Current Research

Since 2003, when this research project began, there has been increasing interest and growing recognition by government ministries of the importance of effective parenting in arresting growing social issues. For example, there have been a number of government initiatives focused on improving parenting skills and strengthening family units. The MOE has a website dedicated to parenting issues, such as Team Up Parenting and a Parent Support initiative aimed at strengthening parenting skills through educational programmes and social support services which is centred in PECCs in low socio economic areas where families are most vulnerable. The Ministry of Justice has in 2006, launched programmes for parents going through the process of separation with the

objective of minimising the negative effects on the children involved. A huge proliferation of resource material has been produced in recent years by MSD and CYFs to promote effective parenting strategies to parents across the board. There has also been greater recognition of specific issues relating to teenage parenting and the implementation of support services to cater for the needs of increasing numbers of teenage parents. While the emphasis has focused on parents, there has also been recognition of the need to address environmental and the wider socio-economic issues, such as how poverty impacts on the ability of families to parent effectively. One example is the new Family Assistance package that provides families with children extra assistance.

Anne Smith (2006), in the Ministry of Development’s Social Policy Journal, reviews a number of studies that examine the relationship between ethnicity, parenting-styles and disciplinary environment, and outcomes for children. Smith refers to several studies including Deater-Deckard and Dodge 1997; Horn et al 2004; Kelley and Tseng 1992 and Simons et al, 2000 which demonstrate that the effects of physical discipline vary across social and cultural contexts. Smith cites Deater-Deckard’s and Dodge’s findings that punishment has different meanings for different cultural groups, and that parent–child relationships are another important arbitrary feature. (Deater-Deckard and Dodge: 1997 cited in Smith 2006:6) assert that:

…where physical punishment is a predominant and normative mode of discipline and where it is used in a controlled fashion in the context of a nurturing relationship, it is looked on as culturally acceptable, and a sign of good parenting, and that therefore the effects can be positive.

However, while Smith (ibid) observes that this suggestion of physical punishment having possible positive outcomes is reinforced in other studies, such as Horn, Joseph and Cheng (2004, cited in ibid), she notes that such findings are questionable as many more studies make the association between physical punishment and poor outcomes. Smith (ibid) also refers to a recent study by Landsford et al. (2005 cited in ibid) which tested the hypothesis of whether in cultures where physical punishment is normative the results were less negative than perceived in Western cultures. Landsford et al (cited in ibid) identified variations in countries’ “normativeness” use of physical punishment and found that “normativeness” moderated the association between punishment and child

aggression and anxiety. For example, in cultural groups in Kenya, where physical punishment was more frequently used, adjustment problems were less severe. Conversely, in countries where physical punishment was less acceptable and used infrequently children who experienced physical punishment suffered more harmful effects. However, it is important to note that researchers agree that the ‘moderating’ effects of cultural norms are restricted to reasonable levels of physical punishment. Extremely harsh discipline, bordering on physical abuse, is ruinous for any child regardless of culture. Moreover, children who had experienced physical punishment, irrespective of whether it was regarded as normative or not, were more likely to be aggressive and anxious. Accordingly, Lansford et al argue that it is important not to take an extreme position on cultural relativism (Lansford et al. 2005 cited in Smith 2006:6).

This research has relevance to participants’ experiences of strict upbringings that often involved physical punishment. In countries such as Samoa where physical punishment is a common parenting strategy used to deter undesired behaviour or attitudes in the young, moderate physical punishment is considered to be quite acceptable (Meleisea and Schoeffel, 1998). Furthermore, village life is a shared experience and as people live in open style fale (houses) very similar parenting practices are inculcated. Thus the normativeness of the parenting experience may assist the Samoan child’s adjustment to these practices with minimal harmful results.

2.4

SUMMARY

The literature reviewed in this chapter is derived from both Pasifika and Western epistemologies that have relevance to the issues that affect choices made by Pasifika parents with respect to engagement with ECE. Firstly, the relevance of current services provided by Pasifika language nests and PECCs regarding language maintenance and educational standards were discussed. Secondly, the issue of identity, particularly the complexities of identity formation within the context of an increasingly multi-ethnic Pasifika population, was explored. Thirdly, factors relating to teenage parenting were also discussed in order to highlight specific issues pertaining to parenting differences within this growing section of the communities in contemporary society. Finally, the effects of trans-generational changes in parenting styles and their impact on the current parenting practices were examined. Chapter three will provide an overview of the theoretical framework used in this thesis.

CHAPTER THREE