Strict father model

The strict father model of parenting is one which values strict discipline, particularly by the father, in parenting.

Ideas involved in this model include:

• That children learn through reward and punishment, as in operant conditioning.
• That children become more self-reliant and more self-disciplined by having strict parents.
• That the parent, particularly the father, is meant to mete out rewards for good behavior as well as punish bad behavior.

This model of child-rearing would involve allowing children to cry themselves to sleep as picking up a child when it should be sleeping might foster dependence on the parents and is not a display of discipline. In his book Dare to Discipline, James Dobson advocates the strict father model. However, some researchers have linked authoritarian childrearing with children who withdraw, lack spontaneity, and have lesser evidence of conscience.^[1]

The strict father model is discussed by George Lakoff in his books, including Moral Politics, Don't Think of an Elephant, The Political Mind, and Whose Freedom?. In these books, the strict father model is contrasted with the nurturant parent model. Lakoff argues that if the metaphor of nation as family and government as parent is used, then conservative politics correspond to the strict father model. For example, conservatives think that adults should not look to the government for assistance, lest they become dependent.

See also

• James Dobson
• Nurturant parent model

References

1. ^ Maccoby, E. E.; Martin, J. A. (1983), "Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction", in Mussen, Paul. H., Handbook of Child Psychology, 4, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-471-09065-6, http://books.google.com/books?cd=1&id=VUnuAAAAMAAJ&dq=isbn%3A9780471090656&q=withdraw+spontaneity#search_anchor 

• The Nation as Family.^{[dead link]}Rockridge Institute. Refer to chapter 4.
• Two Worldviews - A History, Two Ideal Family Models and The Role of Empathy

v t e Parenting See also: School Family Types Adoptive Alloparenting Complex family Coparenting Foster care LGBT Noncustodial Nuclear family Orphaned Shared Single parent Stepfamily Surrogacy In loco parentis Theories/Areas Attachment theory Applied Behavior Analysis Behaviorism Child development Cognitive development Developmental psychology Human development Love Maternal bond Nature versus nurture Parental investment Paternal bond Pediatrics Social psychology Styles Attachment parenting Concerted cultivation Gatekeeper parent Helicopter parent Nurturant parenting Slow parenting Soccer mom Strict father model Taking Children Seriously Work at home parent Techniques After-school activity Allowance Bedtime Childcare Co-sleeping Homeschooling Latchkey kid Play (date) Role model Spoiled child Television Toy (educational) Discipline Blanket training Corporal punishment in the home Curfew Grounding Tactical ignoring Time-out Abuse Child abandonment Child abuse Child labour Child neglect Cinderella effect Incest Narcissistic parents Parental abuse by children Legal / social aspects Child support Cost of raising a child Marriage Parental responsibility (Deadbeat parent) Paternity Disownment Experts Tanya Byron Rudolf Dreikurs David Elkind Jo Frost Haim Ginott Thomas Gordon Annette Lareau Penelope Leach Madeline Levine William Sears B.F. Skinner Benjamin Spock