Culturally shaped patterns of disciplining children

Research indicates an association between parents’disciplinary practices and their children’s developmental outcomes. Research also suggests that disciplinary practices vary with demo-graphic factors such as class, ethnicity, and gender. This article draws on the Douglas-Wildavsky grid-group theory to explain the association between demographic factors and disciplinary practices in microsocial terms. This theory links disparate sets of core beliefs and value priorities to contrasting conceptions of the family (including distinctive orienta-tions toward parenting) and parental preferences for different disciplinary strategies. Studies by other researchers provide empirical support for these linkages. This grid-group theory ap-plication contributes to theory development through (a) bridging macroexplanations and microexplanations by showing how culture contributes to shaping parental practices, (b) dis-tinguishing rival sets of core beliefs and value priorities that help researchers and practitio-ners understand parents, and (c) indicating ways for practitioners to apply these distinctions in family intervention