Module 8 Parenting Styles

Module 8 Question: Television families often portray a variety of different parenting styles. Choose a television family and classify the kinds of parents according to the styles provided in the text (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful.) Then describe the children in these families. Answer the following questions: 1. What kinds of challenges do these children face? How do they deal with them? 2. What kinds of things challenge these parents? How do they respond? 3. To what extent do the children’s activities and behaviors seem to result from their parenting?

            One family that is portrayed on television is the Pritchett and Dunphy family from the show “Modern Family.” There are multiple families in the show that form one big family. Jay has two older children and a stepson (Manny) with his wife Gloria. Gloria seems to be a very authoritative parent because she sets the rules but also tries her best to be comforting to her son. Jay on the other hand is a bit of a combination. You get the sense that his two grown up children were parented in a rejecting way but he also comes off as an authoritarian parent. His oldest son brings up how he does not feel that his father accepts him for who he is but you can also tell that he likes to be in control of situations and is trying his best to become a better father especially since he now has a stepson. Their son Manny likes to take chances especially because he comes off as pretty girl crazy. His mother Gloria is very supportive of Manny and his ideas, while Jay seems to try to change his mind about his ideas. When things go wrong, both parents are there to tell him what he did was wrong and to explain how to go about it the right way next time.  

            Then Jay’s daughter Claire Dunphy and her husband Phil Dunphy have three children named Haley, Alex, and Luke. I think that the parents have a combination of parenting. They seem to be both authoritative and also permissive. The children are always having some sort of trouble whether it is love, friendship, school, or any other problem. The parents usually start out being very permissive about the situation at hand, and then they discuss things and realize that as parents they are obligated to set boundaries and rules. These parents have a hard time coming up with what is an appropriate punishment or rule and then following through with it. I think that their children try to get away with things because their parents are the way that they are but when it comes down to it, they always get caught.

            The other part of the family is Jay’s son Mitchell who is married to his husband Cameron. They have an adopted daughter Lily who is always getting into some sort of trouble. I see their parenting style as permissive because they are so loving and warm to their daughter but she is always getting into trouble and they don’t have much control over it. In one episode Lily seemed to have learned swear words and they could not stop her from saying them. She also went through a phase where she would not stop flickering lights. They feel as though Lily should be able to express herself, but then when she gets out of control, they have trouble saying “no”. Together they love their daughter and come together to try to parent her, but they have a hard time making rules for her, often conflicting over the subject.