The strict

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

model of parenting is one which values strict discipline, particularly by the father, in

parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a ...

. The strict mother model also exists. Ideas involved in this model include: * That children learn through reward and

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular acti ...

, as in

operant conditioning Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a learning process where behaviors are modified through the association of stimuli with reinforcement or punishment. In it, operants—behaviors that affect one's environment—are c ...

. Corporal punishment, such as

spanking Spanking is a form of corporal punishment involving the act of striking, with either the palm of the hand or an implement, the buttocks of a person to cause physical pain. The term spanking broadly encompasses the use of either the hand or im ...

, is favored in this model relative to other models. * That children become more self-reliant and more

self-discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

d by having strict parents. * That the parent, particularly the father, is meant to mete out rewards for good behavior as well as punish bad behavior. This model of child-rearing would involve, for example, allowing children to cry themselves to sleep on the grounds that picking up a child when it should be sleeping on its own improperly fosters dependence on the parents. In his book ''Dare to Discipline'',

James Dobson James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FOTF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influentia ...

advocates the strict father model. However, some researchers have linked authoritarian childrearing with children who withdraw, lack

spontaneity Spontaneous may refer to: * Spontaneous abortion * Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis * Spontaneous combustion * Spontaneous declaration * Spontaneous emission * Spontaneous fission * Spontaneous generation * Spontaneous human combustion * Spontan ...

, and have lesser evidence of

conscience Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sens ...

. The strict father model is discussed by

George Lakoff George Philip Lakoff (; born May 24, 1941) is an American cognitive linguistics, cognitive linguist and philosopher, best known for his thesis that people's lives are significantly influenced by the conceptual metaphors they use to explain comple ...

in his books, including ''

Moral Politics ''Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think'' is a 1996 book by cognitive linguist George Lakoff. It argues that conservatives and liberals hold two different conceptual models of morality. Conservatives have a strict father model in ...

,'' ''Don't Think of an Elephant,'' ''The Political Mind,'' and ''Whose Freedom?''. In these books, the strict father model is contrasted with the

nurturant parent model The nurturant parent model also "Nurturing Parent" is a metaphor, for a belief system, which is built upon an underlying value system. In this Nurturant Parenting contrasts with Stern Father parenting (Strict Father) as two distinct metaphors each ...

. Lakoff argues that if the metaphor of nation as family and government as parent is used, then

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politics correspond to the strict father model. For example, conservatives think that adults should refrain from looking to the government for assistance lest they become dependent.

References

External links

The Nation as Family.

Rockridge Institute The Rockridge Institute was an American non-profit research and progressive think tank founded in 1997 and located in Berkeley, California from 2003 until April 30, 2008. Its stated goal was to strengthen democracy by providing intellectual suppo ...

. Refer to chapter 4.
Two Worldviews - A History, Two Ideal Family Models and The Role of Empathy
Political science Fatherhood Parenting {{parenting-stub