Mexican-American and Anglo-American Mothers’ Beliefs and Values About Child Rearing, Education, and Language Impairment

Abstract

This study investigated the cross-cultural and intra cultural diversity of mothers' beliefs and values regarding child rearing, education, and the causes of language impairment. Thirty Mexican-American and 30 Anglo-American mothers of children with language impairments completed 2 questionnaires, and 10 randomly selected mothers from each group participated in an interview. In addition, the Mexican-American mothers completed an acculturation rating scale. Results indicated that Mexican-American mothers held more strongly traditional, authoritarian, and conforming educational and child rearing beliefs and values than Anglo-American mothers. Mexican-American mothers cited extrinsic attributes as the cause of their children's language impairment, whereas Anglo-American mothers cited intrinsic attributes. Mexican-American mothers exhibited differences in their beliefs that were related to their level of acculturation to the mainstream culture.