Tiger/Attachment/Helicopter Parenting
Many guides exist for how to practice the “best” parenting style and how to cultivate certain attributes in children. The scientific basis for these claims, however, is often lacking. This chapter describes and examines the evidence for five popular global parenting approaches (intensive or helicopter, tiger, attachment, old school, and free-range). A case example will be given for how the different styles might deal with a common child behavioral problem. The chapter then shifts to mapping these styles onto the way that researchers describe parenting styles, using the authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive categories. The evidence favoring the authoritative style is presented along with some “it depends” discussion of when other styles may also be considered. The question of when it might work best to parent in a manner that is consistent with one’s instinctive tendencies and when it might be important to take purposeful steps in the opposite direction will also be explored.