Thestrict father model of parenting is one which values strict discipline, particularly by the father, inparenting. The strict mother model also exists.
Ideas involved in this model include:
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 bookDare to Discipline,James Dobson advocates the strict father model. However, some researchers have linkedauthoritarian childrearing with children who withdraw, lackspontaneity, and have lesser evidence ofconscience.[1]
The strict father model is discussed byGeorge Lakoff in his books, includingMoral Politics,Don't Think of an Elephant,The Political Mind, andWhose Freedom?. In these books, the strict father model is contrasted with thenurturant parent model. Lakoff argues that if the metaphor of nation as family and government as parent is used, thenconservative 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.
