Parent Child Connectedness
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
Parents send their children to schools in the hopes of having them acquire hard skills such as knowledge about the world, logic, and comprehension. However, at present, the focus of parents, along with other concerned institutions such as the school and the workforce, have extended to also consider the "soft skills" of the individual. These are the abilities to evaluate, communicate, and adapt effectively to the social environment collectively known as social competence (West, 1996). One manifestation of social competence, particularly in adolescents, is being accepted within the peer group, or acquiring a desired peer group status (East, 1991). Perhaps no other stage in human development puts emphasis on peer status as much as in adolescence, as peer groups become the center of the adolescents ' concerns and activities (Barrocas, n.d.). A major task of the adolescent is to be well-adjusted and skillful at meeting the norms within their peer groups (Santrock, 2001). For parents, the challenge may also increase as their children grow from childhood to adolescence. Unlike infants and young children, adolescents are exposed to physical and emotional changes in themselves, as well as social situations outside their homes that may challenge their bond with parents (Bean, Lezin, Rolleri, & Taylor, 2004). The unique bond, the sense of security or the attachment between the parent and the child, appeals to families and the researchers alike as it has implications on family life, adolescent interactions and potential development or adaptation of interventions in psychology. This quality of mutual bond between the parent and the child can be summed as parent-child connectedness or PCC (Bean, Lezin, Rolleri, & Taylor, 2004). It is in this study that links of group status and parent-child relationships are discussed. Of particular interest is the parent-child connection in early adolescence, a period of
INTRODUCTION
Parents send their children to schools in the hopes of having them acquire hard skills such as knowledge about the world, logic, and comprehension. However, at present, the focus of parents, along with other concerned institutions such as the school and the workforce, have extended to also consider the "soft skills" of the individual. These are the abilities to evaluate, communicate, and adapt effectively to the social environment collectively known as social competence (West, 1996). One manifestation of social competence, particularly in adolescents, is being accepted within the peer group, or acquiring a desired peer group status (East, 1991). Perhaps no other stage in human development puts emphasis on peer status as much as in adolescence, as peer groups become the center of the adolescents ' concerns and activities (Barrocas, n.d.). A major task of the adolescent is to be well-adjusted and skillful at meeting the norms within their peer groups (Santrock, 2001). For parents, the challenge may also increase as their children grow from childhood to adolescence. Unlike infants and young children, adolescents are exposed to physical and emotional changes in themselves, as well as social situations outside their homes that may challenge their bond with parents (Bean, Lezin, Rolleri, & Taylor, 2004). The unique bond, the sense of security or the attachment between the parent and the child, appeals to families and the researchers alike as it has implications on family life, adolescent interactions and potential development or adaptation of interventions in psychology. This quality of mutual bond between the parent and the child can be summed as parent-child connectedness or PCC (Bean, Lezin, Rolleri, & Taylor, 2004). It is in this study that links of group status and parent-child relationships are discussed. Of particular interest is the parent-child connection in early adolescence, a period of
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