Jewish immigrant parents from the former Soviet Union: A method for studying their views of how to respond to children's misbehavior

Objectives: First to acquire knowledge about measures which Jewish immigrant parents from the Former Soviet Union may apply when facing misbehavior of children, and second to develop a methodology which would overcome barriers to talking about their child rearing practices. Method: Interviews with 273 immigrant parents were conducted in Israel. An adaptation and modifications were made to an instrument developed by Gardner, Scarr, and Schwartz to assess parents' approach to disciplinary methods titled 'The Parental Discipline Techniques Instrument.' Parents were presented with situations which describe misbehavior of children and they were asked in each situation to assess the child's behavior and for three alternative measures. Results: Talking to the child (in a unidirectional manner) was the most common method suggested by the respondents as a first option. When they were asked for alternatives, the most common disciplinary method suggested was setting 'restrictions' for the child. 'Isolating' the child and 'ignoring' the child were also suggested to a certain extent. There were methods, mostly indirect methods (e.g., the use of formal and informal networks), which were suggested in response to one type of misbehavior and did not appear in responses to other misbehavior. Conclusions: The methodology utilized in the study was found to be adequate in overcoming impediments which may hinder learning about the participants' views of how to respond to children's misbehavior. Such information could contribute to assessment and intervention in situations of maltreatment by enabling professionals to place the parent's behavior within the range of responses common within the specific cultural context of the immigrants. Copyright (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.