Understanding Parent-Child Relationship

Abstract

Although sufficient work on parent-child relationship has been conducted worldwide, the number of studies that focus on parental behavior and perceived meaning are very limited. Additionally, as culture is known to shape human behavior in numerous ways, is necessary to understand this behavior in the context of Bangladesh. The aim of the present study was to understand parent child relationship and their perceived meaning among the children. A qualitative research design using grounded theory approach was adopted in this study to explore the behavior pattern from narrative collected from both parents and children. Purposive sampling technique was employed to select ten participants among them four were child and six were parent, using predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. In-depth interview was used to collect data which were audio recorded for ensuring accuracy. Data analysis involved verbatim transcription of the interviews followed by open and axial coding. This study found nineteen specific types of parental behavior and eleven types of perceived meaning of those behaviors in relation to parent-child relationship. The findings provided detailed insight and understanding of parent-child relationship along with process of creating healthy environment in parent-child relationship. The findings clearly reflect that healthy environment of parent child relationship is developed by how children perceive their parents behavior. Moreover it was also found that in parent-child relationship reciprocity of taking care is developed through the establishment of cooperativeness and internalization of parental rules. Present study can contribute into this through enhanced knowledge from detailed understanding on parent- child relationship. The results suggest practical implications for clinical intervention as creating healthy environment in parent child relationship for Bangladeshi population.