Introduction

Introduction

Culture is defined that a way of life of a group of people. They accept their behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols as well as parenting practices without thinking about them and passed it along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.  Parents will influence their children through specific practices which will affect children outcomes. So that, there is overall approach that parents take to guide, control and socialize their children. Besides that, different culture also would bring different outcome of children.

We have chosen Malaysia because Malaysia is a multicultural society, with Malays, Chinese, Indians and other race living side by side. Malaysia is a very unique country in the sense of its culture. People of different culture and backgrounds will bring different types of parenting practices. Although there are different types of parenting practices, the parents just want to raise a calm, happy and thriving family.

Parenting Practices of Indian Culture

INDIAN CULTURES


                                                     

' NAMASTE'

The life of Indians is centered in the family. Extended families often live together, with two or more adult generations, or brothers, sharing a house. Hinduism is the predominant religion ofIndian people and over 80% of Indians identify themselves as Hindu (Office of the Indian Registrar, 2001).

Discipline

One common trait you will find amongst Indians is that children show utmost respect to their elders. Now this is one habit all Indian parents deliberately inculcate in their children, since beginning. It is an unsaid rule in India that a person cannot answer back to elders and more so, when he/she is at fault. It is deemed disrespectful in India to refer to an elder by his / her name. Instead people prefer calling them uncle and aunt, especially if the person is very elderly. It is also customary in India for the youngsters to touch the feet of their elders as a way of greeting as well as on important occasions.

Life

Individuals are also ranked according to their wealth and power. For example, some powerful people, or “big men,” sit confidently on chairs, while “little men” come before them to make requests, either standing or squatting not presuming to sit beside a man of high status as an equal.
                                                                    

                                                                  Marriage
Marriage is deemed essential for virtually everyone in India, marking the great watershed in life for the individual. For most of Hindu northern and central India, marriages are arranged within the caste between unrelated young people who may never have met. Among some south Indians communities, families seek to strengthen existing kin ties through marriages with cousins whenever possible. For every parent, finding the perfect partner for one’s child is a challenging task. People use their existing social networks, and increasingly, matrimonial newspaper advertisements. The advertisements usually announce religion, caste, educational qualifications, physical features, and earning capacity, and may hint at dowry size (even though giving or accepting dowries is actually illegal).

Conservative means holding to traditional attitudes and value, cautious about change or innovation, typically in relation to politics or religion. Conservative term applies in Hinduism where Hindu women of conservative families veil their faces and remain silent in the presence of older male in-laws, both at home and in the community. A young daughter-in-law even veils from her mother-in-law. These practices emphasize respect relationships, limit unapproved encounters, and enhance family lines of authority.
                                                           

                                    

Socialization

Societal hierarchy is evident in caste groups, amongst individuals, and in family and kinship groups. Castes are primarily associated with Hinduism, but caste-like groups also exist among Muslims, Indian, Christians, and other religious communities. Within most villages or towns, everyone knows the relative rankings of each locally represented caste, and behavior is constantly shaped by this knowledge. 

Socialization of children in Indian families in the traditional setting tended to focus on sociocultural continuity rather than change. However, this emphasis on continuity is gradually giving way to respect for initiative, which was not a feature of traditional upbringing. The present study is attempting to draw attention to transitional aspects of child rearing, which is showing signs of significant changes in parent-child interactions. There is two point of view one can consider as basis of socialization, traditional and modern.

Modern Indian

                            

Traditional Indian

According to traditional view of socialization in Indian context, a good child, in traditional context may be described as humble, intelligent, although not necessarily brilliant, kind to small babies and animals, religious, in sense of going to temple once a day, noninterfering, and well-behaved in not being mischievous and avoiding quarrels with other children. He should,  above all, be obedient and respectful to elders.

The whole family is involved in rearing of children. Socialization of children is not the exclusive responsibility of their parents in the Indian home. Where the grandparents are alive, the parents occupy a secondary role in disciplining and bringing up the children. The grandmother or aunt often becomes an important influence in the lives of young people.In the Indian household, lines of hierarchy and authority are clearly drawn, and ideals of conduct help maintain family harmony. All family members are socialized to accept the authority of those above them in the hierarchy. The eldest male acts as family head, and his wife supervises her daughters-in-law, among whom the youngest has the least authority. Reciprocally, those in authority accept responsibility for meeting the needs of other family members.

Academic

Many Indians are part of the Malaysian working class also exists a large group of educated upper middle class professionals. Indians are well represented in Malaysian medical and legal fraternities. Indians also form a large portion of English language teachers in Malaysia. Law and medicine have traditionally been the preferred career choices in Indian families although more young Indian Malaysians are now venturing into other fields such as engineering, finance and entrepreneurship. Ananda Krishnan and Tony Fernandes are examples of notable Malaysian tycoons of Indian heritage. Some being sent to Tamil primary schools and use Tamil as the medium of instruction while Malay and English are being taught in Kebangsaan school, Indian childrens are succeeding well in studies.

REFERENCE

 Indian Society and Ways of living, 

http://asiasociety.org/indian-society-and-ways-living?page=0,0 (accessed December 8, 2015)

Lifestyle, http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-traditions/lifestyle.html (accessed December 8, 2015)

2015.M.Gail Hickey   

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/48512201_Asian_Indian_Family_Socialization_Patterns_and_Implications_for_American_Schooling

Kurian,G,Ghosh,R:Changing Authority Within the Context of Socialization in Indian Families,Vol.53,No.1

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41886219?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

   

Parenting Practices of Malay Culture

MALAY CULTURES

 Discipline

In terms of discipline and its use, a great deal of stress is places on the Malay concept of parental love.




A child who loves his parents, the mother in particular, is one who is obedient and cooperative, conforming the wishes of the parents. Mothers frequently correct undesirable behaviour by threatening to withdraw their love. When asked what they consider to be their favourite method at correcting undesirable behaviour, parents chose giving advice as the method they most prefer. Malay parents may be regarded as emphasizing love-oriented techniques of discipline. Children are advised and directed by the use of value-statements which give prominence to maintain harmony or relationship between children and their significant others. In contrast, value statements stressing future economic deprivations consequent on failure to meet standards are relatively fewer. (Kuo, Wong 1979)

Educational

Children are more often admonished for not trying than for failure to attain success. But there are however observable changes among some Malay parents in regard to the method being used to correct misbehaviour and to instil a sense of achievement in children. Withdrawal of privileges and criticms are more and more utilized though parents as a matter of choice would not like to use such methods. The last is an extension of the traditional attitude against the use of invidious comparisons among children in the same family in matters pertaining to their performance of various task including school examinations. But Malay parents are increasingly conscious of the fact that passing examinations alone is not enough. Children they say ought to do well in examinations. Giving encouragement to their children so as to induce them to attain success remains the most preferable method. (Kuo, Wong 1979)

Life/Goals

Malay as a cultural identity is often associated with Muslim holding custom-adat and occupying Malay areas. However, such definition merely produces reductive definition on what is Malay since not every single Malay person is Muslim occupying Malay areas and holding Malay custom-adat.

From this point we may say that Malay is not solely a single and homogeneous cultural entity, but, indeed, it is a very heterogeneous one. Malay is like a house occupied by people with different points of view as the consequence of different religious and believes. At the end, the differences on religious and belief systems like above, later on create cultural diversities on custom-adat, conceptual cosmology,time and bread and butter system.

MelayuOnline.com attempts to explain and elaborate Malay philosophy of life based on that cultural diversity which comes out of the multifarious philosophy of life of the Malay people. Therefore, MelayuOnline.com would like to categorise Malay philosophy of life into seven subjects consisting of Malay philosophy about God, cosmology,time, work and destiny, humanity, ghost and ancestor. (Kuo, Wong 1979)

Socialization

Members of same generation normally treat each other as social equals whether they are relatives on the father’s or mother’s side. Status differentiation is essentially a function of generational differences. The Malay concept of respect should be seen in this context.

Malay affection for children has been noted in several studies. Social, religious and economic values are associated with having children. The early years of socialization are thus a period during which nurture and succour afforded the child is marked. Crying children are immediately attended to. In the past it used to be believed that too much of crying caused fits or convulsions.

Within the family, the Malay child grows up emotionally secure but also independent. The impulse of the child is directed towards socially approved forms of behaviour. Thus socialization is perceived as the process of gradual habituation to behavioural forms which are socially approved and religiously idealized. This means in essence that the child is awakened first of all to the existence of certain social requirements in the family. The child learns these through precept and imitation. Harsh words are seldom used and are considered improper and unnecessary. The child therefore gradually internalized the various states of mind evoked by such words as segan; malu; takut; hormat; kurang ajar; taat; hutang budi; budi bahasa; tolak ansur;sesuai menyesuai; sopan santun and tata tertib. Socialization in thus quietist-directive, being emphatic of certain desirable social and religious modalities of behavious considered to be proper, correct and which conform to adult expectations. (Kuo, Wong 1979)

Reference
Kuo. C. Y, K. Wong. 1979. The Contemporary Family in Singapore: Structure and Change. Singapore University Press. Singapore. (accessed date 4 December 2015)

Parenting Practices of Chinese Culture

Parenting Practices of Chinese Culture 

The Chinese culture is known for its ethic of hard work, discipline and excellence, as well as its emphasis on family and ancestral traditions. Given that this ethnicity represents nearly one-sixth of the world's population, the parenting philosophies used within the Chinese family and culture greatly affect not just Chinese society but the larger society as well. (Jenkins 2015)

Discpline

Many Chinese parents are beginning to recognize that parental responsiveness and positive reinforcement are critical components in raising an emotionally healthy and well-balanced child. This is causing a shift in the parenting paradigm from an "authoritarian" to an "authoritative" technique, which incorporates support and compassion along with discipline, says ChineseParenting.com. An article in "The Wall Street Journal" on Aug. 16, 2010, noted that while "nurturing a child’s confidence and independence is not a traditional cornerstone of Chinese child rearing," the concepts of independence and allowing room for failure and improvement are growing in popularity among Chinese parents and caregivers.

One governing principle in Chinese ethics is "mutual dependence," which means that the entire family's image is affected by the choices of a single member of the family. Because the family name and reputation play such a heavy role in Chinese society, additional pressure and expectations weigh heavily on children. A child who excels in academics, arts and sports and eventually attains a notable job with high earnings improves the image of the family. But to achieve those, it's believed that the child must undergo a tedious and strict process of pressure and discipline by parents, teachers and coaches. (Jenkins 2015)

Academic

Li Rui of ChildResearch.net explains that a Chinese parent greatly values his solitary child because of the "major investment" and "national resource" the child represents. Consequently, significant amounts of money and high expectations are focused upon the child in hopes that the child will excel in academics and other areas. (Jenkins 2015)

Life/ Goals

"Due to the inherent makeup of Chinese family culture," says ChineseParenting.com, "it is rare to find parents who are supportive but do not have a resonable amount of influence on their child’s development." A study in the November 2005 "International Journal of Behavioral Development" by Yiyuan Xu, Jo Ann M. Farver, Zengxui Zhang, Qiang Zeng, Lidong Yu and Beiying Cai showed a strong connection between mothers' adherence to traditional Chinese values and their parenting. Women who were more true to their traditional Chinese values were apt to be more "authoritarian" to their children. In this form of parenting, children are given demands and instructions from their parents and are never permitted to question their parents. (Jenkins 2015)

Socialization

A Shame-Socialized Culture 

Generally speaking, Chinese parents use psychological control as a child-rearing tactic, often in instances of teaching or discipline. Many Chinese parents use shame as a model for instilling principles of right and wrong in their children. In comparison to American and Western styles of parenting, in which praise and positive reinforcement are emphasized to protect and promote self-esteem, Chinese parents tend to focus on the negative behavior and decisions of the child. Chinese parents may scold or even physically punish the child for the bad behavior. (Jenkins 2015)

Reference

Jenkins. A. 2015. Chinese Culture & Parenting. http://www.livestrong.com/article/239128-chinese-culture-parenting/ (accessed 5 December 2015)