Childhood Parenting: Comparing Family and Parenting Styles

This essay examines the multifaceted aspects of childhood parenting, drawing insights from "The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Families" and "Parenting Out of Control: Anxious Parents in Uncertain Times." It explores how family change patterns, including fewer marriages, increased lone-parent families, and divorce rates, influence child psychology. The essay contrasts parenting styles across different social classes, emphasizing the impact of factors like income and education. It highlights the core concepts of good parenthood and successful childhood, underscoring the challenges faced by parents of young children compared to those with more resources. Furthermore, the essay differentiates between the readings, with the first offering a global perspective on families and the second focusing on parenting styles influenced by social class. The essay applies sociological and social class theories to explain the relationship between parents and children within a family context, emphasizing how social structures and resources shape parenting practices. The essay concludes by summarizing the key factors influencing child development and the complexities of modern parenting.

Running head: CHILDHOOD PARENTING 1
Childhood parenting
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CHILDHOOD PARENTING 2
Childhood parenting
From the Blackwell of companions reading the key points of interest include family
change patterns and how they affect childhood and parenthood and family structure and their
effect on child rearing. Some of the factors from the points that determine the psychological
growth of a child include such demographic aspects as fewer marriages, increased lone-parent
families, births outside marriages, increased divorce and cohabitation (Scott, Treas, and
Richards, 2004, p. 113). From the parenting out of control reading, the main point of interest
involves parenting styles as compared among the upper, middle and lower classes. It is argued
that parenting style is affected by material, cultural and social aspects such as income and
education. One of the key concepts from the set readings is the aspect of parenting and factors
that characterize good parenthood and successful childhood. The two readings underscore the
fact that parents of young children face more challenges as they rear children compared to the
privileged ones. The difference between the readings is that the Blackwell of companions covers
much about families from a global perspective while the parenting out of control covers much
about the styles of parenting. The first reading incorporates internal and external factors such as
parenthood, family structure and social beliefs to explain how they affect the psychology of a
child. The second reading explores much about social class and how it affects the parenting
styles using factors such as income, education and social background (Nelson, 2010, p. 212). The
Blackwell companion applies the theory of sociology in terms of work and health. The reading
explains much about sociology and psychology in relation to how the parents and children relate.
Sociology theory involves explaining how things in the social world are related. The things
explored by the author include parents and their children in a family social set up. The parenting
out of control applies the social status/class theory to help readers understand how class affects

CHILDHOOD PARENTING 3
the parenting styles. This theory involves the differences that exist among people in a social set
up such as community based on resources or education. The author uses the aspect of education
as the key factor that tends to affect parenting process.
References
Nelson, M.K., 2010. Parenting out of control: Anxious parents in uncertain times. NYU
Press.,p.212.
Scott, J.L., Treas, J. and Richards, M. eds., 2004. The Blackwell companion to the sociology of
families. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell., p.113.