Types of Parenting Styles

According to Diana Baumrind, there are three ways that parents can be categorized, authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. Each of these styles is both a reflection of the parents and the children. Children respond differently to different types of parenting, and perhaps the best way to parent is to have a mixture of these styles depending on the individual child.

My parents, for example are a blend of the types of parenting that Baumrind describes. They reacted differently for each of their children, depending on what they felt we needed and how we reacted to restrictions and punishment. I myself could get spanked and put in a corner, just to turn around and do the exact same thing again. My younger brother however, would obey after being told sternly not to do something.

I don’t believe that you can pigeon hole a person into being a specific type of parent; yes, they may have more characteristics of one type than another, but individuals rarely fit every rule and descriptor set out for them. Overall, I would place my parents into the authoritative category if I had to only pick one.

One of the things that I appreciate most about how my parents related to us is that they would never say “because I said so”. We were always expected to have a higher level of maturity than the other kids around us. We were expected to know right from wrong and to obey our parents. Whenever rules were set down, my brothers and myself were always told why we could not do something, and I believe that helped us to have a more positive relationship with our parents than some other families that I know.

My parents however, do not fit into the authoritative parenting style in that when we fell short that there was no punishment for us. If we were told to do something, there was no “I’ll do it later” or eye rolling allowed. We would do what we were told, when we were told to do it. Not to say that our parents didn’t love us, rather they were trying to teach us discipline and work ethic.

I don’t believe I would