Elephant

Guest Speaker

2005年秋学期に開講している「総合英語4」に、アメリカで家族関係、子育てと働く母親／専業主婦の母親に関して調査研究をされていたJennifer先生をお招きしました。よければ、春学期に他の授業に来てくださった時のCultural DifferenceとHigh school life & College life in the USについてのお話も参考に読んでください。

当日の内容　　Topic: Parenting Styles and Family Relationships in the US　

a. Popular sleep arrangements in the US

In the United States co-sleeping is not common; while in Japan it is very common.
In the Unites States many newborn babies sleep in bassinet at first, but within 2 months most US parents have put baby in his/her own room.

Reasons for Not co-sleeping
Reasons for co-sleeping

Western bed is high and American Pediatric Association warns against the danger of co-sleeping due to safety issues.
Western Value ---emphasize independence and autonomy.
Parents can monitor and hear the baby from parents' bedroom.
However, some US psychologist support co-sleeping for some children who need more physical contact.

Asian value --- emphasize harmony .
Japanese Futon is not high and there's no danger of falling.
In Japan, houses are much smaller and providing children with their own room is not always possible.
For breast-feeding, co-sleeping is easier for both mother and baby.

b. Results of the US model of sleeping

Promotes independence in children
Provide rest for parents (an American value)
A parent's needs are valued in this kind of arrangement.

c. "Ferberize"

Dr. Ferber's book "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" has influenced how parent's handle their children's sleep problems.
"Ferberizing" means to teach child to sooth him/herself to sleep and work through their conflict on their own.
"Ferberizing" promotes independence and self-sufficiency in children beginning at an early age. 　

d. Baby exploring his/her environment

In the US, many parents allow their child to fall, make mistakes and have accidents in a safe way. (ex. allowing a child to spill something, bump head, spill water on self, trip, etc. In this way, children learn on their own that they may get hurt if they do so and learn how their environment works.)
When a child falls, many mothers response, "You are okay!", "Wow! That was scary, huh?", "You will be fine.", etc.
In general, American parents have a higher tolerance than Japanese parents to let their child trip, fall, make mistakes so that the child can learn his/her environment on his/her own.

e. Father involvement in Parenting

In Japan, there is a much higher tolerance toward fathers being absent from the home than in the US.
It is very uncommon in the US for fathers to come home from work after 7pm on a regular basis.
In the US, working long hours on a regular basis is not tolerated well.
Over the last 20 years, researchers in the US have documented that father involvement is very important for a child's emotional well-being.
Psychologists and sociologist have found that fathers indeed have a powerful influence on a childﾕs well-being, academic achievement, and the development of social relationships.
In addition, the feminist movement in the US contributed to greater levels of father involvement by liberalizing attitudes toward gender roles.
As a result, ideas about appropriate gender rolls for men and women (mothers and fathers) have changed significantly over the last 20 years.
There is a greater focus on fatherhood and father involvement in child rearing.
Many fathers participate in their children's sports and club activities.
Researchers have documented time and time again about fathers who choose to stay home while the wife works. However, this choice is most often based on income (i.e., the parent with the lower salary stays home).
Over the last 10 years, companies and the labor force have also begun to support dual-income families. More and more companies provide flexible hours for working parents to meet both work and family demands (e.g., a 40 hour a week, 4 day work week).

* Family leave Act
The Family Leave Act was passed during the 1990's. This law allows fathers (and mothers) to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid time to care for their families without losing their job. This includes leaving work for the birth of a child. In addition, many US companies allow fathers to take paternity leave, sometimes paid, and sometimes unpaid. However, in reality, few fathers ever take advantage of paternity leave.

　

Recommended books are:

"The Second Shift" by Arlie Hochschild
It is a classic and a must read for students interested in work and gender roles.

"Parent's Jobs, Children's Lives" by Toby Parcel and Elizabeth Menaghan
The authors look at many aspects of mother's and father's work and how it affects children's academic achievement, self-esteem, behavior, and social relationships. They are top researchers in this field. It is a very comprehensive book with a great literature review in the first 2 chapters.

　

　

Reasons for Not co-sleeping	Reasons for co-sleeping
Western bed is high and American Pediatric Association warns against the danger of co-sleeping due to safety issues. Western Value ---emphasize independence and autonomy. Parents can monitor and hear the baby from parents' bedroom. However, some US psychologist support co-sleeping for some children who need more physical contact.	Asian value --- emphasize harmony . Japanese Futon is not high and there's no danger of falling. In Japan, houses are much smaller and providing children with their own room is not always possible. For breast-feeding, co-sleeping is easier for both mother and baby.