Category: Parenting

Parenting Skills and Their Development

Description of Concrete Experience: I have found parenting to be a very tasking job yet important responsibility that one has in a lifetime. Unfortunately, there is no formal education to guide me in parenting; all I have is a handful of literature materials on the subject. I mostly rely on the experience I received from my parents. I usually do either what they did to me or do what I felt was supposed to be done based on my personal opinion

Reflection: As a parent, rather a mother of two children it has not been an easy task trying to bring them up in the most appropriate way. There is no parenting class offered in school and the guidance given in the hospital before birth mainly focuses on the birth process. No one gives a very comprehensive guideline on how to bring up children until they become responsible adults. Most people muddle along until they make it.

As a single parent, my main concern has been to try the much I can to understand my children’s behavior and give them the most appropriate guidance. Knowing that they will at one point become adolescents, I have made efforts to try and get any relevant form of training that will assist me in guiding them when the right time comes. Under the training, I learned the different reactions of my children to people as well as different events.

Generalization/Principles/Theories: Psychologists have made efforts to research and come up with recommendations on the best parenting tactics. Parents might therefore acquire the parenting skills by going for the appropriate training.

Since the death for my husband on April 2003, it has been very challenging to parent my children singlehandedly. My children lack a father figure and this has affected them in a way.

Psychologists have recommended the best way to ensure that your children are brought up to become responsible adults. It is quite common for children raised by single parents to be seriously affected and if not well-guided they might start indulging in unacceptable acts like substance abuse.

Testing and Application: I have sought help from psychologists under the family therapy program as well as the psychotherapy and this has had a great impact in helping me develop better parenting skills.

I can now understand my two children and avoid practices that are unhealthy. I have been able to adapt the best practices when it comes to matters like administering disciplinary measures to them as well as helping them avoid bad habits.

Some of the tactics I use include taking some of their privileges away, for instance, I do this through denying my son the chance to watch television, having fun at the play station, hanging out with his friends, going for skating as well as doing some spanking among other forms of instilling discipline.

For my daughter on the other hand, I do it by basically making sure that she does not get her privileges for instance, by taking away her cell phone as well as denying her the chance to watch television.

Parental Values and Attitudes

Description of Concrete Experience: I learnt that in the early stages of development, the child is in most cases preoccupied with acquisition of knowledge and values and this mainly comes from the environment from which the child brought up. This means my children behave according to the attitude that I as the parent portray towards them.

If I have a negative attitude towards my children, they tend to behave badly because of the notion that I do not show love to them. Name-calling is also a problem. When a parent constantly refers to a disobedient child as naughty, there are high chance that the children will grow perceiving themselves as naughty.

This is widely known as the self-fulfilling prophesies. In the same way, I have learnt to always have a positive perception toward my children. I believe that they are growing up with a better perception of themselves which is that they are good people expected to behave well.

Reflection: This tactic has worked for me. I always want my children to have a positive outlook toward life and have a high self-esteem.

I therefore for focus on their positive aspects and encourage them to develop positive traits instead of focusing on their shortfalls or how bad they are. I correct them by showing them the right values that I want them to acquire. I do my best to act as a role model to them hence showing them the right path to follow.

One cannot for instance expect the child to be hard working if he/she is not providing the best example for being hard working. Children basically acquire their values from the parents whether consciously or unconsciously. If the parent is a drunkard, the child is most likely to become one as that is the value that the child will have acquired.

Generalization/Principles/Theories: the Information Processing Theory of Cognitive Development explains that a child’s brain can be compared to the computer. This translates to mean that the brain accepts input and uses the same information to process the output.

The child will therefore perceive and understand issues according to the input acquired particularly from those parenting them. Whatever occurs in the physical or the social environment of the child greatly influences their expectations or understanding about life issues.

Their social, cultural, or even cultural environment greatly influences their development and this is basically acquired from the adults around them. As a mother, I have a very significant role in my children’s cognitive development because they depend on what I teach them or what they learn from my conduct to develop they behavior.

Testing and Application: my children usually prefer to emulate me and other adults as they develop their own personality. In some cases, my children may play the roles of parents in their games and this allows them take responsibility in a simulated setting making decisions and acting like responsible grown-ups.

This just shows the role that parenting plays in the cognitive development of a child. Children may for instance play games that mimic proper behavioral conduct or routine activities of those values instilled in them in the earlier years.

Children acquire logical reasoning at an early age; they are able to use deductive methods of reasoning to come up with conclusions. Such deductions are in most cases acquired from their environments. Children born in conservative families, cultures, or belief systems tend to be conservative. In most cases, they stick to the principles and beliefs installed in them and they are very reluctant to act or go against those beliefs.

Methods of Effective Guidance

Description of Concrete Experience: as a parent, I strive to give effective guidance to my children. I feel that am obliged to use techniques that will minimize conflict between me and them children. In this endeavor punishment and discipline are two different things.

My method of guidance is developmentally appropriate because I now understand what my children want and what I expect from them. I consider my children as very important members of my family. As such they need to be loved and I take up this duty to ensure better development. Just like any other child, I understand that children need my love and need to know they are loved. I give them unconditional love.

As a single parent, I try to see to it that the children feel my love as they have no one else to look to when it comes to parental love. Even while implementing the disciplinary measures, I make them understand that it is for their own good as I want them to become responsible people.

Reflection: As a parent of a teenage son, it is never easy to give the appropriate guidance whenever the child has made a mistake. Most adolescents become rowdy and they may be unwilling to cooperate in different ways.

Punishing my son sometimes draws him away and he distances himself and hence making it even more difficult for me to give the needed guidance. In such cases, disciplining the child might be of greater significance than administering punishment.

The best way of fostering discipline for me has been to ensure effective communication and openness with the child and talking to him/her about the issue at hand. The method is effective and it can work for children of different ages. In most cases, the results are usually positive. In fact, the child is able to contribute to the solution to his/her own problem.

Generalization/Principles/Theories: It is always good to understand the development stage a child is going through. It could be more harmful when I view my child as a failure or a letdown when it comes to the behavior. I understand that my children are still in the age bracket of learning behavior that can be termed as acceptable. As far as I see, the best guidance approach is preventive rather than curative.

This makes me to be sensitive about the feelings of my children and I respect their feelings and address bad behavioral aspects. I always seek establish the reason behind certain behaviors of my children must be established. As a parent, I have developed a relationship that is supportive with my children so as to foster the guidance.

Testing and Application: there are some standard guidance approaches that are very beneficial in ensuring that children attain better self control and respect for other people.

As a parent, I have acted as a role model to my children and my zeal to learn better parenting skills has also paid off well as I have managed to keep my children obedient. They always feel loved and accepted as they are and this has helped be foster their self-concept.

I have always given them options that I know I can be able to abide by myself. I also give realistic options and sensible repercussions for defiance. Considering that some behaviors come because of the environment in which people grow, I have adopted an approach that constantly changes the environment to avoid certain bad behaviors that may develop.

The Role of Discipline with Punishment

Description of Concrete Experience: Discipline helps children to adopt acceptable ways or habits and it entails teaching good behavior and rebuking bad behavior. Punishment on the other hand is reprimanding bad behavior with aim of preventing such behavior in future or deterrence of unacceptable conduct.

It’s often a parent’s way of reacting to anger. It is a hurtful act that helps to prevent the child from committing the mistake although this is short-lived. I know that punishment does not give any guidance to the children but could precipitate into unhealthy relationship between the parent and the child. Punishment is not the best option for in trying to correct my children.

My children need to learn appropriate behavior in a positive way and punishment is just a short-lived remedy to the problem of wrongdoing. Children who are punished may in the long run become very different people as compared to those disciplined.

Reflection: Discipline plays a very significant role in a child’s development. It is meaningful to a child as it enables him/her to rectify the mistake and points to the right thing to do. The child feels appreciated and he/she becomes part of the solution to the problem at hand.

Punishment on the other hand does not show the child what to do. The child is left to feel that he/she is bad. It might in fact have nothing to do with the mistake. It does not make sense to the child.

Generalization/Principles/Theories: In disciplining, I take the position of a role model hence a guide to my children by being a good example to them. In punishment, however, I am the judge over the misconduct and I pass the judgment to them by inflicting pain like grounding them, denying them television, taking away their computer games, telephone, and for my son sometimes spanking. After one is disciplined, the person feels motivated while punishment results in the demoralization of the subject.

Testing and Application: Punishment might be administered by inflicting pain to the offender or denying them something and this is usually effective because children attach so much value to things like TV and computer games.

However, the only problem is that it may leave a negative feeling that as a parent I do not love them 100%, it’s therefore a great challenge trying to let them know that I punish them because I love them.

In my case, for instance, I use both denying of privileges as well as spanking while trying to correct my children’s behavior and they change their behavior and even ask for forgiveness. Whenever the children fail to comply by the discipline I offer, then they become liable for some punishment.

I use both discipline and punishment to ensure that my children will grow to become responsible members of the society. My discipline approach encompasses training and imparting proper knowledge while punishment is mainly inflicting pain, emotional and physical.

Constructive and Destructive Elements in Parenting Styles

Description of Concrete Experience: Parenting can be both constructive as well as destructive. Those elements of parenting that are constructive should be encouraged while the destructive ones should be discouraged.

Some of the constructive ones might include; building a good rapport between the children and the parent, reinforcing the desired behavior, and letting the children understand the consequences of bad behavior. Punishment is just one of the destructive parenting elements. Here pain or agony is inflicted to the child so as to force them to stop a negative behavior. It might be in form of corporal punishment or verbal reprimand.

Reflection: Discipline coupled with guidance tends to be very beneficial when reinforcing good behavior and this is precisely much of what I use.

Many people know that parents must act as role models so as to instill the desired values into their children. Reprimands if not well used or targeted at a given character might just result in reinforcing the negative character as it gives the child the attention.

In some cases, the child might feel slandered and develop a negative attitude. This is the reason why I show a lot of affection to KA and ZA and make use positive reinforcements so as to encourage positive behavior rather than punitive measures. A good relationship makes my children feel more secure and therefore are always willing to comply with my parenting manipulation of their behavior.

Generalization/Principles/Theories: The Authoritarian Parenting style is based strict rules and being in charge. The parents using this strategy seek to take total control of all the aspects of their children’s lives. Parents hence institute stringent rules, they are inflexible, unbending, and strict. Such parent can be said to use ‘iron rod’ in ruling their children.

Defiance of the rules leads to punishment and the relationship between the parents and the children lacks warmth and affection. Children cannot develop ability to think well as parents do not explain reason behind the rules and they have problems of expressing themselves.

The permissive parenting style is the approach where parents are more loving and the parents do not strive to take control but allow their children to be in charge of their behavior. Parents do not usually institute a lot of rules and even the few that ate set are often lenient.

Parents require their children to develop critical thinking skills to know that bad behavior is harmful to self and others. Children are not often punished because parents fear that they may cause harm or the children would be offended and develop negative attitudes towards them. These parents are kind and loving but problem could escalate when children’s behavior becomes more rebellious requiring strong reprimand.

The democratic parenting styles employ a model that seems to be having permissive and authoritarian attributes. Democratic parents only enforce rules they deem very necessary and are also liberal in dealing with situations. These parents are loving and firm in their stance and are able to strike a good balance between high and low expectations.

This style allows parents and children to work together towards common goals and consequently, the children will grow to love their parents and revere their guidance. Children will grow to become more responsible and this is why I have adopted this parenting style.

Testing and Application: as a parent, I have been more consistent as this reduces resistance on the side of my children. My parenting style has developed a harmonious relationship between me as a parent and my two children.

Consequently, I often get positive results at the end. The parent needs to be flexible and be willing to listen and negotiate with the child especially if he/she is an adolescent. This reduces resistance and the child feels appreciated hence developing positive judgment. The parent needs to set behavior limits.

The parent must be ready to reward positive or desirable behavior and help the child in developing self-discipline. Eliminating negative behavior without reinforcing positive ones might not be that effective. The parent might also deny the child some privileges like taking the phone from the child, denying the child driving privileges, not allowing them to go out with their friends among other strategies.

Parenting and Influence of the Society

Description of Concrete Experience: The situation in which the society is in today has brought a lot of challenges to parenting. These challenges are increasingly becoming more prevalent because of the characteristics of the society as being sophistication. As long as parenting is in the realm of the society, its implications can hence be overlooked. Accordingly, the societal challenges of parenting greatly vary based on individual. Having the knowledge of these challenges have made me better prepared to seek for means or reacting adequately as to be a good parent.

Parenting effectively in the contemporary society is a very challenging task. Most people have drifted away from the ancient ways of parenting. Today’s children are exposed to all forms of media which tends to influence their moral perceptions. They are also prone to the peer pressure and drug abuse. It is therefore not an easy task to instill discipline or good morals to these children.

Reflection: Today’s parents are expected to work so as to care for their families. They therefore spend most of their time at the workplace and have very little time with the children. It seems as though most of the children today interact more with technology than with their parents.

Children therefore lack role models and they tend to emulate the celebrities. The children today mature faster and become sexually active at a very early age and they are likely to indulge in sexual activities even before their right time comes.

The influence of the society is the main challenge in that as a parent I have been forced to put into consideration the developing norms of the society like allowing my children access to internet and their privacy. Basically, I seek to ensure that as much as I try to uphold social and moral rules, I do not end up exposing my children to negative social influence. As such I encourage religious and moral uprightness.

Generalization/Principles/Theories: a major challenge that parents face is having difficult children. These are the type of children who seem to be very hard to control or offer guidance to. This can spark violence as parents seek to take drastic actions to correct their children. As a parent, I seek to do this job with love and temperament, and natural understanding.

In the contemporary world, teenage parenting is very taxing because the teenagers are ambitious and exposed to too much information because of the societal sophistication in information technology.

This involves a lot of maturity and I strive to warn my teenage son to be careful on what he watches, reads, and the friends he keep. I have made my children know that my role is to shape their future and not jeopardize their well-being.

Because of job demands, I have sometimes failed to attend to what my children do during the day when am not around but I am confident that they would not misbehave on such grounds. I work hard do all the things I deem necessary for my children and I strive to spend much time with them as possible.

Testing and Application: as a single parent, the contemporary society puts much pressure on an individual because naturally, a child needs to have a mother and a father. This is the most prevalent challenge in parenting today because the number of signal parents is increasing and is caused by various reasons.

Children brought up by signal parents are thought to be spoilt and irresponsible because of the imbalance of parenting during their upbringing. I understand the impact of teenage behaviors including peer influence, risk of early sexual behavior, and risk of drug abuse.

As a parent, I learn to stay with my children to help unlearn whatever bad habits they picked from friends or other bad influencers. I use the knowledge of the contemporary challenges to help me find the best ways of responding properly to these challenges.

The media has a detrimental impact on adolescents. However, not all media content has detrimental effects on adolescents as some have positive effects on the psychosocial development of adolescents. Nonetheless, there has been a growing concern about the impact of media content exposure on adolescents.

This is because a lot of sexually explicit content, violence, and drug- related information are available on the electronic media, new media, and traditional media. The growing concern on the impact of media on adolescent focuses on behaviours, beliefs and sexual attitudes of adolescents (Gruber & Grube, 2000). Adolescence is a stage of growth and development when a young person is willing to try new things for fun and discover his/her inner self.

Media in this case entails different media channels such as the internet, video games, music, radio, television, movies, and films. Since media has a negative impact on adolescents, both teachers and parents have a role to play in addressing the resultant issues of media exposure on adolescents.

There are more negative effects of media exposure on adolescents than positive ones. An increasingly higher number of adolescents are exposed to sexually explicit media content full of violence, crime, and drug use. Such an exposure makes adolescents more vulnerable compared with other groups. It is also during this stage that sexual behaviours, attitudes and gender are shaped (Gruber & Grube, 2000).

In addition, adolescence is also the stage whereby adolescents develop their cognitive skills with a focus mainly on testing and experimenting. Exposure to violent media content has the capacity to increase the aggressive behaviour of adolescents towards fellow students (Ford-Jones & Nieman, 2003). Moreover, exposure to sexual media content makes children view sex as a risk -free normal activity.

As a result, adolescents are exposed to the risks of early pregnancy, premature sex, and sexually transmitted diseases. Video games with violent actions have the risk of affecting mental development of adolescents. Other notable impacts of media include cigarette smoking and taking alcohol. All these negative effects of media on adolescents include declined academic performance.

Schools and parents play an integral role in addressing the above mentioned issues of media exposure on adolescents. As noted by Ford-Jones and Nieman (2003), previous studies show that schools with programs that promote and encourage media awareness have proven to be beneficial.

Teachers help to create awareness of the effects of exposure to media content on adolescents’ social attitudes, behaviours, lifestyles, school performance and beliefs (Ford-Jones & Nieman, 2003). Concerned adults and parents have a role to play in ensuring that the lives of adolescents are not affected negatively. For instance, they supervise, communicate, and guide adolescents on media choices.

Parents also control the time adolescents spend watching television and on the internet (Gruber & Grube, 2000). Parental control on TV programs, movies to watch and video games to play can also reduce the effects of media exposure. Some parents control and monitor media content and programs that a child is exposed to (Ford-Jones & Nieman, 2003).

Media exposure has detrimental effects on adolescents’ development, behaviours, beliefs, attitudes, and beliefs. In also leads to poor performance in school, smoking, alcoholism, early unplanned pregnancies, risk to STDs, and violence among the adolescents. Parents can play important role by communicating with their children, controlling and monitoring content watched and guiding and supervising media content watched. Schools create enlighten adolescents on the effects of media through special awareness programs.

Reference List

Ford-Jones, A., & Nieman, P. (2003). Impact of media use on children and youth. Pediatrics Child Health, 8(5), 301–306.

Gruber, E., & Grube, J. W. (2000). Adolescent sexuality and the media. Western Journal of Medicine, 2000 172(3), 210–214.

Problem Statement

From the information gathered from literature review, it is evident that many studies have been conducted on individuals who live in reservations. Some of these studies have laid particular interest on women.

However, it is crucial to state here that the studies have been limited to studying a specific character trait within the Native American Indian women on reservations. Browker (1992) studied the rate of school dropout among females who live in the Reservations.

He found that the rate of dropout among women from the reservations was high compared to other women in the U. S (Browker, 1992). This phenomenon was attributed to the difference in priority that women reservation and other women within the U.S have.

Consequently, Light and Marrin (1985) conducted a study that focused on the upbringing of children in reservations. This study does not specifically concentrate on the guidance of women but gives an overview of how children are brought up in the reservations.

From the studies that have been covered in this paper, it is evident that minimal research that specifically focuses on the women who want to raise their children outside the reservations been conducted.

It is, however, important to note that women from reservations face very many challenges and limiting the focus to just one aspect will lock out other probably more influential issues.

Therefore, it would be important to get the information on how raising a child on and off reservations is different for women who grew up on reservations (Hodge, 2009; Rizos and Krizova, 2007).

Moreover, previous studies have concentrated on the generalization of the people from the Reservations.

This study will open the window for women from reservations and specifically Native American Indians to give the experiences they have gone through both on and off the reservation (Swischer & Hoisch, 1992; Pallacios and Kennedy, 2010).

Purpose and Significance

Culture is different and the way a given group of people carries out their day to day lives is different from the way other groups do. In this respect, this study will gather the information of the exact experiences that woman from reservations face.

On the same note, the study will try to bring determine the attitudes and perceptions that women have with regards to raising their children on and off the reservations.

Since the effects of these experiences for Native American Indians cannot be generalized for all Native Americans, this paper will bring out the specific experiences that are unique to Native American Indian women and how these experiences affect the process of upbringing children.

Getting the facts about how previous experiences of growing up on reservations affect the social life of Native American Indian women is crucial for various reasons.

To begin with, the information collected from this study will provide crucial information to researches, legislators, politicians, and the public with regards to the challenges faced by Native American Indian women on reservations so that actions will be taken.

Consequently, this study will come up with crucial information for policy development and decision making that will assist the organizations that are concerned with improving the living standards of Native American Indians on reservations.

Furthermore, the information collected will help in improving the process of native American Indians especially women when they want to integrate into the society off reservations.

Problem Background

Many researchers have carried out studies regarding the lives of American Indians on reservations. Some researchers have examined the idea of growing up an Indian in the midst of American civilization (White, 1995; Ross, 2005).

Silko (1996) concluded that one cannot be able to lead a life that is controlled by two cultures. Consequently, Native American Indians out of the reservations will have to lead their lives following the culture of where they live and just hope to be back to the reservations one day.

These studies therefore imply that even if one was raised up in the reservations, getting out of the reservations means leaving the culture behind and adapting the culture of their place of migration.

Studies have also been carried out regarding the issue of taking American Indian children away from their homes and taking them to foster families. This is meant to ensure that as many people as possible are taken out of the hardships of the reservations.

On the same note, some studies have been carried out concerning the difficult economic conditions that prevail in most of the reservations (Hoffmann et al., 2006; Kuntz et al., 2009; Fox et al., 2005).

These studies have highlighted the various challenges that people on reservations face in their day to day activities. These challenges include homelessness where many families have to live in houses that are too small to accommodate a family that have children.

Similarly, the quality of the houses that these families live in is very poor despite the fact that most of the people own their homes (Lankford & Riley, 1986). Moreover, reservations lack basic infrastructure like running water, good roads, and telecommunication.

It is also worth noting that previous studies have shown that unemployment rates on reservations are very high. All these make life on the reservations difficult as compared to life in places.

It is perhaps due to this fact that some women believe that it is much better to raise their children out of the reservations where they can have easy access to basic amenities as well as opportunity for themselves and their children.

Theoretical Framework

This study will employ the historical trauma theory that has been applauded for its breadth. This theory focuses on how trauma from one individual can be transferred to another across different generations (Muller, 1998; Osburn, 2009).

Based on this theory, this paper will expound on the social, political, and economic effects of the trauma that Native Indian Americans faced as a result of segregation and discrimination from the colonial era to the present moment.

More specifically, this theory will be used to explain the difficulties that women face in reservations several decades after their land and rights were taken away by the colonial masters and hence their need to raise their children outside reservations to change their ways of life (from a social, political, and economic perspective).

Secondly, the study will employ the constructivism theory. This theory has been chosen because it is based on the fact that people will always use what they know from past experience to construct new ideas.

This theory argues that people do not just learn through reading of books but through experiences that they face in their day to day activities.

According to the theory, people’s past experiences are very crucial in determining how people will conduct themselves and consequently how they will raise their children.

It is important to note that the study is about the past experiences of Native American Indian women who were raised up on reservations and how that affects the childrearing process

Research Questions

This study will aim at answering the following questions:

1. What it means for a woman to grow up on the reservation
2. What experiences do women who grew up on reservations have when they also raise their children on reservations?
3. What challenges do women who grew up on reservations face when they try to raise their children off the reservations?
4. The difference of growing up on reservations and growing up off the reservations.

Nature of the Study

The study will be a qualitative examination of Native American Indian women on and off the reservations. The information will be collected by way of asking the women to narrate their experiences of how they were brought up.

As a result, I will travel to the reservations to get first hand information on how these women are bringing up their children on reservations as well as get to know what challenges they face.

On the same note, the study will follow up on Native American Indian women who were brought up on reservations and are now living off the reservations. I will also try to get the experiences of these women regarding the child rearing process off the reservations.

Due to scarcity of data on previous studies concerning this area, the study will generate its own data and information from the interactions with people. This will be achieved by conducting interviews on off reservation women.

Possible Sources and Types of Data

The study will mainly conduct a survey on women who were brought up on the reservations to get their experiences. Additionally, the study will seek to get the experiences of these women as they raise their children on or off the reservations.

In this regard, the study will involve traveling to the reservations and interviewing the Native American Indian women to get first hand information from these women.

Besides listening to the experiences of these women, the study may also issue questionnaires to women who will be able to write and get their side of the story.

References

Browker, A. (1992). The American Indian female dropout. Journal of American Indian Education, 31(3), n.p. Web.

Fox, K., Becker-Green, J., Gault, J., & Simmons, D. (2005). Native American youth in transition: The path from adolescence to adulthood in two Native American communities. Portland, OR: National Indian Child Welfare Association.

Hodge, F. S. (2009). Breast cancer–screening behavior among rural California American Indian women. American Indian culture and Research Journal, 33(3), 35–42.

Hoffmann, L. L., Jackson, A. P. & Smith, S. A. (2005). Career Barriers Among native American Students Living On Reservations. Journal of Career Development, 32(1), 31-45.

Kuntz, S. W., Hill, W. G., Linkenbach, J. W, Lande, G. & Larsson, L. (2009). Methylmercury risk and awareness among American Indian women of childbearing age living on an inland northwest reservation. Environmental Research, 109(6), 753–759.

Lankford, R. & Riley, J. D. (1986). Native American reading disability. Journal of American Indian Education, 25(3), n.p. Web.

Light, H. K. & Marrin, R. E. (1985). Guidance of American Indian children: Their heritage and some contemporary reviews. Journal of American Indian Education, 25(1), n.p. Web.

Muller, H. J. (1998). American Indian Women Managers: Living in Two Worlds. Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(1), 4-28.

Osburn, K. M. (2009). Southern ute Women: Autonomy and Assimilation on the Reservation, 1887-1934. Lincoln: U of Nebraska Press.

Pallacios, J. & Kennedy, H. P. (2010). Reflections of Native American teen mothers. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 39, 425–434.

Rizos, M. & Krizova, V. (2007). The Montana Experience: On and Off the Reservation. Common Ground. Web.

Ross, L. (2005). Native women, mean-spirited drugs, and punishing policies. Social Justice, 32(3), 54–62.

Silko, L.M. (1996). Yellow woman and a beauty of the spirit: Essays on Native American life today. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Swischer, K. & Hoisch, M. (1992). Dropping out among American Indians and Alaska Natives: A review of studies. Journal of American Indian Education, 31(2), n.p. Web.

White, P. M. (1995). American Indian Studies: A Bibliographical guide. Tucson : Libraries Limited.

It has been said that eventually all children will have to deal with the inevitable responsibility of having to take care of their parents in their old age (Wicclair, 1990). In regard to this, Wicclair (1990) states that “while there are no codified laws specifically stating this, it is categorized more along the lines of an ethical and moral responsibility that all children have to adhere to” (Wicclair, 1990).

What must be understood is that taking care of the elderly brings with it specific challenges in financial, health and service planning that need to be undertaken in order to successfully undertake the task of caring for aging adults.

Davis (1993) in his article, “Caring for the Elderly”, brings up 4 specific points that he states need to be addressed when taking care of the elderly, namely: the financial status of the parents that need to be cared for, whether they have enough money to sustain themselves well into old age, what specific health requirements do they need in light of their deteriorating physical status and whether they require special services at home or in an institution due to their enfeebled physical condition (Davis, 1993).

It is due to factors such as these that the importance of proper care planning for when the inevitable does occur becomes particularly significant and as such becomes a requirement for any conceivable measure of caring for one’s aging parents. As such this paper will explore the various factors that need to be taken into consideration for proper care planning and what the individual requirements of each factor will be.

Finances

What must first be taken into account when creating any plan for caring for elderly parents is the inherent state of their finances. The extent for any plan for assisted care is limited by the state of its finances since daily living expenses, the price of medication, utilities and other such costs must come from somewhere.

While most individuals do have retirement packages built up over several years the fact remains that such packages are at times limited. Due to this an examination must be conducted to see whether the amount of income coming from social security, investments and other forms of alternative income are sufficient to meet the needs of parents well into their 80’s and beyond.

The fact is most individuals are living much longer lives as they did 50 or 60 years ago, unfortunately the current state of social security has not improved significantly since that time resulting in some individuals living well beyond what social security can provide based on the amount of money put into the system.

Glynn (1996) states that “while there are alternative forms of income such as various forms of retirement packages the fact remains that factors related to inflation, economic recession and currency devaluation results in such packages becoming worth less and less as various necessities become more expensive” (Glynn, 1996).

As such these forms of income should not be considered a reliable form of income until it has been determined that they will last well beyond the expected life time of a person’s elderly parents. If such finances have been determined as being insufficient alternative means of financing cared assistance will need to be obtained till such a time that both parents are already deceased (Glynn, 1996).

Health Requirements

When creating any plan related to long term care what must also be taken into consideration are possible health requirements as needed by a person’s elderly parents. Various individuals when they grow older develop various forms of disabilities and bodily deteriorations that entail certain medical requirements or observation in order to ensure that they don’t get worse.

Jonasson et al. (2010) in his examination of the ethical considerations of caring for the elderly states that “in order to properly care for one’s parents this entails either having your parent’s move in with you in order to keep a closer eye on them or ensure that they receive proper medical treatment through the use of a retirement or medical care facility that specializes in caring for the elderly” (Jonasson et. al, 2010).

What must be understood is that in certain cases involving highly sensitive individuals it becomes an almost daily necessity to ensure that they are doing well or rush them immediately to a proper care facility when complications occur (Churchill, 2008).

Since most individuals are busy with their own careers, personal lives and families it is often the case that proper medical care facilities or medical health requirements become necessary in any plan involving long term care health and support (Jonasson et. al, 2010).

Services

In his examination of long term care for the elderly Nay (1998) points out that assisted living services in the form of care givers is actually a growing industry within the U.S. and is actually well established in countries such as Japan and Europe due to their current aging populations (Nay, 1998). Such services present an alternative to individuals who are either too busy or unwilling to directly care for their aging parents.

When creating any plan for future care and support what must be taken into consideration is up to what point are a person’s parents able to take care themselves until it comes to a point where they are in effective unable to proper do daily tasks due to physical deterioration (Nay, 1998).

In such cases either a nursing home or a daily caregiver services should be incorporated into any future plans if a person is either unwilling or incapable of assisting their elderly parents on a daily basis.

Conclusion

Based on what has been presented it can be seen that any plan for caring for elderly parents must take into account aspects of financial planning, health requirements and potential services to be utilized in order to be created effectively.

Furthermore, as it can be seen any subsequent form of care is inherently dependent upon the amount of finances available and as such in order to create a truly effective long term care plan from financial backing must be firmly established and created in order to ensure healthcare and various services continue to be given until the point of death.

Reference List

Churchill, N. (2008). Who needs care the most?. New Statesman, 137(4883), 30. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Davis, B. (1993). Caring for the frail elderly: An international perspective. Generations, 17(4), 51. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Glynn, K. P. (1996). Can we still earn a living caring for sick people?. Physician Executive, 22(8), 16. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Jonasson, L., Liss, P., Westerlind, B., & Berterö, C. (2010). Ethical values in caring encounters on a geriatric ward from the next of kin’s perspective: An interview study. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 16(1), 20-26.

Nay, R. (1998). Contradictions between perceptions and practices of caring in long-term care of elderly people. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 7(5), 401-408. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Wicclair, M. R. (1990). Caring for Frail Elderly Parents: Past Parental Sacrifices and the Obligations of Adult Children. Social Theory & Practice, 16(2), 163-189. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Culture and traditions play a key role in creating approaches to parenting and determining children’s response to criticism and motivation. Extrinsic motivation plays a smaller role compared to intrinsic motivation in self-actualization. The article “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” highlights the fact that parents who have high expectations and criticize poor performance by their children promote the idea that failure is unacceptable.

The parenting approach by Chinese mothers forces children out of their comfort zone and pressurizes them to achieve levels of greatness beyond their imagination (Chua par. 4). Chinese children learn from a tender age that with proper effort and dedication, they can achieve outstanding results. High levels of competence and self-esteem are solely the products of the cultivation of the idea that an individual’s abilities are infinite.

The perception that Chinese mothers set unreasonable targets for their children arises because the Western culture promotes the belief that every person has a talent or ability that he or she should pursue to the highest level of excellence. Western parents will encourage their children to discard tasks or activities that the children are unable to tackle satisfactorily in favor of tasks that the children can accomplish with great excellence.

Compromise on expectations promotes the idea that every child has a threshold regarding the extent of his or her ability to tackle tasks. The parenting approach by a large number of Western parents influences children to embrace the notion that their abilities have limits and promotes the development of characters who quit on every difficult task. Intrinsic motivation emerges from within the self after surmounting challenges to attain set goals.

Extrinsic motivation often leads to dismal performance by children because parents tend to give praise on easily attainable tasks. Frequent praise on achievements interferes with a child’s consciousness regarding self-actualization, which is detrimental to the child’s perception of personal abilities. The idea of unacceptable levels of strictness in parenting thrives on the claim that children have varying levels of psychological strength and resilience, which influences their ability to cope with challenging tasks.

While some children are highly resilient and can withstand long hours of practice and test on difficult tasks, others easily reach their breaking point and enter into a state of depression and self-pity. The protective nature of parents influences the extent to which parents push their children to perform difficult tasks because they do not want to feel guilty for being coercive and cruel to their children (Waldman par. 7)

The threshold of psychological breakdown is relative, and changes as individuals adapt to strenuous environments. The fact that a high number of authoritative parents raise confident, competent and successful children in comparison to permissive and uninvolved parents highlights that the human mind adjusts appropriately in response to changing environmental stimuli (Levine par. 3). Permissive parenting allows room for failure without any meaningful consequences and influences the attitude that children can underperform.

Chinese mothers acknowledge the importance of authoritative approaches to parenting, considering that they actively participate in helping their children to achieve greatness. Although the Chinese parenting style appears unreasonable to Western parents, it helps educate strong-minded individuals who will prefer to reattempt challenging tasks until they succeed. While flexibility on set targets creates room for innovation and creativity, it encourages most individuals to aim for low targets due to the perception of self-inadequacy.

Works Cited

Chua, Amy. “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior.” The Wall Street Journal. 2011. Web.

Levine, Madeline. “Raising Successful Children.” The New York Times. 2012. Web.

Waldman, Ayelet. “In Defense of the Guilty, Ambivalent, Preoccupied Western Mom.” The Wall Street Journal, 2011. Web.

This paper is aimed at discussing the essay On Snow Days Help Parents Work From Home, Too written by Emma Johnson (2014). Overall, this text throws light on the challenges faced by working families. In particular, the author examines the difficulties encountered by parents at the time when schools are closed due to snowfalls. Emma Johnson Believes that it is necessary to grant parents the right to work at home.

Much attention should be paid to the way in which the author uses ethos, logos, and pathos in order to convince the audience. On can say that these classical principles of argumentation enable Emma Johnson to influence the opinions of the readers and evoke compassion for people whose problems the writer depicts. These are the main questions that should be analyzed in greater detail.

At first, it is important to examine the use of ethos or the appeal to the credibility of the speaker. In particular, Emma Johnson lays stress on the fact that she is also a parent and that she understands the difficulties that working families need to overcome (Johnson, 2014). At the very beginning, she says, “Like other working parents, I’m fixated on the radio each morning because of the recent winter weather.” In this way, the writer suggests that she has the necessary knowledge and expertise to speak about these issues.

Thus, one can say that she has the authority to represent a specific group of people, namely working parents. This is one of the main aspects that can be distinguished. Secondly, pathos or the appeal to emotions also play an important part in this essay. In particular, Emma Johnson describes the desperate efforts of parents to find a babysitter at the time when there is an emergency. In many cases, these people feel virtually helpless. By using this strategy, the author prompts the audience to feel compassion for these people.

It should be noted that the possible readers of this essay may be familiar with the issues described by Emma Johnson, and her appeals can affect their views. The only limitation is that the writer does not make full use of logos in order to support her arguments. The writer does not speak about any empirical data that can throw light on the problems of working parents. Emma Johnson might have omitted these details because she thought that the readers had been fully aware of these problems.

However, it is possible to raise an objection to the author’s argument. For example, one can argue that the journalist does not consider the interests of employers. One should keep in mind that the work of many businesses can be interrupted provided that many employees decide to stay at home. Thus, the author does not fully reconcile the logical inconsistency of her arguments.

Much attention should also be paid to the relation of this argument to authority. As it has been said before, the writer attempts to demonstrate that she is knowledgeable enough to discuss the plight of working parents. To a great extent, this strategy represents the appeal to the authority of the speaker. Such an approach is often used by writers who want to demonstrate that they do have an informed opinion about a specific question.

Apart from that, one should mention the use of ethos, pathos, and logos is necessary for influencing the opinions of people who have the authority to help working parents. One should speak primarily abut legislators and entrepreneurs. This is another detail that should be taken into account by the readers of this text.

Additionally, one can argue that ethos, logos, and pathos supplement one another. For example, in the beginning, the writer attempts to secure the trust of the readers by stating that she is also a working parent. Nevertheless, this trust helps the author to influence readers’ emotions. These strategies are often combined in order to produce a stronger effect on the readers (Lamm, 2007).

Furthermore, the appeal to reason is also useful for gaining the trust of readers who are more likely to accept the ideas of others if they can see some empirical evidence. In many cases, such an approach can increase the credibility of a speaker. Therefore, ethos and pathos are closely related to one another. Nevertheless, the connection is not fully evident in Emma Johnson’s essay since she does not strongly rely on logos.

On the whole, these examples suggest that the classical principles are widely applied by modern writers and journalists. They are supposed to make the arguments of a speaker much more convincing. In particular, they are useful for showing that a person has the expertise and authority to speak about a certain problem or even represent a group of people.

Furthermore, ethos, logos, and pathos are closely intertwined with one another, and a writer needs to combine these elements. Emma Johnson’s essay illustrates the effective use of ethos and pathos. Nevertheless, the writer does not focus much on logos, even though it is also vital for the credibility of the argument.

Reference List

Johnson, E. (2014). On Snow Days Help Parents Work From Home, Too. Web.

Lamm, R. (2007). Dynamic Argument. New York, NY: Wadsworth Incorporated.

Introduction

Statement of the Problem

In the recent decades, the number of young Canadians living at parental home has risen dramatically. A disturbing statistics provided by governmental services proves that in the current decade a much higher number of individuals in their twenties live with their parents; the percentage is also more than 1.5 times higher than in was twenty years ago.

Apart from the bare statistical data, it is necessary to study the reasons, for which young Canadians prefer (or have to) live with their parents. The search of the possible reasons should cover the problems that young people usually face: employment, receiving education, housing prices, etc.

Terms

Before starting the research work, it is necessary to give clear definitions to the primary terms that will be used in this research.

By “young Canadians,” this research understands young adults, i.e. Canadian citizens aged from 18 to 31. This research does not take into consideration any differences inside of the study group, such as gender, sexuality, race, etc., concentrating mainly on general tendencies among the chosen age group. As for income-based criteria, the research is concentrated on the Canadian middle class. So, the terms “young Canadians” and “young adults” are used in the same meaning.

By “Millennials,” the research means the generation of people born in the period from the beginning of the 1980-s to the early 2000-s.

When referring to a young adult, who is “living at home with their parents,” “living at parental home,” “stays with parents,” the research means that the mentioned adult is a child or a stepchild of the owner of the house, no matter is it a mother of a father. The research does not make a difference between young adults, who have a single parent, and those, who have two parents.

In case if a married couple is living with the parents of one spouse, only this spouse is said to be living with parents, while the other one is not. By “separated from their parents,” “living separately from parents,” the research means Canadian citizens, who live in their own home, a rented house, or a house that belongs to people, who are not their parents.

By “married couple,” the research understands either an opposite-sex or a same-sex couple of Canadian citizens, who have registered their marriage.

Methodology

In this research, the living arrangements of Canadian young adults are considered a dependent variable, while social and economic factors are an independent variable. To study the relations between the variables, the author studied statistical data related to the living arrangements, unemployment rates, employment conditions, college enrollment and graduation, and family status of the young Canadian citizens.

To examine the nature of the relationship between the variables, the author of the research used deductive approach, elaborating a hypothesis, which was based on an already existing theory. The statistical data was compared to the conclusions of the existing theory in order to confirm or reject this theory. As a source of statistical data, the author used the information provided by Statistics Canada, a governmental agency that is responsible for collecting statistical data related to the activities and conditions of the population of Canada and publishing this data.

Antithesis

It is often considered that contemporary young Canadians are much less hard-working, committed, and successful people that their parents were in their young years. They less often own houses, cannot pay for their college education, and are financially dependent on their parents, for which reasons they continue living with parents, no longer being kids. These facts allow to call them a lazy, Internet-addicted generation.

Thesis

However, facts speak in contradiction to the above-mentioned statement. Statistics proves that the reason why young Canadians have financial difficulties, which make them live longer with their parents, are the following. First, they have more problems with unemployment and unsatisfactory employment conditions than their parents had. Second, college education covers more young people, takes longer and is more expensive nowadays. Third, marriage is at a decline. Fourth, household expenses and prices are much higher compared to the average income.

Problems with employment

Today, the rate of unemployment is high among young Canadians. Additionally, they are affected by the decrease of wage more than elder Canadians. The other employment conditions, including pension, labor union membership, unpaid overworking, job permanency are much worse for young people today than they were three decades ago.

College Enrollment and Tuition

In today’s Canada, there are more young students than in previous decades, and they earn postsecondary diplomas more often. Because of that, young Canadians have less time for work. Additionally, the cost of college tuition has increased, which either makes students unable to pay without help or makes them take loans. It leads to financial instability and dependence on parental help.

Marriage Decline

The crisis of marriage is evidenced by statistics: today, a lower number of young Canadians live in a couple that in previous times. It entails the lower ability to afford a house. According to statistical data, unmarried Canadians are more likely to live with their parents.

Housing Expenses

Young Canadians have to devote a much higher part of their income to household expenses that their parents did at their age. They are also less likely to buy a house due to the rise of prices. It makes it preferable to continue living with parents.

Literature Review

For conducting the present research, the following literature was used.

“Why Canadian Homes Are More Unaffordable Than Ever” by Rob Carrick, a specialist in personal finance, where he explains the trends in housing prices and their relation to the changes in income. Carrick states that for contemporary young Canadians, buying a house is much more difficult than it was for young people in previous decades.

Bill Curry, a parliamentary reporter, examines the tendencies in the contemporary Canadian family and compares them to the previous times in his article “Canadian Families Shrinking, Married Couples in Decline: Census,” using the materials of the 2011 census.

“What Has Changed for Young People in Canada,” an article published by Statistics Canada (StatCan), is written by Diane Galarneau, a senior analyst, Jeannine Usalcas, an analyst of the Labor Statistics Division, and Rene Morisette, Assistant Director of the Social Analysis Division of StatCan. he authors study the tendencies in employment and education of young people in Canada, using the materials of Labor Force Survey, National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Demosim projections, and census.

“Living Arrangements Of Young Adults Aged 20 to 29 – Census” is prepared by StatCan and presents the figures related to the living arrangements (living with or separately from parents) of Canadians from 20 to 29.

“Study: Changing Labour Market Conditions for Young Canadians” and “Study: Wages, Youth Employment and School Enrollment, 2001 to 2008,” two studies, conducted by StatCan, explores current trends in employment conditions for young Canadians and compare the data to the situation over the past few decades, using the materials of Labor Force Survey, Survey of Work History, Survey of Union Membership, Census of Population, National Household Survey, Survey of Labor and Income Dynamics, and Labor Market Activity Survey.

Significance of the Study

Studying the living arrangement of the young Canadians is significant for the future planning of the governmental property. To know how to arrange transport system, where to build new schools and kindergartens, what areas will need more housing, it is important for the federal, provincial, and municipal governments to know where young Canadians are living or planning to live. To work out tendencies, make predictions, and know how to change these figures, it is highly necessary to state the reasons, for which young Canadians are living with their parents for a longer period of time that they did in the previous decades.

Body

Background of the Study

Nowadays, a rising share of young Canadians is living at their parent’s home. According to the 2011 Census of Population, 42.3% of young adults were living with their parents, compared to 32.1% in 1991 and 26.9% in 1981. The rise of the number of young adults living with their parents affected both people in their early and late twenties, which is a disturbing statistics. Among Canadians aged from 20 to 24, around 60% resided with parents, which is significantly higher than in 1981 (41.5%). One in four Canadians aged 25 to 29 lived at parental home in 2011, while in 1981 the share was 11.3%¹.

Presentation and Analysis of Data

After studying the statistical and analytical data, it became clear that the primary reasons for the fact that young Canadians are living longer with their parents are the following. First, today young Canadians are much more likely to be unemployed or partially employed and are in worse employment conditions than their parents are now or in their young years; they also earn less.

Second, a higher number of young people are studying, and their studies take longer than those of their parents. It entails such problems as tuition expenses, student debt and the lack of time for working. Third, marriage has been in a decline lately; fewer young Canadians choose to live in a couple. Finally, household expenses have become much higher over the last decade.

Young Canadians have much lower opportunity to acquire a house than their parents had at the same age. For the mentioned reasons, young Canadians prefer living with their parents, as well as they become boomerang kids; the term applies to the young people that separated from their parents but had to return due to financial instability.

Growing Unemployment and Wage Decrease

The increase of the level of unemployment among young Canadians is one of the primary reasons for their living with parents.

In the period from 1981 to 2012, the number of employed people under 25 dropped, with the exclusion of the oil-producing provinces of Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Alberta. Full-time employment figures went down significantly in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 2000s, the situation slightly improved, but in was not enough to make up for the previous decline².

The rate of the employment of young adults is constantly decreasing. In 2008-2009, the level of unemployment of Canadians from 15 to 24 years old went from 11.6% to 15.2%. Among 25 to 34-year-old individuals, the figures were 5.6% and 7.9%, respectively. A slight downturn to 7.9% in 2012 did not bring much improvement. Generally, the elder generation (parents) has higher employment rates³. The other reason for young Canadians to stay with their parents is the decline in wage. The decrease started in the 1980s and affected mostly young workers. In 2012, a young worker had a lower real wage than in 1981⁴.

Apart from that, the other conditions of employment, such as labor union membership, pension coverage, involuntary part-time work and job permanency are also worse for the contemporary young Canadians than they were in the 1980-s⁵.

These problems create a situation when young Canadians become less financially stable than their parents, which makes them seek parents’ help, including the living arrangement.

Increasing College Enrollment

Another factor making young Canadians prefer living with their parents is the growing college enrollment.

An upward trend in college enrollment is obvious. While in 1990 84% of females and 79% of males received a high school diploma, in 2012 the percentages were 93% of females and 89% of males. As for postsecondary education, 68% of young Canadians received such a diploma in 2012, compared to 43% in 1981. Additionally, there were more full-time students in 2012 than in 1981: the figures are 58% and 39%, respectively⁶.

These figures mean that nowadays there are more young students than before, and they study for a longer time, which has the following consequences. First, studying at college has a dramatic effect on the financial stability of young people due to the cost of education. Second, students are more likely to be unemployed or partially employed since they have to devote primary attention to their studies. A lot of young people with high education start their career at around 31 years old, compared to 25 years old in 1976⁷. Moreover, student debt is another reason for young Canadians to live with their parents because of financial instability.

Crisis of Marriage

To add one more reason for young Canadians to stay at their parents’, marriage is being through a crisis nowadays. In 2011, Census recognized a decades-long decline in Canadian marriage. A 2011 Census report on population recorded that the share of married couples had decreased over time. The amount of young Millennials staying in married couples has fallen, while the number of those living with their parents has risen. In 2012, only a quarter of young people were married, compared to 30% in 2007. According to Statistics Canada, only 3 in 10 Canadians in their twenties were living in a couple, compared to a half of young adult population in 1981. The decline affected both late and early twenties groups⁸.

Today, unmarried young Canadians are more likely to live with their parents than their married counterparts: the figures are 47% and 3%, respectively. Being unmarried makes young Canadians less able to afford to live separately from their parents.

House Prices and Rent

One more financial reason for young Canadians to live longer with their parents is the rise of housing prices and rents. In 1997, houses were far more affordable: an average house price was around 4.9 times an annual income for a fully employed Canadian. In 2013, the number is 7.8 pretax annual income.

Moreover, incomes and housing prices change at a different rate: while incomes have been growing by 2.6% annually for the past 17 years, house prices have risen in more than two times for the same time period, which happened because of the global financial crisis. The prices are expected to grow even more due to inflation.

Mortgage is also a problem. As Rob Carrick explains, for a person to be qualified for a mortgage, the total of their mortgage with the added heating expenses and property tax must not exceed 32% of their gross household income.

To calculate, if property taxes would be $4,000 and heating would be $1,800, and we increase them by 2.5% each year during the following ten years, the outcome will be that to have an average house in Canada, a person must spend $124,775 while nowadays it is $89,713⁹. Therefore, houses are going to be even less affordable than they are now.

It means that for modern young Canadians, having a separate house or renting one is less affordable than it was for their parents when they were young, and the situation is expected to become even worse.

Conclusion

The purpose of the report was to study the reasons, for which young people in Canada tend to live longer with their parents.

In the course of the research, the author gave definitions to the following terms: young Canadians, young adults, Millennials, living at home with their parents (living at parental home, stays with parents), separated from parents (living separately from parents), and a married couple.

The author of the research adopted the living arrangements of young Canadians as a dependent variable and social and economic factors as an independent variable. The analysis of statistical data was performed to understand the relations between the variables and to check the accuracy of the existing theory.

According to the popular belief, young Canadians are less successful and hard-working that the elder generation since they often cannot separate from their parents. The findings of the research refute this statements. A thorough study of the statistical data supports the notion that young Canadians are in worse conditions than their parents were at their age. The reasons, for which they stay longer with their parents, can be divided into three groups: employment problems, college enrollment and tuition, marriage decline, and household expenses.

Modern young Canadians are more likely to face unemployment and partial employment than elder people; they are also more affected by wage decrease. More young people study in college nowadays, their studies take longer than in previous decades, and the tuition is much higher. Marriage is currently at a crisis in Canada. Unmarried Canadians often have to live with their parents since it is harder to afford a separate home for a single person. Finally, household expenses are much bigger nowadays than they were a couple of decades ago.

For this research, the governmental statistical data was used. The significance of the study is obvious since the government needs to plan the future development of infrastructure relying on the information about the living arrangement of the population.

Bibliography

Carrick, Rob. “Why Canadian Homes Are More Unaffordable Than Ever,” The Globe and Mail (Ottawa, Canada). Web.

Curry , Bill. “Canadian Families Shrinking, Married Couples in Decline: Census,” The Globe and Mail (Ottawa, Canada). Web.

Galarneau, Diane, Rene Morisette and Jeaninne Usalcas. “What Has Changed for Young People in Canada?” StatCan (Ottawa, Canada). Web.

“Living Arrangements Of Young Adults Aged 20 to 29 – Census,” StatCan (Ottawa, Canada), Web.

“Study: Changing Labour Market Conditions for Young Canadians,” The Daily (Ottawa, Canada). Web.

“Study: Wages, Youth Employment and School Enrollment, 2001 to 2008,” The Daily (Ottawa, Canada). Web.

Footnotes

1. Bill Curry, “Canadian Families Shrinking, Married Couples in Decline: Census,” The Globe and Mail (Ottawa, Canada). Web.
2. “Living Arrangements Of Young Adults Aged 20 to 29 – Census,” StatCan (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
3. “Study: Wages, Youth Employment and School Enrollment, 2001 to 2008,” The Daily (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
4. “Study: Wages, Youth Employment and School Enrollment, 2001 to 2008,” The Daily (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
5. “Study: Changing Labour Market Conditions for Young Canadians,” The Daily (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
6. Diane Galarneau, Rene Morisette and Jeaninne Usalcas, “What Has Changed for Young People in Canada?” StatCan (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
7. Diane Galarneau, Rene Morisette and Jeaninne Usalcas, “What Has Changed for Young People in Canada?” StatCan (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
8. “Living Arrangements Of Young Adults Aged 20 to 29 – Census,” StatCan (Ottawa, Canada), Web.
9. Rob Carrick, “Why Canadian Homes Are More Unaffordable Than Ever,” The Globe and Mail (Ottawa, Canada), Web.

Parent Interview

This research paper focuses on parent interview and infant observation. The parent interview focuses on pregnancy and delivery, infant’s physical developmental milestones, infant’s socio-emotional milestones, cognitive developmental milestones, and the effects of parenthood on parents.

Pregnancy and Delivery

Describe your experience with morning sickness

The mother explained that she experienced morning sickness during the first trimester of pregnancy. According to her, morning sickness was characterized by nausea and occasional vomiting. The symptoms were present during the early hours of the day and subsided as the day progressed. The mother experienced morning sickness until the 12^th week of pregnancy.

Describe your diet regimen during pregnancy

The mother ensured a steady and consistent intake of a balanced diet during pregnancy. According to her, she took food with sufficient levels of proteins and fats. She also took food rich in essential minerals and vitamins. Her diet included a regular intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. A balanced diet was critical to avoid pregnancy complications such as anemia and mood swings.

A balanced diet helps to regulate levels and activity of hormones during pregnancy. According to her, the intake of a balanced diet helped in reducing the effects and severity of morning sickness. To maximize the benefits of a balanced diet, the mother avoided detrimental habits such as smoking and intake of alcoholic drinks.

Describe your labor and delivery experience

The mother was in labor for 12 hours. She experienced intense pain and discomfort during labor. The mother prepared for labor by attending therapy sessions. During the sessions, she learned the measures she should take to counter the challenges of labor. This helped her to manage her labor pains. The mother had a natural delivery devoid of complications. Her partner was supportive during delivery. She prepared for delivery by talking to a therapist.

The Infant’s Physical Development Milestones

Describe how you fed your baby

During the first four months, the mother fed the baby on breast milk only. After four months, she introduced bottle-feeding. This helped her to orient the baby to other types of foods. However, bottle-feeding was not a replacement for breast milk.

Describe the infant’s stages of motor development

The motor development of the infant was steady and consistent with expectations. At 6 weeks, the baby could hold his head in an upright position. He could roll from side to back. At 3 months, he could hold the head in an upright position for a long period. At 5 months, he could pick objects and place them in the mouth. At 6 months, the baby could sit in upright position, albeit on physical support.

At 10 months, the baby could crawl and sit without physical support. At 1 year, the baby could stand by holding on to furniture and other objects for support. At 18 months, the baby could walk without support from anybody. The baby picks up objects without tripping over. The baby jumps with both feet and can move up and down stairs while holding on rails.

Describe the immunization regime of the baby

According to the mother, the baby has received four immunization vaccines. The first vaccine was at 2 months. The second vaccine was at 4 months. The third was at 6 months. The fourth vaccine was at the age of 18 months. The vaccines help to boost the immune system of the baby.

The Infants Socio-Emotional Development Milestones

Describe the current socio-emotional state of the baby

According to the mother, the baby has normal socio-emotional development. The baby is more tolerant of strangers. He constantly picks and drops toys and other light objects. The baby enjoys playing alone. The baby mimics the behavior and actions of adults. He enjoys the company of other children but does not engage in co-operative play. He constantly troubles other children during play activities.

Does the baby have an attachment to anybody?

The baby has developed a deep attachment to the mother. The baby is comfortable around the mother. He enjoys the company of the mother.

Does the child have a transition object?

According to the mother, the baby has a soft cloth that serves as a transition object. Whenever the mother leaves the baby, the soft cloth keeps the baby occupied.

The infant’s cognitive development

Describe the infant’s cognitive development

According to the mother, the child enjoys to play hide and seek games. The neurological development of the baby is consistent with expectations. The child enjoys perusing through picture books. He identifies everyday objects by names. The child enjoys solving puzzles and other complex games.

Describe the infant’s cognitive development at 12 months

The baby enjoyed hiding and finding objects such as toys. The boy could hold objects in both hands. Such co-ordination is age-appropriate and consistent with expectations. The baby had developed elaborate multi-tasking skills.

Is the child’s cognitive development consistent with expectations?

According to the mother, the cognitive development of the child is normal and consistent with expectations. The mother divulged that the child had undergone several tests that indicated healthy results.

The effect of parenthood on parents

How has having a child affected your relationship?

The mother argued that the child had put a strain on the relationship with her spouse. According to her, she dedicates more time to take care of the baby. This leaves her with little time for her spouse.

How has childbirth affected your sense of self?

Childbirth has improved the mother’s self-worth. The mother has an increased sense of responsibility and willingness to assist other people.

How do you balance work and taking care of the child?

Whenever the mother is away to work, she enlists the services of a trusted nanny. The mother is satisfied with the services of the caregiver — the nanny bonds well with the baby.

Infant Observation

The infant observation exercise lasted for 30 minutes. The exercise focused on the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of the infant. During the observation exercise, I watched baby Mozart with the infant. He displayed signs of interest in the exercise. His attention was scattered and divided towards various directions. The infant could not concentrate for long periods. However, he showed interests in the activities of the exercise. The object permanence experiment produced positive results.

The baby could notice objects and made efforts to follow the objects. After removing an object, the infant stared at the location where the object was. The infant responded to objects and sounds. The infant attempted to reach for objects and items within his range. The baby revealed an item if somebody hid it from him. The infant was less shy and enjoyed interacting through facial expressions. Whenever someone passed in front of the infant, he tracked him or her with his eyes. The baby was actively sucking on objects, especially his thumb.

This behavior is consistent with Piaget’s object permanence stages. When the mother left the room, the baby displayed signs of attachment to the mother. He reacted by crying and throwing tantrums to attract attention. The baby was receptive and open to play. He enjoyed my indulgence in play with him. The baby was upset when I withdrew from play. In my view, the child displayed a healthy development in terms of socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive development. The infant’s development is normal and age-appropriate.

Quantitative Research

People who have served a prison term often find it difficult to reintegrate into society successfully due to various reasons including economic and social. The government as well as numerous non-governmental organizations fund a variety of programs aimed at assisting (former and present) inmates to reintegrate into the community (Hallett & Johnson, 2014, McClure et al., 2015). Nonetheless, it has been found that around two-thirds of released people get engaged in illicit activities, which leads to their incarceration in many cases (Berg & Huebner, 2011). Researchers note that family ties often play a decisive role and help former inmates to become a part of the community (Latessa, Listwan & Koetzle, 2014). This study dwells upon the effectiveness of the reintegration program focusing on family ties (the relationships with children).

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the program aimed at the reintegration of former inmates into society.

Research Question

After completion of the reintegration program, are mothers or guardians more likely to get involved in the unlawful activities?

To answer this question, a true experimental design will be employed.

Hypothesis

After participation in the program, parents and guardians are less likely to re-offend.

This hypothesis is measurable by determining the number of participants who re-offend and those who successfully reintegrate into the society as compared to those who offend and serve out another prison term.

Research Plan

It is believed that females tend to develop closer family ties compared to men. Therefore, female inmates will take part in the research. The eligible participants will be women aged between 18 and 25 years old who have a child or children. The samples will also be chosen on the basis of their offenses and terms to be served out. Thus, minor offenders (for instance, imprisoned for such offenses as possession of a small number of illicit substances) will be involved in the study.

The participants will also have similar terms of imprisonment. Importantly, such offenders usually come from low-income communities, and, hence, they are often affected by similar factors (socioeconomic issues, peer pressure, issues associated with single-parent families, and so on). 300 participants will take part in the research. The samples will be divided into two groups. The first group (consisting of 150 inmates) will complete the program assessed while the other group will not undergo the treatment.

The effectiveness of the program can be evaluated through the analysis of recidivism among women who have completed it and those who have not participated in it. Thus, data on the instances of recidivism among the participants within three months, six months, and 12 months after the release will be analyzed. This will enable the researchers to identify the periods associated with most risks. It will also allow the researcher to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the program as it will be clear whether prisoners will be able to display appropriate behavior one year after their release.

The independent variable for this research will be the program. The dependent variable of the study will be recidivism. The samples will receive the treatment right after their release. The reintegration program will last for three months. Notably, those who have started the program but did not finish it will be excluded from the research as they cannot pertain to either of the groups since they could or could not benefit from limited participation.

It will be possible to generalize the data and identify a particular rate of former prisoners who benefit from the participation in the corrective measures or, in other words, reintegrate successfully into society.

Such threats to validity as history and maturation can undermine the validity of the research. To mitigate the adverse effects of these threats the researcher will provide information on such factors as employment, income, and the type of offense (when possible). As far as ethical issues are concerned, it is necessary to note that written consent will be acquired from females who will complete the questionnaires. Confidentiality and anonymity will be ensured.

Qualitative Research

The issue of overcrowded prisons in the USA is persistent. Clearly, imprisonment has various adverse effects on US society. The government as well as non-governmental organizations and charities have launched numerous corrective programs aimed at assisting former inmates to reintegrate into society (Hallett & Johnson, 2014; McClure et al., 2015). These programs often involve a focus on faith, family ties, or the development of professional skills (Berg & Huebner, 2011; Latessa, Listwan & Koetzle, 2014).

Nonetheless, the effectiveness of these measures is quite questionable as the majority of former inmates engage themselves in illicit activities, and half of these offenders find themselves behind the bars (Berg & Huebner, 2011). The programs’ inefficiency may be (at least, partially) due to inmates’ attitude towards it. Therefore, it is essential to understand the way prisoners feel about the corrective measures. This study will focus on a program focusing on family ties. The participants’ views on the reintegration program will help to identify some of its flaws and develop recommendations to improve it.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this research is to analyze the effectiveness of the program aimed at reintegration of former prisoners into society through determining inmates’ attitudes towards the corrective measures. Some recommendations to improve the reintegration program will be provided.

Research Question

Do mothers and guardians find the reintegration program effective?

To answer the research question, several interviews will be carried out.

Hypothesis

Mothers and guardians find the reintegration program effective.

This hypothesis is measurable by identifying the way inmates feel about the program.

Research Plan

Since the program in question focuses on family ties, it can be effective to analyze the attitudes of female prisoners as females have deeper links to their children. Thus, participants of the present research will be female inmates (aged between 18 and 25) who have had similar terms of imprisonment. Those who have committed similar minor offenses will take part in the study. This can be a one-year prison term for possession of illicit substances. The eligible participants will be mothers or guardians of one child or more. Importantly, the participants will have similar conditions and factors affecting their decisions. Thus, such females are often single mothers coming from low-income and single-parent families. Therefore, the samples are likely to be affected by similar factors and will be able to benefit from the program equally.

Five individuals who have not reoffended and five females who have reoffended and have had to serve out another term (among those who have completed the program after their release) will be interviewed. At that, the interviews will be held one year after the release. This period is the minimum time frame that can prove the cost-effectiveness of the corrective measures. The interviews will enable the researcher to identify attitudes of females towards the program irrespective of their performance after the release. It will also help evaluate the effectiveness of the program.

The case study approach will be utilized as it will enable the researcher to elicit participants’ ideas and feelings on the program. The interviews will be tape-recorded, and written consent will be obtained. The questions will be open-ended. It is noteworthy that additional (specifying) questions may be asked during the interview depending on the participants’ answers. This will help the researchers to identify recurrent themes and the most burning issues as seen by those who have completed the program. The questions will address such areas as attitudes towards elements of the program, family ties, and problems they had to face after the release.

Particular attention will be paid to women’s evaluation of their performance after the release and their progress, as well as risks or factors that contributed to their reoffending (in the case with the participants serving another prison term). Females will be asked to evaluate their performance. This will help the researcher to identify the degree of females’ effort invested. The researcher will also take into account the records concerning the inmates’ performance as this will provide objective information on the degree of inmates’ participation in the corrective measures. Finally, the researcher will pay close attention to females’ accounts of the reasons for their success or failure. Recommendations will be developed based on the analysis of the participants’ attitudes.

To mitigate internal validity threats, the following measures will be undertaken: thick description, triangulation, and member checks. To avoid any ethical issues, anonymity and confidentiality will be ensured.

Mixed Research

Incarceration has a variety of adverse effects on the entire US society as well as families that are often destroyed. The current view of prisoners and their future lies in the terrain of the restorative justice paradigm. Reintegration is seen as vital and, hence, various corrective programs exist (Hallett & Johnson, 2014; McClure et al., 2015). Some of these measures are faith-based as they concentrate on religious values (Latessa, Listwan & Koetzle, 2014).

In the majority of cases, however, the programs involve a focus on family links as it is believed that children and close ones can and should be the reason for successful reintegration. Nevertheless, the recidivism among former prisoners is very high, and it has been estimated that around 60% of those who served out a prison term re-offend (Berg & Huebner, 2011). It is possible to evaluate a corrective program to understand whether it is efficient or not and whether some changes are necessary.

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the reintegration program and provide recommendations for its improvement. This can be achieved through analysis of recidivism among inmates and the analysis of prisoners’ attitudes towards the program.

Research Question

After participation in the program, do mothers or guardians tend to avoid unlawful activities?

To answer this question, some inmates will be interviewed, and quantitative data on recidivism among prisoners will be implemented.

Hypothesis

After participation in the reintegration program, mothers and guardians are less likely to exhibit unlawful behavior.

This hypothesis is measurable by determining prisoners’ attitudes towards the program as well as identifying the rate of recidivism among prisoners.

Research Plan

The research is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the reintegration program based on the focus on family links. Women are believed to have deeper attachments to their children, hence, female inmates will participate in the study. The eligible participants will be women (18-25 years old) who are a mother or guardian of a child or several children. The eligible participants will be those who have served out similar terms and who were imprisoned for possession of a small number of illegal substances. It is noteworthy that participants will have similar backgrounds as such offenders are usually representative of low-income communities. They often come from single-parent families and have to raise their child (or children) without a partner. They often have no higher education.

As far as the quantitative data are concerned, the recidivism among prisoners will be assessed. 300 inmates will take part in the research. The samples will be divided into two groups (150 people in each group). One group will receive the treatment while the other will not undergo the corrective measures. The rate of recidivism in women (in both groups) three, six, and 12 months after their release will be analyzed.

The attention to several periods after the release will help the researcher identify the rate of recidivism and its change (if any) in the course of time. It will also help to analyze the cost-effectiveness of the program as it will be clear whether those who have participated are able to keep away from unlawful activities within a significant amount of time. The independent variable for this study will be the treatment. The dependent variable of the present research will be recidivism. The participants will undergo the corrective measures right after their release. The reintegration program will take up to three months. The rate of recidivism will be identified. This will enable the researcher to assess the actual effectiveness of the program that is aimed at the successful reintegration of former prisoners.

As far as the qualitative component of the study, interviews with samples will be held. At that, five former inmates who have completed the program, and five former prisoners who have not participated in the corrective treatment will take part in the study. The interviews will be held one year after their release. This period is necessary to assess the effectiveness of the program. The samples will be interviewed to understand the way prisoners feel about the program. The researcher will put open-ended questions. Specifying questions can be asked to provide a deeper analysis of the prisoners’ attitudes.

The focus on such areas as elements of the program (especially, children’s visits and their overall involvement), family bonds in their post-imprisonment life, risks, and factors that could (or did) affect their decision to re-offend.

The inmates will also be asked to assess the way they performed during the program. The researcher will understand the way females feel about their behavior during the treatment. The records on the actual behavior of participants will also be analyzed to obtain comprehensive data on the matter. Besides, the researchers will also ask the samples questions concerning reasons for their success or failure. Recommendations concerning improvements to the program will be provided.

To diminish such threats to internal validity as history and attrition, the researcher will pay attention to such factors as employment, family ties, and so on (interviews will help to identify these factors). Description, triangulation, and member checks will also be utilized to ensure the internal validity of the study. To address ethical issues, informed consent forms will be obtained, and confidentiality, as well as anonymity, will be guaranteed.

Evaluation of the Research Methods

It is necessary to note that three research methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed) can be applied in different cases. The quantitative research method is valuable when the researcher is interested in trends and particular numbers and rates. The major strength of this type of research is the possibility to generalize the findings (Bernard, 2011). Thus, it can be easy to determine the rate of prisoners who re-offend (or rather are incarcerated) after they completed a corrective program. This can show the cost-effectiveness of the program. Nonetheless, this research method will not reveal particular flaws of the program and factors that affect its efficiency.

The qualitative research method will be more applicable to achieve this goal. This method enables researchers to identify attitudes, qualities, attributes, and so on. This type of analysis implies attention to people’s experiences and attitudes towards different aspects of human life (Bernard, 2011). To identify flaws of the program, it can be more useful to use the qualitative method as the program’s efficiency largely depends on the way inmates respond to it.

These responses can be assessed during the qualitative research. Nonetheless, the major weakness of this method is its lack of generalization. Data obtained cannot be generalized as all people (programs, experiences, and so on) are different and various factors may be in play. Qualitative research is also associated with high risks of bias and misconception. The researcher has to be careful when coming to conclusions.

When it comes to the mixed research method, it can be employed in many cases especially when the researcher is interested in people’s experiences and fixed rates. Thus, it is possible to combine analysis of particular individuals’ experiences and major trends that are taking place in a community or the entire society. For instance, when evaluating the program mentioned above, the researcher will be able to identify the rate of recidivism (and drop-outs), which will show the cost-effectiveness of the program. In other words, it will be clear whether the program achieves its principal purpose on the prisoners’ reintegration into society.

At the same time, to understand particular flaws of the program, it may be essential to identify inmates’ attitudes towards the program. This will help to develop individual strategies to improve the program and make it more efficient or to improve prisoners’ responsiveness to the corrective measures. The major strength of this method is its universality as it diminishes weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative research methods as the findings can be generalized and, simultaneously, they can be very specific (Bryman, 2012). The major weakness of the mixed method is its complexity. This type of research often requires a significant amount of time and resources. Sometimes it can be rather difficult to interpret the data obtained regarding the paradigm of the mixed method.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is possible to note that the present research may be based on the qualitative research method as an evaluation of the program may be concerned with the improvement of particular elements. Thus, attitudes of prisoners will be analyzed, and certain recommendations will be provided. When the new program is developed and employed, it will be possible to implement a quantitative research method to check its cost-effectiveness.

Reference List

Berg, M.T., & Huebner, B.M. (2011). Reentry and the ties that bind: An examination of social ties, employment, and recidivism. Justice Quarterly, 28(2), 382-410.

Bernard, H.R. (2011). Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. New York, NY: Rowman Altamira.

Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods. New York, NY: OUP Oxford.

Hallet, M., & Johnson, B. (2014). The resurgence of religion in America’s prisons. Religions, 5(1), 663-683.

Latessa, E.J., Listwan, S.J., & Koetzle, D. (2014). What works (and doesn’t) in reducing recidivism. New York, NY: Routledge.

McClure, H.H., Shortt, J.W., Eddy, J.M., Holmes, A., Van Uum, S., Russell, E., … Martinez, C.R. (2015). Associations among mother-child contact, parenting stress, and mother and child adjustment related to incarceration. In J. Poehlmann-Tynan (Ed.), Children’s contact with incarcerated parents: Implications for policy and intervention (pp. 59-83). New York, NY: Springer.

Today many young adults continue living with their parents, even in their 20s and 30s. The main reason for this phenomenon is usually financial matters. As housing grows in price, young people find it difficult to afford their own place to live. Staying with their parents allows these children to focus on aspects other than rent and mortgage payment. Furthermore, in many cases, food is provided by the parents along with shelter. Therefore, children can concentrate on their own needs.

On the other hand, such a level of support might be detrimental to the young person’s career and overall ambitions. According to Lebowitz (2017), adult children still living at their parents’ homes often avoid getting a higher education and a stable job, which leads to their alienation from society. Lebowitz (2017) also adds that such individuals are “often perceived as overly pampered and lazy, and their parents are commonly ridiculed for being too indulgent” (p. 89). The longer an adult child stays at home, the more difficult it will be for them to start making a living independently. As Burn and Szoeke (2016) state, continued co-residing also increases the financial load and is more emotionally stressful for the parents in the long run.

While financial issues play a crucial role in this phenomenon, other factors also contribute to it. According to Burn and Szoeke (2016), children stay at home until they are in their 30’s for a variety of reasons, including emotional ones. When the time comes to leave home, young people are petrified of the idea of living on their own and not having the same level of everyday care and support that they are used to.

As for the parents, they, too, are often hesitant about letting their beloved child into adult life. At some point, they might find it difficult to discuss the situation with children. As said in the Bible, “ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4, King James Version). Following this advice, parents might prefer to leave the situation as it is, instead of bringing up the issues and causing a confrontation. In the end, both young adults and their parents experience a negative impact on their lives. It takes longer for the former to acquire financial stability and reach the level of personal security that would allow them to care for the latter, once they are old.

The current situation with young adults and adolescents refusing to gain independence and become self-sufficient appears to stem from the increased range of support and overprotectiveness that their parents exert. Therefore, it is desirable that parents should consider introducing their children to the idea of autonomy carefully at a fairly young age. Thus, young people will be able to accept new responsibilities and a greater range of roles without fearing being deprived of their source of support. As soon as children, adolescents, and young adults recognize the fact that they have the agency to navigate their own life, they will be able to gain independence. Thus, the issue of anxiety experienced by young adults and adolescents when having to address issues associated with decision-making will be managed productively.

References

Burn, K., & Szoeke, C. (2016). Boomerang families and failure-to-launch: Commentary on adult children living at home. Maturitas, 83, 9-12. Web.

Lebowitz, E.R. (2017). “Failure to launch”: Shaping intervention for highly dependent adult children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 55(2), 89–90.