Caribbean and Filipino Adolescents' and Parents' Perceptions of Parental Authority, Physical Punishment, and Cultural Values and Their Relation to Migratory Characteristics

This article describes the perceptions of parents and adolescents of physical punishment in relation to family and migratory characteristics. Adolescents and their parents of Caribbean (n=118) and of Filipino (n=136) heritage responded to questions on their attitude toward physical discipline, their family relations, and their socio-demographic and migratory characteristics. Data analyses show that many Caribbean (78%) and Filipino (41.9%) parents perceive that they should have the right to physically punish their children, while youth disagree with this. The dissonance between parents' and their children's attitudes is related to acculturation factors due to the earlier and more intense exposure of youth to their host society. Further studies should be conducted on the impact of the divergence between parents and their youth's opinions on the actual shifts in power in the parent-child relationship, as well as on immigrant parents' discipline strategies and on the family's adaptation to the challenges of migration.

Cet article décrit, comment parents et adolescents perçoivent la punition physique. Des adolescents et leurs parents originaires des Caraïbes (n=118) et des Philippines (n=136) ont répondu à des questions portant sur leurs attitudes envers la punition physique, leurs relations familiales et leurs caractéristiques sociodémographiques et migratoires. Les analyses démontrent que plusieurs parents originaires des Caraïbes (78%) et des Philippines (41,9%) considèrent avoir le droit de punir physiquement leurs enfants, tandis que les adolescents sont majoritairement en désaccord. La dissonance observée entre les attitudes des parents et celles de leurs enfants est liée à des facteurs d'acculturation dus à l'exposition plus fréquente et dès un âge plus précoce des adolescents à leur société d'accueil. Les recherches futures devraient examiner l'impact qu'ont ces divergences de perceptions sur l'inversement des rapports de pouvoir parent-enfant, leur rapport avec les stratégies de discipline qu'emploient de préférence les parents et l'adaptation de la famille aux défis de l'immigration.