Diana Baumrind
Encyclopedia
Diana Blumberg Baumrind is a clinical
and developmental psychologist
.
Baumrind was born into a small Jewish community in New York City
, the first of two daughters of Hyman and Mollie Blumberg. She completed her B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy at Hunter College
in 1948, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled "Some personality and situational determinants of behavior in
a discussion group".
After being awarded her doctorate she served as a staff psychologist at Cowell Memorial Hospital in Berkeley
. She was also director of two U. S. Public Health Service
projects and a consultant on a California
state project. From 1958-1960 she had a private practice in Berkeley.
She is a clinical
and developmental psychologist
at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley
. She is known for her research on parenting styles
and for her critique of deception in psychological research, especially Stanley Milgram's controversial experiment
.
Her parenting styles were based on two aspects of parenting that are found to be extremely important. The first was "Parental responsiveness", which refers to the degree the parent responds to the child's needs. The second was "Parental demandingness" which is the extent to which the parent expects more mature and responsible behavior from a child. Using these two dimensions, she recognizes three different parenting styles:
Baumrind has studied the effects of corporal punishment
on children, and has concluded that mild spanking, in the context of an authoritative (NOT authoritarian) parenting style, is unlikely to have a significant detrimental effect, if one is careful to control for other variables such as socioeconomic status. She observes that previous studies demonstrating a correlation between corporal punishment and bad outcomes failed to control for variables such as socioeconomic status. Low-income families are more likely to employ corporal punishment compared with affluent families. Children from low-income neighborhoods are more likely to commit violent crimes compared with children from affluent neighborhoods. But when appropriate controls are made for family income and other independent variables, Baumrind believes that mild corporal punishment per se does not increase the likelihood of bad outcomes. This assertion has in turn attracted criticism and counter-points from other researchers in the same publication, for example: Whether harmful or not, there is still no consistent evidence of beneficial effects.
Her scientific influences include Theodor Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik
, Daniel J. Levinson, Nevit Sanford, Egon Brunswik
, David Krech, Richard S. Crutchfield
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and developmental psychologist
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
.
Baumrind was born into a small Jewish community in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the first of two daughters of Hyman and Mollie Blumberg. She completed her B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
in 1948, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled "Some personality and situational determinants of behavior in
a discussion group".
After being awarded her doctorate she served as a staff psychologist at Cowell Memorial Hospital in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. She was also director of two U. S. Public Health Service
United States Public Health Service
The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...
projects and a consultant on a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
state project. From 1958-1960 she had a private practice in Berkeley.
She is a clinical
Clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development...
and developmental psychologist
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. She is known for her research on parenting styles
Parenting styles
A parenting style is a psychological construct representing standard strategies that parents use in their child rearing. There are many differing theories and opinions on the best ways to rear children, as well as differing levels of time and effort that parents are willing to invest.Many parents...
and for her critique of deception in psychological research, especially Stanley Milgram's controversial experiment
Milgram experiment
The Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures was a series of notable social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that...
.
Her parenting styles were based on two aspects of parenting that are found to be extremely important. The first was "Parental responsiveness", which refers to the degree the parent responds to the child's needs. The second was "Parental demandingness" which is the extent to which the parent expects more mature and responsible behavior from a child. Using these two dimensions, she recognizes three different parenting styles:
- Authoritarian ("Too Hard"): the authoritarian parenting style is characterized by high demandingness with low responsiveness. The authoritarian parent is rigid, harsh, and demanding. Abusive parents usually fall in this category (although Baumrind is careful to emphasize that NOT all authoritarian parents are abusive).
- Permissive ("Too Soft"): this parenting style is characterized by low demandingness with high responsiveness. The permissive parent is overly responsive to the child's demands, seldom enforcing consistent rules. The "spoiled" child often has permissive parents.
- Authoritative ("Just Right"): this parenting style is characterized by moderate demandingness with moderate responsiveness. The authoritative parent is firm but not rigid, willing to make an exception when the situation warrants. The authoritative parent is responsive to the child's needs but not indulgent. Baumrind makes it clear that she favors the authoritative style.
Baumrind has studied the effects of corporal punishment
Corporal punishment in the home
Domestic corporal punishment typically involves the corporal punishment of a child by a parent or guardian in the home—normally the spanking or slapping of a child with the parent's open hand, but occasionally with an implement such as a belt, slipper, cane or paddle.In many cultures,...
on children, and has concluded that mild spanking, in the context of an authoritative (NOT authoritarian) parenting style, is unlikely to have a significant detrimental effect, if one is careful to control for other variables such as socioeconomic status. She observes that previous studies demonstrating a correlation between corporal punishment and bad outcomes failed to control for variables such as socioeconomic status. Low-income families are more likely to employ corporal punishment compared with affluent families. Children from low-income neighborhoods are more likely to commit violent crimes compared with children from affluent neighborhoods. But when appropriate controls are made for family income and other independent variables, Baumrind believes that mild corporal punishment per se does not increase the likelihood of bad outcomes. This assertion has in turn attracted criticism and counter-points from other researchers in the same publication, for example: Whether harmful or not, there is still no consistent evidence of beneficial effects.
Her scientific influences include Theodor Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswik
Else Frenkel-Brunswik
Else Frenkel-Brunswik was a Polish-Austrian Jewish psychologist.- External links :* http://www.kfunigraz.ac.at/sozwww/agsoe/bestand/25_agsoe/25bio.htm...
, Daniel J. Levinson, Nevit Sanford, Egon Brunswik
Egon Brunswik
Egon Brunswik was a psychologist who made contributions to functionalism and the history of psychology.-Early life and career:...
, David Krech, Richard S. Crutchfield
See also
- Parenting style - Maccoby and Martin expanded Baumrind's three parenting styles to four: authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent and neglectful.