Problem
Parental permissiveness
Other Names:
Lax parental responsesParental toleration of drug addiction in children
Parental toleration of alcoholism in children
Parental toleration of sexual activity of children
Lax parental discipline
Inadequate childhood discipline
Lack of constructive family discipline for young people
Permissive child-rearing
Progressive parenting
Rearing self-absorbed children
Nature:
When parents do not apply systematic discipline to the rearing of their children, the children will fail to develop the social and personal skills - such as consideration for others and self-control - that are necessary for a normal adult life. Children who are not held accountable at home for their behaviour do not learn the difference between socially acceptable and socially unacceptable behaviour, and they do not learn that there are consequences to the latter. They remain in the self-absorbed state of infancy. Without a framework of obedience to the total family there can be no free participation of every individual within that family. The family can thus not develop a corporate wisdom, which is the basis of family policy and actions. When a lack of family discipline is combined with a lack of parental willingness to allow the children to be significantly engaged in society, young people are left with excessive amounts of time and energy to expend on activities of their own improvisation.Some parents not only refrain from disciplining their children, they go out of their way to give praise, regardless of the child's behaviour. They fear making the child unhappy, and so compensate failures and the inevitable logical consequences of misbehaviour with praise or gifts. Thus children learn that they should be rewarded for any work, no matter how mediocre, and they refuse to accept responsibility for their mistakes.
Broader Problems:
PermissivenessInadequate adult guidanceDeteriorating social environments for raising children Related Problems:
Parental favouritismChildren of drug addictsExclusion of pre-adults from family decisions Aggravates:
Spoilt childrenJuvenile alcoholismPermissive educationBad-mannered childrenConfining home dutiesUndisciplined childrenDrug abuse by adolescentsIncreasing adolescent sexual activitySexual abuse of children by children Reduces:
Disobedience of children Reduced By:
Parental punishmentParental over-protectiveness
Strategies:
Disciplining children's conductAdvocating permissivenessDiscrediting parental permissivenessRelaxing parental disciplineTolerating childrenAbstaining from constructive family discipline for young peopleTightening parental responses References:
Baum, Harold: The Biochemists Songbook Subject(s):
Action → Action ??Society → Infants??
Society → Youth??
Society → Family??
Society → Maternity, paternity??
Society → Sex-related questions??
Societal Problems → Addiction, drug abuse??
Societal Problems → Inadequacy??
Societal Problems → Scarcity??
Health Care → Pharmacy??
Cybernetics → Control??
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Date of last update
01.05.2000 – 00:00 CEST