Parenting Styles of Kohn, Baumrind and Lareau

Kohn Style:
This style notes that parents raise their children according to favored value traits that reflect the parents' work and lifestyle particular in their field of work. This style offers 2 aspects of parenting depending on the parents' social class status. Lower income parents tend to emphasize conformity because this traits is highly needed and is useful in working class jobs. An example given is an assembly line jobs which requires high levels of obedience and conformity not creation, ambition or curiosity. Higher income earning parents most likely stress self-direction in their children. This style teaches the children to have self control, consideration, reasoning, curiosity, and initiative conformity because the higher income family's are likely to hold jobs that entail or need these traits.

Lareau Style:
This style argues that children are raised, developed and taught differently depending on the parents' social economic background. This style proposes that children of middle and upper class families are raised by concerted cultivation. These parents takes into consideration their child's abilities and interests and caters to it. For example, the parents of concerted cultivation most likely will have their child's daily activities and plans organized and layed out. They will most likely enroll their kids in extra curricular activities outside of school such as a club sports team. The way these parents discipline their children is by communication rather than physical punishment. In contrary, Lower class parents are more likely to use the method of accomplishment of natural growth. This meant that their children engaged in far less or no organized activity at all compared to their counterparts. Children of natural growth are usually more independent. For example they would come home from school on their own, fix their own dinner and then decide what to do next. They are more likely to engaged with friends around their neighborhood that hold the same background characteristics. Lower income families lack the money and time  to enroll their kids in organized activities. They most likely would rely on physical punishment to discipline their children.

Baumrind Style:
This style offers three different styles in varies in magnitude and characteristics. The first is Permissive. This style of parenting may be very nurturing and responsive to their children. The parents of this style communicate well with their children but are quite lenient. They have very few demands and control on their children. The second style is Authoritarian. The parents here are strict punitive, less communicative, and offer less warm and support. These parents expect complete obedience with little room for compromise and error. They offer very little real communication and most likely will rely to physical punishment for discipline. The last style is Authoritative. This style states that parents are demanding and maintains high levels of control over their children, but they are also warm, receptive and understanding. These parents try to raise their children with compassion while also setting limits on their behavior. Children are expected to be well cultivated and behaved but parents are also caring, flexible, understanding, communicative and responsive.

*** I highly favor Baumrind's Authoritative style of parenting. The reason being is that this style is well balanced in areas of strictness, discipline and fairness. This style offers guidelines, rules and expectations that are subject to the child's conformity but also offers understanding and  room for error from the child.