Baumrind was born into a Jewish community in New York City, the first of two daughters of Hyman and Mollie Blumberg. She completed her B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy at Hunter College in 1948, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.[2] Her doctoral dissertation was entitled "Some personality and situational determinants of behaviour in a discussion group".[3]
Authoritarian: the authoritarian parenting style is characterized by high demandingness with low responsiveness. The authoritarian parent is rigid, harsh, and demanding. Abusive parents usually fall in this category (although Baumrind is careful to emphasize that not all authoritarian parents are abusive).
Permissive: this parenting style is characterized by low demandingness with high responsiveness. The permissive parent is overly responsive to the child's demands, seldom enforcing consistent rules. The "spoiled" child often has permissive parents.
Authoritative: this parenting style is characterized by high demandingness with huge responsiveness. The authoritative parent is firm but not rigid, willing to make an exception when the situation warrants. The authoritative parent is responsive to the child's needs but not indulgent. Baumrind makes it clear that she favors the authoritative style.
Baumrind studied the effects of corporal punishment on children, and concluded that mild spanking, in the context of an authoritative (not authoritarian) parenting style, is unlikely to have a significant detrimental effect, if one is careful to control for other variables such as socioeconomic status.[11] She observed that previous studies demonstrating a correlation between corporal punishment and bad outcomes failed to control for variables such as socioeconomic status. Low-income families are more likely to employ corporal punishment compared with affluent families. Children from low-income neighborhoods are more likely to commit violent crimes compared with children from affluent neighborhoods. But Baumrind believed that when appropriate controls are made for family income and other independent variables, mild corporal punishment per se does not increase the likelihood of bad outcomes.[12] This assertion has in turn attracted criticism and counterpoints from other researchers in the same publication, for example: Whether harmful or not, there is still no consistent evidence of beneficial effects.[13]
^Diana Baumrind (1955). "Some personality and situational determinants of behavior in a discussion group". Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities. 22. New York City: H. W. Wilson Company: 133. ISSN1046-9222. OCLC1771396.
^Baumrind D (1964). "Some Thoughts on Ethics of Research: After Reading Milgram's "Behavioral Study of Obedience"". American Psychologist. 19 (6): 421–423. doi:10.1037/h0040128.
^Baumrind D (1971). "Principles of Ethical Conduct in the Treatment of Subjects: Reaction to the Draft Report of the Committee on Ethical Standards in Psychological Research". American Psychologist. 26 (10): 887–896. doi:10.1037/h0032145.
^Baumrind D (February 1985). "Research using intentional deception. Ethical issues revisited". Am Psychol. 40 (2): 165–74. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.40.2.165. PMID3985477.
