FREQUENCY AND CORRELATION OF CORRECTIVE AND PREVENTIVE CHILD-REARING PRACTICES OF PRESCHOOLERS’ MOTHERS

Roditelji sudjeluju u regulaciji djetetovog ponašanja širokim repertoarom svojih postupaka. Preventivni odgojni postupci određeni su kao postupci prihvaćanja djeteta i poticanja poželjnog ponašanja. Korektivni odgojni postupci odnose se na roditeljske reakcije na dječje neprimjereno ponašanje s namjerom da se ono ispravi, a uključuju postupke kažnjavanja i alternative kažnjavanju. Na prigodnom uzorku majki šestogodišnjaka (N=329) utvrđeno je da one najviše koriste preventivne odgojne postupke, zatim alternative kažnjavanju pa kažnjavanje. Među najzastupljenijim postupcima poticanja poželjnog ponašanja su izražavanje priznanja djetetu za njegova nastojanja i tješenje djeteta kad je uznemireno, dok je dopuštanje donošenja odluka djetetu najmanje zastupljeno. Od ispitivanih postupaka kažnjavanja majke izvještavaju da u prosjeku nekoliko puta mjesečno koriste vikanje na dijete, a nekoliko puta godišnje udaranje po stražnjici. Od alternativa kažnjavanju u prosjeku svakodnevno koriste pohvale, tjedno pokazuju primjerom i objašnjavaju pravila ponašanja, nekoliko puta mjesečno nadziru djetetovo ponašanje, a nekoliko puta godišnje ga nagrađuju materijalnim nagradama. Dobivene povezanosti roditeljskih postupaka ukazuju na različitost prirode ponašanja roditelja usmjerenih korigiranju nepoželjnih ponašanja djeteta od načina kojima roditelji potiču poželjno ponašanje. Preusmjeravanjem središta interesa teorije i empirijskih istraživanja s nepoželjnih roditeljskih postupaka poput kažnjavanja na alternative kažnjavanju i preventivne odgojne postupke daje se doprinos razvijanju spoznaja o pozitivnom roditeljstvuParents participate in regulating children’s behaviour by a wide repertoire of their practices. Preventive child-rearing practices are defined as measures of accepting a child and encouraging its desired behaviour. Corrective parental practices refer to parents’ reactions aimed at correcting children’s inappropriate behaviour and include punishments and alternatives to punishment. The sample of six-year-olds’ mothers (N=329) has revealed that they primarily use preventive child-rearing practices, then alternatives to punishment and punishments. The most common practices encouraging desired behaviour are expressing appreciation to a child for its efforts and consoling a child when upset. Allowing a child to make its own decisions is used at least. In reference to the punishment practices subject to this study, mothers report that on average they yell a few times a month and spank their child a few times a year. Alternatives to punishment include daily praise, and explaining rules of behaviour and acting as models to children weekly. Mothers monitor their child’s behaviour a few times a week and give material awards a few times a year. The obtained correlations of parental practices indicate the differences in the nature of behaviour of parents oriented towards correcting inappropriate behaviour from the way the parents encourage desired behaviour. Redirecting the focus of attention in theory and empirical research from undesirable parental practices such as punishments to alternatives to punishment and preventive parental practices gives a contribution to development of the notion of positive parenting