Caucasian American society embraces independence and emphasizes self-expression, personal uniqueness, and self sufficiency. Caucasian parents strive for their children to have a sense of autonomy so that they will gain the independence and assertiveness to make their own choices in their daily lives.
Asian society emphasizes interdependence, group solidarity, social hierarchy, and personal humility” (Wang & Leichtman, 2000) Personal autonomy is not as important in Asian American cultures as obedience, group achievement, and good behavior. The difference between caucasian and asian cultures can create cultural tension for Asian American teenagers growing up in the United States. These Asian American teens are faced with the challenge of adapting and acculturation with american culture, while trying to still obey and respect the values of their parents and culture.
In Hispanic parenting the gender of the child being reared has not always been taken account for although research shows a difference. “Although the literature is clear that parents of mexican and hispanic descent treat boys differently than girls to socialize them according to specific cultural gender roles, it is less clear whether parents of mexican and hispanic descent emphasize one parenting style over another based on the gender of the child” (Samaniego and Gonzales 1993). Parenting practices also differ between hispanic fathers and mothers depending on the age and gender of the child. Research also shows that tend to be more involved with their children daily than other ethnic groups. There are a great deal of differences in the way Hispanic and other American children are socialized. Hispanic cultures tend to put more emphasis on obedience and respect for adult authority. “ A directive style of communication between parent and child is most common, with little collaborative conversation, elaborated speech models, or early literacy experiences”(Espinosa and Lesar 1994). Due to the value of extreme respect for adult authority, Hispanic parents believe in an absolute authority to the school and teachers, which means they believe the schools job is to educate and the parents job is to nurture. The two jobs do not mix in the Hispanic culture. Hispanic parents like the other major ethnicities hold strong family ties, believe in family loyalty and have a collectivist orientation about community and culture.
Little is known about the variability of discipline practices within the African American community and little research has been done in regards to the beliefs and disciplinary practices amongst middle and upper socioeconomic African American communities. “There is remarkably little difference in disciplinary beliefs across socioeconomic groups for African Americans. There was greater endorsement of disciplinary methods such as teaching and removing than of spanking. Thirdly, harsh spanking practices were uncommon and there was remarkably little difference across socioeconomic groups in these specific practices. In addition, we were surprised by the finding that middle/upper socioeconomic parents were more likely to use something other than a hand to spank their child”(Dobson 1992). One study of African American mothers found that if they did not agree with spanking their children but spanked anyways, their children would be more likely to be depressed. The same was not true for African American mothers that approved of spanking.