Parenting and Family Diversity Issues

Reviewed by Adria Hoffman, Affiliate Graduate Faculty, Virginia Commonwealth University on 9/5/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This text introduces a breadth of topics related to parenting and family diversity. It reads as an introductory survey text. However, I found it lacking the critical approach needed when discussing diversity. Instead of directly mentioning critique of certain literature or assumptions within certain fields, the information is presented simplistically at times. The linked footnotes are very useful for viewing the source of information, but a broader lens would help those new to the helping professions. As a text that aims to address diversity, there exists a lack of material focused on equity and inclusion.

Content Accuracy rating: 2

Most information seemed accurate, but incomplete, given the title and lack of materials to help the reader learn to work with families from an assets-based framework. The Exceptionalities section contained a great deal of inaccurate and/ or contested and outdated material.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

It is a very relevant topic, but perhaps less useful for all groups mentioned as the primary audience. For example, educators may find this to be less relevant than the resources available from fields beyond psychology.

Clarity rating: 3

The book is clearly written as a very traditional type of textbook. There are many opportunities to write in first person or to guide the reader by providing introductions, summaries, and guiding questions to consider as they move through each section.

Consistency rating: 4

The author situates the majority of material within the field of psychology, using consistent terms and frameworks throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

The brevity of each section is useful. There isn't an overwhelming amount of text to read/ scroll through.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

This text is clearly organized, but could be strengthened by transitional material. For example, the end of each section could benefit from a summary and an introduction to the next section, helping the reader understand where we've been, where we're going, and how the sections might build on one another.

Interface rating: 4

This interface is easy to navigate, overall. Some of the visuals were a bit blurry and I found myself lost a couple of times after clicking on links.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not find errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 1

This was an area of concern. There is a great deal of literature within the field of family engagement and partnership focused on culturally relevant practice. However, early in the text, G. Stanley Hall is introduced without any mention of his work as a eugenicist (as one example). Other historical figures were also introduced without any mention of critiques or considerations, while Piaget (for example, received both a summary and current critiques. Psychologists whose work directly led to discrimination and trauma should receive at least as much discussion. At other times, links to family engagement work appeared, but the book itself didn't discuss much of the underpinnings of this work in relation to equity and inclusion. Discussion of funds of knowledge, for example, would balance the discussion on trauma, financial challenges, and other deficits.

Comments

I can see this text serving a purpose within educational psychology or child development courses, particularly those in which learners must become familiar with historical trends.

Reviewed by Anne Robertson, Senior Lecture-Early Childhood Education, University of Wisconsin - Superior on 9/19/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The context of this text is fairly comprehensive. It includes the areas of parenting and family theories, parenting styles, child-rearing strategies and contexts and developmental milestones. It is missing a connection to the community as well as a diverse and multicultural perspective. It contains the majority of information needed for an early childhood course surrounding parenting and family.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content in this text is unbiased. In addition, the author connects to current research and theory as well as research and theory from a historical perspective. The information is accurate and error-free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content is fairly relevant. It would be more relevant if the content had a diverse and multicultural perspective. It would also be more relevant if there was stronger connection to the community, as the community plays a major role in early childhood education.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is clearly written. Terminology is defined often and when new contexts are introduced. The chapters are well organized with headers and sub headers. The “Key Takeaway” boxes at the end of sections help a reader stay focused and review and reflect often. The embedded videos help to bring clarity to the information in which they are connected.

Consistency rating: 5

The structure of the text is consistent throughout the whole text. The terminology is also consistent for how and when it is introduced.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is easily broken up into manageable chunks for reading. One section or chapter could be used independently.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This text flows easily. While the chapters do not need to be read in order, when they do, they do build in content. Each section and chapter wrapped up nicely where it promotes review and reflection.

Interface rating: 5

The text was easy to read digitally as the font size was above normal increasing the readability. All of the pictures, charts and tables were easy to view. The embedded videos were a pleasant surprise and all that were interacted with, worked. The text was easy to navigate as the table of content allowed you to click on the desired chapter.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text did not have any noticeable grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

This text is missing a connection to a diverse and multicultural perspective. Without this perspective much of society and family types are not being reflected. In addition, in the early childhood world we have been working to eradicate the use of the term parent and transform this terminology into the use of family to be more inclusive. The term parent is used when family should be throughout this text.

Comments

Overall, I like how this text is straightforward and organized into standalone sections and chapters. I could easily see using this text to supplement in my Family and Culture course. The chapter on caregiving styles and developmental milestones is the content that I would mostly pull to be supplemental in my course.

Reviewed by Sarah DiMeo, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, Worcester State University on 6/9/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The content of the text is comprehensive. The content areas include parenting theory, family theories, parenting styles, child-rearing strategies, child-rearing in a variety of contexts, and developmental milestones. Each of the topic areas is clearly explained. The text provides an effective table of contents that is easy to navigate.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of this book is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. Each content area included multiple references and connections to theory. References to legislation were included where applicable.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is up to date and relevant.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written clearly and concisely. Terminology is clearly defined. There were multiple visual aids that clarified concepts. The embedded videos were helpful to enhance and clarify the topics. The “Key Takeaway” sections in each content area provided a summary of important points to consider.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology was consistent throughout the text.

Modularity rating: 5

The text could easily be assigned in small reading sections. Sections could be read separately and understood without reading previous sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text was presented in a clear and logical order. The “Key Takeaway” sections were helpful in the flow of the text. They encouraged readers to reflect and revisit the text if needed.

Interface rating: 5

The text was easy to read on the computer. The photos, tables, and charts were clear and easy to view. The hyperlinks and the embedded videos were functional and helpful.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

Based on the title of this book, I was expecting more information about cultural diversity with parenting and families. While the text includes information about the history of parenting styles and includes common parenting strategies, there is no information about the intersection of cultural diversity and parenting styles. Pediatric occupational therapy courses emphasize understanding various parenting styles, including the effect of a client’s culture and background. This book did not provide information that would be helpful for this element of study.

Comments

Overall, I liked the clear and concise writing of this book. This book is useful resource for understanding the basics of developmental milestones, family theory, child-rearing strategies, and the other key topics. I could use this book to help students understand current parenting strategies that could be used for children who might require a different approach to parenting.

Reviewed by Rochelle Rowley, Associate Professor, Emporia State University on 5/17/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The content of the text is fairly comprehensive. Overall topics include theory, parenting styles and strategies for discipline, and developmental milestones. The text provides historical references to understand how and why parenting is conducted the way it is now. This is a good foundational, introductory text that includes a salient focus on a caregiver/family member's own self-awareness. Areas where I would need to supplement would be in the area of cultural differences. The title made me think this would be represented more than it is. I could use this in a sociology of childhood course as one of a few texts.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. Information is backed by cited research and theory.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Content is up-to-date and relevant with broad concepts that will not become obsolete. What isn't addressed are the connections between parenting and cultural differences. Sociocultural differences are mentioned without going into any details. Additionally, connections to other caregivers is alluded to in the beginning without much discussion later as to how these connections impact parenting practices.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in a clear and efficient manner. Current terminology and jargon are explained well to aid the reader.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology and framework are consistent throughout the text. Information is presented structurally similar in all chapters. The Key Takeaway allows for the chunking of information within the chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

The text can easily be assigned in smaller reading sections and used as a supplementary text for specific sections without requiring the reading of previous chapters and sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text is logical and provides a nice flow of information from section to section and chapter to chapter. The headings and subheadings are helpful.

Interface rating: 5

Navigation throughout the text on a laptop and tablet was easy to manage and hyperlinks worked well. Figures, charts, and pictures were displayed well.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text did not have any grammatical errors that were noticeable.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

This is the area where I expected more from the text based on the title. There wasn't much diversity discussed other than the diverse types of people caring for children. The text has more of a how-to approach to parenting once strategies are discussed rather than discussing the historical background of different groups of people and how that has impacted caregiving. I may have gone into the text with expectations not meant to be met, however. I did appreciate that the key concepts section provided an understanding of how the term "parent" was being used to represent a diverse group of individuals caring for children; however, it would have been nice to agree on one term that was inclusive.

Comments

I liked the content of the book. I could use it in a few of my courses as a supplemental text to further explain caregiver styles and strategies.

Reviewed by Hilary Seitz, Professor of Early Childhood Education, University of Alaska Anchorage on 11/24/20, updated 1/10/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The content described in the textbook is very comprehensive. Topics include Key concepts of parenting, parenting theory, family theories, parenting styles, child-rearing strategies (guidance and discipline), child-rearing in a variety of contexts, and developmental milestones of children. The content in each of these sections is very thoroughly explained and provides a good foundation for understanding families of today while seeing the historical perspective of where family theory has been.

I can see this textbook being used in two different content courses. The first, for an introduction to family theory courses in either psychology or family studies. And, the second, in an early childhood course such as Family and Community Engagement. I would use it in the latter. This textbook covers half of the content for that type of course.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate, error-free and unbiased. The authors cite a variety of research theories, theorists, and child development milestones and principles.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

All of the content is relevant. I rated it a four as there are other issues that should be addressed if this were to be considered a complete textbook for an early childhood education course on family and community engagement. Other items include ways to engage families and communities, connections between home and school, communication strategies.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in a clear manner, using current terminology that is pertinent and essential to those in the early childhood field. The parenting theory (historical and theoretical overview) was well written.

Consistency rating: 4

The terminology is used consistently throughout the text, and the presentation of the material is structured similarly in all chapters, making it easy to navigate. Some of the sections have bold subheadings or figures/charts. These are helpful to the reader.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is easily managed by topic. Each section is distinct. I liked the "Key Takeaway" color-coded box at the bottom of the section. The sections that could be divided if relevant for the course or instructor. The subheadings and overviews at the beginning of each section were also helpful. These were not consistent across every section.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text was presented in a clear logical fashion. The flow was easy to follow and similar to how the first half of my course is outlined.

Interface rating: 5

The text is easy to read on a screen/computer, and the photos, tables, etc. are clearly displayed. The hyperlinks from the table of contents was very helpful.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The textbook is well-written, with no noticeable grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text is carefully written almost to the point of being bland. There isn't much (any???) reference to cultural variations and differences in approaches. The first thing that jumped out to me when reading the book is the term "parent" instead of "family" member. Children today are raised in very diverse settings with a variety of caregivers. We tend to use the word family member instead of "parent". Many of the photos in the book are of diverse children/families. The course I teach used to be called "Family and Community partnerships". It was recently changed to be more inclusive and provide a more diverse framework - now titled "Culturally Responsive Family and Community Engagement". This book does not provide the cultural responsiveness component.

Comments

Overall, the content of this book will be very useful for instructors teaching about family systems. I find that as a text for Early Childhood education classes (the category I found this book under) it will only be useful as a partial text as this is the content for only half of the class. I will need to supplement with other materials to cover other topics (what family engagement looks like, communication strategies, connecting to home and community, culturally responsive approaches, and building on families' "funds of knowledge".