Diana Baumrind outlined the three features which we use to understand child rearing and parenting

styles: acceptance, control, and autonomy (Baumrind, 1971). From these three features we can
identify four parental styles that can lead to differing outcomes for the child: Authoritative,
Authoritarian, Permissive, and Uninvolved. To understand the differing parenting styles, we must
first understand the three features outlined by Baumrind. Acceptance refers to the parent’s ability to
accept the child and involve themselves in the child’s life. Control refers to the measures the parent
puts in place to ensure mature behaviour, in order to give effective control the parent must have
appropriate consequences for inappropriate behaviour, with clear rules, punishments, and
expectations for the child to give the child a sense of limitations and the consequences for not
adhering so. Autonomy refers to giving the child appropriate levels of self-reliance and choice in
their life so that they can develop the skills necessary to be independent and facilitate a healthy
development of self-concept and self-reliance.

Authoritative Child Rearing is referred to as the best approach to parenting as it contains the correct
amount of all three key features. Authoritative parents are attentive to the child’s needs with clear
boundaries set on acceptable behaviour, not so distant as to seem cold, but distant enough to
promote the child’s independence and not encourage over-reliance on the parents. An authoritative
parent isn’t likely to resort to physical punishments or be restrictive in the requirements of the child,
they are also most likely to establish a lasting strong and stable bond with the child. A key feature of
this parental style is a willingness of the parent to discuss disagreements with the child, giving the
child a voice instead of strict or distant punishment. This encourages the child to be cooperative
when necessary (Russell, Mize & Bissaker, 2004). Children of Authoritave parents find themselves to
have higher levels of self-control and self-reliance due to the autonomy granted by their parents,
and often will find themselves performing better in academic settings (Steinberg et al., 1992).

Authoritarian Child Rearing though sounding like authoritative is a very different setting for child.
Authoritarian parents do not meet the correct criteria for any of the three features outlined by
Baumrind. Authoritarian parents tend to be more distant with their children and less accepting of
who they are, they also display high levels of incorrect control; that meaning that they often use
coercive and overly punitive punishments. Similarly, they are often very restrictive in granting the
child autonomy and expect strict adherence to how the parent wishes the child to act. Authoritarian
parents tend to come from far right-wing traditional and heavily religious backgrounds that rely on
traditional parenting styles (Danso, Hunsberger & Pratt, 1997). Children of Authoritarian parents find
themselves low in self-confidence and esteem due to the strict requirements of the parents, they
also often react violently and with hostility in confrontations, similarly to how their parents would
react. This approach leads to largely, unhappy children.

Permissive Child Rearing is more akin to the authoritative approach but done incorrectly. Permissive
parents often are warm and accepting of their children however do not enact appropriate levels of
control and give their children to much autonomy too fast, rather than the gradual approach of
authoritative. The child in this situation is left to make too many decisions when they are ill equipped
to make them. Though not seen as bad as authoritarian, the permissive approach often leads
children to delinquency and higher levels of aggression due to this lack of parental supervision
(Bayrami, 2009). Due to these traits children of permissive parents tend to do worse in school.

Uninvolved Child Rearing is as it would suggest where the parent is distant and not accepting of the
child. Consequently, there is little control exerted over the child and levels of autonomy are simply
not considered as the parents is generally absent. Parents of this style may be too preoccupied with
the stresses of their lives to properly care for their children, having little to no energy to give the
child the attention it needs (Macoby & Martin, 1983). Due to the developmental requirements of a
child children of uninvolved parents tend to not have a stable attachment and consequently suffer
greatly in the development of social, emotional, and cognitive abilities. These children often find it
difficult to make friends and display certain antisocial behaviours (Baumrind, 1991). Ideally children
would be raised in an authoritative setting, with permissive being the imperfect version of such.
Both authoritarian and uninvolved parenting styles can have lasting damaging effects on the
development of the child and should be avoided at all costs.