Abstract
Since the early 1990 between 150,000 and 230,000 immigrants have emigrated from the former Soviet Union to California. Sacramento County has the highest concentration of Russian refugee in California. Although an increasing number of cross-cultural studies on parenting and children’s development have been conducted in the past couple of decades, there has been limited work conducted with Russian immigrant families in the US and that focuses on the challenges these families may face in adapting to US culture. The purpose of this study was to examine discipline beliefs and practices among Russian immigrants in Northern California. Previous work suggests that parents in Russia have a harsh, authoritarian style of parenting (Remennick, 2007). However, it is not clear whether Russian immigrant parents follow the same approach to discipline. The study explored (a) Russian immigrant mothers’ beliefs about disciplining young children, (b) possible influences on their beliefs and (c) the mothers’ beliefs about their development as a parent. Ten Russian immigrant mothers with at least one young child were interviewed. All mothers were living in the Sacramento region and came to the United States in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, thus living in the United States for 10 or more years. The data were collected with a semi-structured interview and a demographics survey. The demographic survey asked questions about areas such as the mothers’ years in the US, educational background, religious affiliation, preschool experience, parenting group involvement, and use of parenting resources (e.g., parenting books). The interview covered four areas of questioning: (a) general information about the mother’s family; (b) the mother’s discipline beliefs and practices; (c) her beliefs about children’s self-esteem and emotions and (d) her perceptions of changes in her parenting. All interviews were conducted in a conversation form, and some interviews were conducted in the Russian language. Qualitative analysis of the interview data showed that all ten mothers thought of discipline in terms of punishment, with the goal of punishment to correct child misbehavior. Verbal punishment, such as yelling and scolding, was reported as the most frequently used form of punishment. Alternative punishment, such as giving time out and taking away privileges, was the next most frequently used form. Physical punishment was also mentioned, but it was reported as the least used form of punishment. Russian immigrant mothers in the current study reported that their own childhood experience had a major influence on their discipline beliefs and practices. Although, mothers were raised in a culture where parents’ unquestioned authority and children’s expected obedience were valued, these mothers wanted to discipline their children differently because they did not like harsh disciplining methods and because they wanted a closer relationship with their children. The interview data of the current study suggested that Russian immigrant mothers may be loosening their parenting styles by being less strict and harsh with their own children than their own parents were with them.