AFRICAN AMERICAN CHRISTIAN PARENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF HOW PARENTING STYLES AFFECT CHILDREN’S BEHAVIORS

Abstract

Putman, Kelli, C., African American Christian Parents’ Perceptions of How Parenting Style Affects Children’s Behavior Doctor of Education: Educational Leadership Houston Baptist University, Houston, Texas. The purpose of this study was to determine African American parents’ perspectives on how a foundation of Christianity and parenting styles affects children’s behavior. It is important to identify parenting styles, the social and emotional, and the religiosity foundation throughout a child’s development; each one can be affected depending on the variations of each factor. In this mixed-method study, the researcher used qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data was collected through the instrument titled Smart Survey. The survey consisted of 53 questions. The qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions guided by the researcher and later transcribed through Scribie. The focus group was conducted via Zoom technology. The participants were gathered voluntarily and were recruited through social media from both Facebook and Instagram. Data from the survey, open-ended questions and the focus group were analyzed based on common themes that were derived from participant responses. Based on the data collected from Spiritual Well -being Survey section, the mean identified that the participants agreed with the following: I believe that God loves and cares about me. The survey question that most parents strongly disagreed with creating the highest mean was: I don’t get much personal strength and support from my God. The data from the survey was able to identify the parenting styles that was favorable amongst the African American Christian parents who were surveyed. The data showed that the participants favored Authoritative parenting practices over Permissive parenting practices and Authoritarian parenting practices. The data reveals that African American parents believe that Christianity influences the behaviors of their children. The themes of the open- ended responses provided that Christian influences can cause a positive impact on negative behaviors such as overuse of technology, comparing self-image, secrecy and talking back. When parents lead by example, involve their children in Christian activities, and use Christian influences children are less likely to demonstrate negative behaviors when their parents talk through things, give consequences, and provide rewards.