. Inhibit youth’s self-sufficiency and maturity. No trust is built between
parents and youth.
• Resource Seeking- community resources that will benefit the youth overall development (i.e.
afterschool enrichment programs, scholarships, job training programs, and kinship
connections)
Pros-Exposure to new opportunities, building a stronger support system, increase
educational performance and social interactions.
Cons- could become the parents goal and not the child's and possible over scheduling
with program commitments.
• In-Home Learning- Developing youth academic skills and competencies in the home
environment. Supportive learning strategies.
Pros- strong foundation of skills and character development established, relationship
building between parents and youth, and emotional support (encouragement).
Cons- lack of social interaction with others and not all parents are able to provide
academic assistance,.

11. What is a Super-Parent?
“ Inner-city neighborhoods with limited social, economic, and institutional
resources demand that parents be “super-parents” to ensure conventional
development for their adolescents.”
Personal Sacrifice
• Parents feeling overwhelmed, competitive, or inadequate
Stressed mental instability- depression and anxiety
When 'Super Mom' is super sad: Pressures haunt new parents
Tip: Take advantage of local government and school district programs in which
early childhood educators or social workers perform home visits to offer
advice and reassurance. "When people are feeling incompetent as parents,
they don't necessarily need medication or somebody focusing on their mental
health," Wendel-Hummell said. "They need somebody saying, 'You're doing a
good job. You are a good parent.'"
http://www.today.com/parents/when-super-mom-super-sad-pressures-haunt-
new-parents-1D80081732

12. Take away- Despite deprived conditions (poverty, high
crime, poor school system), youth in inner-city
neighborhoods can still be on the track of success with
attentive, persistence, and resourceful parents who
sacrifice their personal needs to foster positive
development.
Question- Jarrett’s article “Successful Parenting in High-
Risk Neighborhoods” gives strategies (monitoring,
resource-seeking, in-home learning) for parents when
raising youth in low poverty communities. Which
strategy is the most challenging for the parents of your
youth to achieve? Which one of them do you think is
the most effective with youth in your program or your
neighborhood?

13. Children do not come with
Manuals on how the raise
them.
• Trial and error (what is effective vs. ineffective)
• Study research and theories on youth development
• Seek assistance
- There is no such thing as a one stop shop.
(need to seek out resources)
- “Need to negotiate the world outside the
household” Furstenberg.
•

14. Examining Parent’s Time

15. Mentors
(Resource outside the home)
•There is no such thing as a one stop shop.
Parents need help!
•Match process
-Helps to have similar interest
• Mentors can motivate children/youth in the right
direction
• Sometimes children/youth have to hear the same
thing from someone else.
• My own experience/study of mentors
School Improvement board
Mentors & career paths

16. Parenting Styles
• Study by Diana Baumrind
• 2 dimensions studied (Warmth/Acceptance & Control)
• Research suggest that Authoritative is the most
effective.

17. Question: Given different family dynamic and
culture do you think Authoritative parenting
style is most effective? Why or why not?

18. Family Processes & theories
• Baumrind-parenting styles
• Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
• Bradley and Caldwell-Basic functions performed by
parents
The “five S’s”
(socioemotional support, structure,
stimulation, safety/sustenance, surveillance).

19. Questions
How can we as youth development professionals stop the street life from
being readily accessible?
Is it really ok to use the “ANY MEANS” approach to youth development or
is there a line to be drawn or a framework of “ANY?”
What are some sacrifices that you see parents make for their children’s
success?

20. •Exposure to Negative Forms
•Linked with Children’s aggressiveness,
emotional distress, and risk for adjustment
problems
•The type of conflict to which children are
exposed matters to both their immediate
functioning and their long-term
adjustment
Marital Conflict in Home

21. Destructive Conflict Tactics
• Physical aggression toward the partner and
objects
• Personal insult
• Defensiveness
• Verbal hostility
• Withdrawals
• Children are present in the majority of domestic
violence incidents, even though parents may think
that they shelter their children from these events

22. Constructive Conflict Tactics
• Calm Discussion
• Apology
• Compromise
• Verbal and Physical Affection
• Support

23. Method
• Participants
– 47 Married couples with at least one child
• 21 boys, 26 girls (between ages 8 and 16 years of age
– Median Family incomes $40,000 to $65,000
• 87% parents were college educated
• Measures
– Marital Daily Record (MDR)
• Notable Features
– Parents extensively trained
– Fathers and mothers complete MDRs
– Actions during martial conflict are distinguished
– Emotional responding as well as conflict tactics are recorded for
each episode

24. Procedure
• Both parents completed MDR at home for 15
days
– Two laboratory visits (schedule 3-4 weeks apart)
• “Interactions”
• Video Clips

25. Results
• 34% of the Fathers’ and 37% of the mothers’ reports involved
conflicts that took place when children were present.
• Fathers and mothers, respectively, reported that more conflicts
occurred in children’s absence.
• Husbands were more disposed toward destructive marital conflict
tactics during interparental conflicts taking place in front of
children.
– Ex: physical distress, aggression against objects, personal insult, verbal
hostility)
• Wives were more prone to destructive conflict tactics
– Personal insult verbal hostility defensiveness
– Less likely to engage in constructive conflict tactics
• Wives were less likely to make threatening comments when
children were present versus absent

26. • Despite the emotional, mental, or physical disparities
that parents undergo they must realize that children
see and hear more than they give them credit for.
Parents must always be cognitive of handling situations
in a proper manner and understanding that marriage is
about compromise.
• Waiting for the children to go to bed or waiting for
each other to calm down are all ways to avoid
arguments with the child being present.
• As parents and youth development leaders we must
remember that conflict in the present of our youth will
and can affect them short-term and long-term.

27. • As YDLs, how can we be sure the boundary between
youth and adult is never crossed? It is easy to take
advantage of poor families. Once one good deed is
done for them, some begin to expect it and rely on it on
a regular basis. Should this be our goal? We may be
making their life temporarily easy, but are we helping
them in the long run to become sustainable families?
• How do we as youth professionals promote the
community bridging of all the youth within the
community? In other words, how do we assist those
parents in breaking the cycle of low socio-economic
standing if we have individuals within the community
(ie Malone) who are not concerned about the
community as whole, but rather a select few?
• Why do you believe there has been an influx in the
amount of community leaders engaging in criminal
behavior?