Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T06:33:13.799Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - The construction of parenting and its context

from Part I - Basic issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2009

By
Michael Göpfert ,
Jeni Webster  and
Julia Nelki
Edited by
Michael Göpfert ,
Jeni Webster  and
Mary V. Seeman
Michael Göpfert
Affiliation:
Webb House Democratic Therapeutic Community, Crewe
Jeni Webster
Affiliation:
5 Boroughs Partnership, Warrington
Mary V. Seeman
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Get access

Summary

Introduction

This chapter aims to clarify the term ‘parenting’ as a social role within a culturally determined social construction. It will provide tools for the formulation of parenting and for the understanding of the complex interface between psychiatric disorder and parenting in the context of mental health services and of family/community. This will establish the ground against which the gestalt of the professional task of performing a parenting assessment is considered (see Göpfert et al., Chapter 7) and against which some of the effects of parental psychiatric disorder on children can be understood.

The chapter will use the role-relationship paradigm (Horowitz et al., 1995; Muran, 2002; Nye, 1976; Nye & Berardo, 1981; Ryle & Kerr, 2002) as a framework for understanding parenting across the spectrum of care. The role-relationship model facilitates an understanding of both the internal/personal and the social aspects of the parenting role, their interface with one another and with the role of the helping professional. Early role experiences are internalized and form the backbone of personality development. This construct overlaps with the concept of internal working models that comes from attachment theory (see Adshead et al., Chapter 15). Roles and role relationships are useful for understanding the interface between a social role, such as parenting, and the personality of the person enacting the role. Services are not currently designed to deal with such complexity and tend to provide a service that either addresses parenting problems or mental illness problems.

Keywords

mental health servicesparent-child relationshipparentingpsychiatric disorderrole-relationship paradigmsocial construction
Type
Chapter
Information
Parental Psychiatric Disorder
Distressed Parents and their Families
 , pp. 62 - 84
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldridge, J. & Becker, S. (1993). Children who Care: Inside the World of Young Carers. Loughborough: Loughborough University
Arias, I. & Pape, K. T. (1994). Physical abuse. In Handbook of Developmental Family Psychology and Psychopathology, ed. L. L'Abate, pp. 284–308. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Ball, M. (1996). Round and Round the Circle: Support for families through the Department of Health's childcare circles initiative. London: Department of Health. Quoted after Jack, G. (2000). Ecological influences on parenting and child development. British Journal of Social Work, 30, 703–20
Ball, M. (1998). School Inclusion: The School, the Family and the Community. Findings (1998, June). York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Balswick, J. O. & Balkwell, J. W. (1977). Self-disclosure to same- and opposite-sex parents: an empirical test of insights from role theory. Sociometry, 40, 282–6Google Scholar
Beardslee, W. R., Versage, E. & Gladstone, T. (1998). Children of affectively ill parents: a review of the past 10 years. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 1134–41Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. (1991). A Treatise on the Family – Enlarged Edition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Benjamin, L. S. (1998). The Interpersonal Diagnosis and Treatment of Personality Disorders. New York: Guilford Press
Bleuler, M. (1974). The offspring of schizophrenics. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 1, 93–109Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H. (ed.) (1991). Cultural Approaches to Parenting. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Bornstein, H., Haynes, O. M., Azuma, H. et al. (1998). A cross-national study of self-evaluations and attributions in parenting: Argentina, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Developmental Psychology, 34, 662–76Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Bradley, R. H. & von Eye, A. (ed.) (2003). Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Child Development. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Boyd-Franklin, N. & Bry, H. B. (2000). Reaching out in Family Therapy: Home-based, School and Community Interventions. New York: Guilford Press
Brasssard, J. (1982). Beyond family structure: Mother-child interaction and personal social networks. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ithaca, New York, Cornell University. Quoted after Jack, G. (2000). Ecological influences on parenting and child development. British Journal of Social Work, 30, 703–20
Brazelton, T. B. (1991). Discussion: cultural attitudes and actions. In Cultural Approaches to Parenting, ed. M. H. Bornstein, pp. 144–22. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Breznitz, S. (1985). Chores as a buffer against risky interaction. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 11, 357–60Google Scholar
Browne, C. (1994). The impact of divorce on families: the Australian experience. Family and Conciliation Courts Review, 32, 149–67Google Scholar
Byng-Hall, J. (1995). Re-writing Family Scripts: Improvisation and Systems Change. New York: Guilford Press
Byng-Hall, J. (2002). Relieving parentified children's burdens in families with insecure attachment patterns. Family Process, 41, 375–88Google Scholar
Cahn, E. S. (2000). No more Throw-away People – The Co-production Imperative. Washington, DC: Essential Books
Caspi, A. & Elder, G. H. (1988). Emergent family patterns: the intergenerational construction of problem behaviour and relationships. In Relationships Within Families: Mutual Influences, ed. R. A. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde, pp. 218–40. Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cicero, M. T. (44 BC/1991). On Duties (De Officiis). In Cicero: On Duties, ed. M. T. Griffin & E. M. Atkins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Coffey, E. P., Olson, M. E. & Sessions, P. (2001). The heart of the matter: an essay about the effects of managed care on family therapy with children. Family Process, 40, 385–400Google Scholar
Comunian, A. L. & Mosconi, A. (1999). Individual, family and culture. Interactive reality construction: What family therapy application?Human Systems, 10, 49–66Google Scholar
Corwin, M. deO. (1996). Beyond the nuclear family: cultural dissolution and borderline personality disorder. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 66, 147–61Google Scholar
Cunningham, J. (2001). Children of Mothers with Mental Health Problems. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Birmingham, Birmingham
Donnison, D. (1998). Policies for a Just Society. Basingstoke: Macmillan
Earley, L. & Cushway, D. (2002). The parentified child. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7, 163–78Google Scholar
Faber, A. & Mazlish, E. (1998). Siblings without Rivalry: helping your Children Live Together so you can Live Too. New York: Norton/London: Piccadilly Press
Falkov, A. (ed.) (1998). Crossing Bridges: Training Resources for Working with Mentally Ill Parents and their Children. An Evidence Based Reader. Brighton: Pavilion Publishing
Fernando, S. (1988). Race and Culture in Psychiatry. London: Croom Helm
Flavell, J. H. (1963). The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget. Princeton: van Nostrand
Galdstone, R. (1965). Observations on children who have been physically abused and their parents. American Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 440–3Google Scholar
Garcia, M. M., Shaw, D. S., Winslow, E. B. & Yaggi, K. E. (2000). Destructive sibling conflict and the development of conduct problems in young boys. Developmental Psychology, 36, 44–53Google Scholar
Gibbons, J. (1990). Family Support and Prevention: Studies in Local Areas. London, HMSO
Göpfert, M. & Mahoney, C. (2000). Participative research with users of mental health services who are parents. Clinical Psychology Forum, 140, 11–15Google Scholar
Göpfert, M., Webster, J., Pollard, J. & Nelki, J. S. (1996). The assessment and prediction of parenting capacity: a community-oriented approach. In Parental Psychiatric Disorder: Distressed Parents and their Families, ed. M. Göpfert, J. Webster & M. V. Seeman, pp. 271–309. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Göpfert, M., Harrison, P. & Mahoney, C. (1999). Keeping the Family in Mind: Participative Research into Mental Ill-health and how it Affects the whole Family. Liverpool: Save the Children, Barnardos, Imagine and North Mersey Community Trust
Gunderman, R. (2000). Illness as failure. Blaming the patients. Hastings Center Report, 30, 7–11Google Scholar
Hafner, R. J. (1986). Marriage and Mental Illness: A Sex Role Perspective. New York: Guilford Press
Hetherington, R., Baistow, K., Katz, I., Mesie, J. & Trowell, J. (2002). The Welfare of Children with Mentally ill Parents: Learning from Inter-country Comparisons. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Hill, J. (1996). Parental psychiatric disorder and the attachment relationship. In Parental Psychiatric Disorder: Distressed Parents and their Families, ed. M. Göpfert, J. Webster & M. V. Seeman, pp. 7–16. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Hoghughi, M. & Speight, A. N. P. (1998). Good enough parenting – a strategy for a healthier society. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 78, 293–6Google Scholar
Holley, T. E. & Holley, J. (1998). My Mother's Keeper: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up in the Shadow of Schizophrenia. New York: Morrow
Horowitz, M. J., Eells, T., Singer, J. & Salovey, P. (1995). Role-relationship models for case formulation. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 625–32Google Scholar
Horrocks, J. E. & Jackson, D. W. (1972). Self and Role: a Theory of Self-process and Role Behaviour. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company
Hughes, C. C, Tremblay, M. -A., Rapoport, R. N. & Leighton, A. H. (1960). People of Cove and Woodlot. Communities from the Viewpoint of Social Psychiatry. Volume II: The Stirling County Study of Psychiatric Disorder and Sociocultural Environment. New York: Basic Books
Hunter, J. J. & Maunder, R. G. (2001). Using attachment theory to understand illness behavior. General Hospital Psychiatry, 23, 177–82Google Scholar
Jack, G. (2001). Ecological perspectives in assessing children and families. In The Child's World: Assessing Children in Need, ed. J. Horwath, pp. 53–74. London: Jessica Kingsley
Johnston, J. R. & Campbell, L. E. G. (1993). Parent–child relationships in domestic violence families disputing custody. Family Conciliation and Courts Review, 31, 282–98Google Scholar
Jones, D. (2001). The assessment of parenting capacity. In The Child's World: Assessing Children in Need, ed. J. Horwath. London: Jessica Kingsley
Jurkovic, G. H. (1997). Lost Childhoods: The Plight of the Parentified Child. New York: Brunner & Mazel
Kashiwagi, K. & Nagahisa, H. (1999). Value of a child for women: Why have a child now?Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 47, 170–9Google Scholar
Kawachi, I., Kennedy, B. P., Lochner, K. & Prothrow-Stith, D. (1997). Social capital, income inequality and morality. American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1491–8Google Scholar
Kelly, J. B. (1993). Current research on children's post-divorce adjustment: no simple answer. Family Conciliation and Courts Review, 31, 29–49Google Scholar
Kendrick, C. & Dunn, Judy (1982). Protest or pleasure? The response of first-born children to interactions between their mothers and infant siblings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 23, 117–29Google Scholar
Knapp, E. K. & Harris, E. S. (1998). Consultation-Liaison in Child Psychiatry – A review of the past 10 years. Part II: Research on treatment approaches and outcomes. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 139–46Google Scholar
Leff, J. (2001). The Unbalanced Mind. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson
Leon, D. A., Vagero, D. & Olausson, Otterblad P. (1992). Social class differences in infant mortality in Sweden: a comparison with England and Wales. British Medical Journal, 305, 687–91Google Scholar
Levy, T. M. & Orlans, M. (1998). Attachment, Trauma and Healing: Understanding and Treating Attachment Disorder in Children and Families. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America
Littlewood, R. & Lipsedge, M. (1989). Aliens and Alienists: Ethnic Minorities and Psychiatry. London: Unwin Hyman
Lystad, M. H. (1975). Violence at home: a review of the literature. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 45, 328–45Google Scholar
Main, T. F. (1946/1989). The hospital as a therapeutic institution. Reprinted in Johns, J. (ed.) (1989). The Ailment and other Psychoanalytic Essays. London: Free Associations
McCord, J. (1990). Long-term perspective on parental absence. In Straight and Devious Pathways from Childhood to Adulthood, ed. L. Robins & M. Rutter, pp. 113–34. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
McGuire, J. & Earls, F. (1998). Coercive family process and delinquency: some methodological considerations. In Coercion and Punishment in Long-term Perspectives, ed. J. McCord, pp. 348–61. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Mika, P., Bergner, R. M. & Baum, M. C. (1987). The development of a scale for the assessment of parentification. Family Therapy, 14, 229–35Google Scholar
Milner, J. & O'Byrne, P. (1998). Assessment in Social Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and Family Therapy. London: Tavistock Publications
Mufson, L., Aidala, A. & Warner, V. (1994). Social dysfunction and psychiatric disorder in mothers and their children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 1256–64Google Scholar
Muran, J. C. (2002). A relational approach to understanding change: plurality and contextualism in a psychotherapy research program. Psychotherapy Research, 12, 113–38Google Scholar
Norton, K. & Dolan, B. (1996). Personality dsorder and parenting. In Parental Psychiatric Disorder: Distressed Parents and their Families, ed. M. Göpfert, J. Webster & M. V. Seeman, pp. 219–32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Norton, K. & Smith, S. (1994). Problems with Patients. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Nye, F. I. (1976). Role Structure and Analysis of the Family. Beverly Hills: Sage
Nye, F. I. & Berardo, F. M. (1981). Emerging Conceptual Frameworks in Family Analysis. Westport: Praeger
O'Connor, T. G., Deater-Deckard, K., Fulker, D., Rutter, M. & Plomin, R. (1998). Genotype-environment correlations in late childhood and early adolescence: antisocial behavioural problems and coercive parenting. Developmental Psychology, 34, 970–81Google Scholar
O'Leary, K. D. & Jouriles, E. N. (1994). Psychological abuse between adult partners. In Handbook of Developmental Family Psychology and Psychopathology, ed. L. L'Abate, pp. 330–49. Wiley, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Oliviera, Z. M. R. (1997). The concept of role and the discussion of the internalisation process. In Sociogenetic Perspectives on Internalization, ed. B. D. Cox & C. Lightfoot. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Parsons, T. (1957). The Social System. New York: Free Press
Parsons, T. (1964). Social Structure and Personality. New York: Free Press
Parsons, T. (1967). Sociological Theory and Modern Society. New York: Free Press
Parsons, T. (1978). Action Theory and the Human Condition. New York: Free Press
Patterson, T. E. & Lusterman, D.-D. (1997). The relational reimbursement dilemma. In Handbook of Relational Diagnosis and Dysfunctional Family Patterns, ed. F. W. Kaslow. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Pearlmutter, R. A. (1996). A Family Approach to Psychiatric Disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press
Platt, L. & Noble, M. (1999). Race, Place and poverty: Ethnic Groups and Low Income Distributions. ‘Findings’ (1999, February). York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Pottick, K. J. & Davis, D. M. (2001). Attributions of responsibility for children's mental health problems: parents and professionals at odds. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 71, 426–35Google Scholar
Pound, A. (1996). Parental affective disorder and childhood disturbance. In Parental Psychiatric Disorder: Distressed Parents and their Families, ed. M. Göpfert, J. Webster & M. V. Seeman, pp. 201–18. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Quinton, D., Rutter, M. & Gulliver, L. (1990). Continuities in psychiatric disorder from childhood to adulthood in the children of psychiatric patients. In Straight and Devious Pathways to Adulthood, ed. L. Robins & M. Rutter, pp. 259–78. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Reder, P. & Duncan, S. (1999). Lost Innocents: A Follow-up Study of Fatal Child Abuse. London: Routledge
Reder, P. & Lucey, C. (ed.) (1995). Assessment of Parenting: Psychiatric and Psychological Contributions. London: Routledge
Reder, P., McClure, M. & Jolley, A. (2000). Family Matters: Interfaces between Child and Adult Mental Health. London: Routledge
Reed, A. (1999). Psychiatric hospital admission and interpersonal ‘closure’: network Meetings as a means of countering closure. Human Systems, 10, 35–48Google Scholar
Richards, M. & Light, P. (ed.) (1990). Children of Social Worlds: Development in a Social Context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Riordan, D., Appleby, L. & Faragher, B. (1999). Mother–infant interaction in post-partum women with schizophrenia and affective disorders. Psychological Medicine, 29, 991–5Google Scholar
Rogoff, B., Mistry, J., Göncü, A. & Mosier, C. (1991). Cultural variation in the role relations of toddlers and their families. In Cultural Approaches to Parenting, ed. M. H. Bornstein, pp. 173–83. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Rose, W. (2001). Assessing children in need and their families: an overview of the framework. In The Child's World: Assessing Children in Need, ed. J. Horwath, 35–56. London: Jessica Kingsley
Royal College of Psychiatrists (2002). Domestic Violence. Council Report CR 102. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists
Ruppert, S. & Bågedahl-Strindlund, M. (2001). Children of parapartum mentally ill mothers: a follow-up study. Psychopathology, 34, 174–8Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Quinton, D. (1984). Parental psychiatric disorder: effects on children. Psychological Medicine, 14, 853–80Google Scholar
Ryckoff, I., Day, J. & Wynne, L. C. (1991). Maintenance of stereotyped roles in the families of schizophrenics. In Foundations of Object Relations Family Therapy, ed. J. S. Scharff. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson
Ryle, A. (1998). Cognitive-analytic Therapy and Borderline Personality Disorder. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Ryle, A. & Kerr, I. (2002). Introducing Cognitive-analytic Therapy: Principles and Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons
Schreier, H. A. & Libow, J. A. (1993). Hurting for Love: Munchausen-by-Proxy Syndrome. New York: Guilford Press
Scott, R. D. & Starr, I. (1981). A 24-hour family orientated psychiatric and crisis service. Journal of Family Therapy, 3, 177–86Google Scholar
Seeman, M. V. (1996). The mother with schizophrenia. In Parental Psychiatric Disorder: Distressed Parents and their Families, ed. M. Göpfert, J. Webster, & M. V. Seeman, pp. 190–200. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Sergiovanni, T. J. (1994). Building Community in Schools. San Francisco: Jossey Bass
Sessions, M. (1986). Influence of parentification on professional role choice and interpersonal style. Dissertation Abstracts International, 47, 5066 (University Microfilms No. 87-06815)Google Scholar
Skogstad, W. (2001). Internal and external reality: enquiring into their interplay in an inpatient setting. In Reflective Enquiry into Therapeutic Institutions, ed. L. Day & P. Pringle, pp. 45–66. London: Karnac
Smale, G., Tuson, G., Ahmed, B., Darvill, G., Domoney, L. & Sainsbury, E. (1994). Negotiating Care in the Community. London: HMSO
Smith, P. K. & Drew, L. M. (2002). Grandparenthood. In Handbook of Parenting: Vol. 3: Being and Becoming a Parent, 2nd edn, ed. M. H. Bornstein, pp. 141–72. Mahwah, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Spencer, N. (1996). Reducing child health inequalities. In Working for Equality in Health, ed. P. Bywaters & E. McLead, pp. 143–60. London: Routlege
John, W.St (1999). Beyond the sick role: situating community health nursing practice. Collegian, 6, 30–5Google Scholar
Steinhauer, P. D. (1998). The Least Detrimental Alternative: A Systematic Guide to Case Planning and Decision Making for Children in Care. Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Stierlin, H. (1977). Psychoanalysis and Family Therapy. New York: Jason Aronson
Taylor, J.Spencer, N. & Baldwin, N. (2000). Social, economic and political context of parenting. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 82, 113–17Google Scholar
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1973/1986). Oxford: Clarendon Press
Toman, W. (1988). Basics of family structure and sibling position. In Siblings in Therapy: Life Span and Clinical Issues, ed. M. D. Kahn & K. G. Lewis, pp. 46–65. New York: W. W. Norton
Tomison, A. M. (1996). Child Maltreatment and Mental Disorder. Discussion paper 3. Melbourne: National Child Protection Clearinghouse
Tomison, A. M. & Wise, S. (1999). Community-based Approaches in Preventing Child Maltreatment. Issues in Child Abuse Prevention, 11. Melbourne: National Child Protection Clearinghouse
Torkington, N. P. K. (1991). Black Health: A Political Issue. Liverpool: Catholic Association for Racial Justice and Liverpool Institute of Higher Education
Touliatos, J., Perlmutter, B. F. & Strauss, M. A. (2001). Handbook of Family Measurement Techniques. Thousand Oaks: Sage
Vagero, D. & Lundberg, O. (1989). Health inequalities in Britain and Sweden. Lancet, 11, 35–6Google Scholar
Valleau, M. P., Bergner, R. M. & Horton, C. B. (1995). Parentification and caretaker syndrome: An empirical investigation. Family Therapy, 22, 157–64Google Scholar
Vygotsky, L. (1986/1934). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Webster, J. (1990). Parenting for children with schizophrenic mothers. Adoption and Fostering, 14, 37–43Google Scholar
Werner, E. & Smith, R. (1992). Overcoming the Odds: High-risk Children from Birth to Adulthood. New York: Cornell
Winnicott, D. W. (1964). The relationship of a mother to her baby at the beginning. In The Family and Individual Development, ed. D. W. Winnicott, pp. 17–18. London: Tavistock
Woodhouse, D. & Pengelly, P. (1991). Anxiety and the Dynamics of Collaboration. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×