The Second Experiential Area: Problems of Discipline

Abstract

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE to make a general statement as to the point in the child’s life at which he first encounters the factor of parental discipline. The precise point in the case of each child depends entirely upon the personality of the parents (more commonly the mother’s) and the judgments and behavior that emanate from it in its interplay with the exigencies, as seen by them, of their task of acculturation. There is no cultural consensus as to the precise age or the precise situation in which disciplinary efforts should be begun, and the choice as to exactly when these should commence is left to the individual mother.