In the previous article we took a look at the four major styles of parenting. It is generally thought of as uncaring and inadequate to meet the needs of children. Parent attempts to control a child's behavior by ineffective means. For example, a parent may yell at a child to pick up his or her toys or threaten to take them all out to the garbage if they are not picked up immediately. Or the child continues to refuse to cooperate by more whining, ignoring, or running away.
Parents give up or abuse the child in sheer frustration.
In my private practice with children, I often must confront the child to change his or her behavior because mom or dad are outside of our control. To prevent further harm from occurring to the child, they must also make a change in this cycle. Usually, they believe that getting a child to obey, whatever the means, justifies the end result. Understanding this is important if professionals are going to prevent abusive behavior. Both technique and philosophy are necessary.