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Parenting and Family: What's Intergenerational Transmission

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Introduction There are many ways to explain the way a child is the way they are and why they act the way they do. One explanation is through intergenerational transmission. Intergenerational transmission is a process that leads to perseverance of one’s culture, can be selective, and is a bidirectional process (from parent to child or child to parent) (Scabini & Marta, 2006; Schonpflug, 2001). There are many different characteristics and/or temperaments that can be intergenerationally transmitted, such as values, parenting behaviors, gender, and much more. Another trait that can be intergenerationally transmitted, from parent to child, is externalizing problem behaviors. An externalizing problem behavior “refers to a grouping of …show more content…

Overall, this research is consistent in finding that antisocial behavior does transmit through generations. Also, it shows the effect that exposure to family violence has on the intergenerational transmission of externalizing problem behaviors. Bailey et al. (2009) and Ehrensaft and Cohen (2012) both performed longitudinal studies that took place over more than a 20 year time period. Both found that intergenerational transmission does occur, but each examined something different that could affect the transmission (Bailey et al., 2009; Ehrensaft and Cohen, 2012). Bailey et al. (2009) examined the effects of parenting, while Ehrensaft and Cohen (2012) examined the effects of the child’s exposure to multiple sources of violence within the family. In examining two different moderators in the intergenerational transmission of externalizing problem behaviors, Bailey et al. (2009) and Ehrensaft and Cohen (2012) both found that intergenerational transmission does not just occur, but there could be many factors that play a role into the actual transmission. Both studies contributed unique results to the overall findings of intergenerational transmission. Although different effects on intergenerational transmission of externalizing problem behaviors were being examined, both sets of results showed that intergenerational transmission does occur. Risks. The second factor that needs to be considered are the risks that may be intergenerationally

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