Child Rearing Practices
Anthony S. Otremba
ANT 101 Introductions to Cultural Anthropology
Instructor: Lucy Lea Brown
25 Aug 14
Parents in all societies grapple with how to raise their children in a way that prepares them to become parents themselves. People in every culture attain parenting techniques from their own parents, who in turn acquired from their parents and so on. When it comes to child rearing practices there are a multitude of styles to choose from. Many different cultures have a variety ways to raise children. The Australian Aboriginal community and the practices of the Jamaicans differ greatly when it comes to raising their young. The effects of their chosen child rearing practices determine so much of how the child will grow and interact with their peers and adults. These communities have some extreme methods of parenting. On one end of the spectrum excessive positive reinforcement while the other includes extreme punishment.
The Child Rearing Practices of Aboriginals
Imagine having a large family dinner with all your relatives. Somewhere in the house you hear a child begin to cry. Who goes to see why the child is crying? If you are an Australian Aborigine, the answer is everyone! There are many things that non-Aboriginal individuals don’t understand about these remote Aboriginal tribes in Central Australia. Many studies have been done to try to understand their culture and how “Aboriginal people of the way they ‘grow their children up’” ( Byers, L., Kulitja, S., Lowell, A., & Kruske, S. (2012 The child or children are raise by everyone, in the child’s kinship. This includes not only the mother and father, but aunts, uncles, grandparents and any other relatives as well as older siblings. Children in the Aboriginal community are raised with constant praise and affection for everything they do. A scholarly review stated, “It is also generally believed that the achievement of this goal will enable...