The Home As Foundation For Behavioral Development. Major Causes Of Mis-Behaviors - Essay Example

The home as foundation for behavioral development While parents and children play different roles in the family system in particular and the society in general, they also have equal rights and privileges to enjoy being both humans. As such, they have their own limits in exercising their duties and responsibilities both in and outside of family domains. How effective the execution of their rights on the outside world depends on how intact their family system is and how they both practice their rights.

This is where we based who is to blame or accredit the behaviors of one against the other, together with one another, or with the entire society they belong.Laws govern boundaries of behaviors in an organized society. In the case of most developed countries 18 years is the age where parents are put in custody of the child. During this stage it is assumed, in the absence of specific laws, that the parents have the right and obligations to take action, within the bounds of the law, to guide and discipline the child according to what the parents deemed necessary for the betterment of the child.

Within the parental custody age of 0 to 18, if the parents fall short of expectations and remiss in the physiological, psychological, and social development needs of the child or juvenile, they share the burden and repercussions of the child's or juvenile's actions. Other person can sue the parents, or the children themselves can sue their parents if they found probable cause. Many countries today are focusing on basic social protection of the child's rights that resorted to even penalizing the erring parents and take custody of the juvenile.

Major causes of mis-behaviorsThe American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reported several factors contributory to unwanted behaviors, which include: previous aggressive or violent behavior, being the victim of physical abuse and/or sexual abuse, exposure to violence in the home and/or community, genetic (family heredity) factors, exposure to violence in media (TV, movies, etc.), use of drugs and/or alcohol, presence of firearms in home, combination of stressful family socioeconomic factors (poverty, severe deprivation, marital breakup, single parenting, unemployment, loss of support from extended family), and brain damage from head injury (AACAP, 2001).

Much of the mentioned causes is associated or can be traced back to the home. If these conditions do not exist in the homes, the likelihood of the child behaving straightforwardly is high.Experts agree that a perfect formula that answers all questions about discipline does not exist. Every child is unique and so is the family in which he lives that a strategy that might work with one child may not work with another. Although there is no secret formula for discipline, there are best practices that can lay a foundation for good discipline.

The very basic of these foundations is establishing mutual respect among family members. But it is not an overnight process; it is developmental in nature. As Erna Fishhaut, a specialist from the University of Minnesota put it; bonding and attachment are necessary for the creation of better relationship starting from age 0 onwards. Barakat and Clark (2008) also mentioned developing positive guidance as one common strategy, which promote children's self-control, teach children responsibility and help children make thoughtful choices.

Likewise, Greeder (2003) enumerated 16 tools in effective parenting and they all redound to building positive relationship with the child.Building positive relationship is as easy as establishing rapport with colleagues and friends in the office, peers, and other small groups. The key point is understanding, patience, and a positive mind set that no other person can do the task of building better relationship than the parties involved themselves. As much as the growing child is on its normative stage while parents are fully developed, presumably, in a responsibility sharing, parents should provide 60% as against 40% for the child, of the load in building mutual respect, discipline, and ultimately good behavior.

ReferencesAmerican Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2001). Understanding Violent Behavior In Children and Adolescents. Retrieved on February 19, 2008, from http://aacap.org/page.wwname=Understanding+Violent+Behavior +in+Children+and+Adolescents§ion=Facts+for+FamiliesBarakat, I. S. & Clark, J. A. (2008). Positive Discipline and Child Guidance. Retrieved February 19, 2008, from http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/hesguide/ humanrel/gh6119.htmFishhaut, E. (2004). Attachment: A lifelong Commitment.

Retrieved on February 19, 2008 from http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/babies/BE914.htmlGreeder, K. (2003, April). 16 Tools for Effective Parents. Retrieved on February 19, 2008 from http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1547F.pdf