The Relationship between Children's Expressions of Hostility and Methods of Discipline Exercised by Dominant Overprotective Parents

Abstract

In recent years, several experimenters have applied Miller's conflict and displacement theories (2, io) to the study of children's aggressive behavior (4, 8, 13). A frequent finding has been the relation between aggressive activity and the methods of discipline used by the parents. Sears (12) found that children who directed the most aggression toward parent figures in doll play came from homes where punishment was severest. Hollenberg and Sperry (4) reported similar results. In a study by Bandura and Walters (i) it was shown that the occurrence of aggressive behavior among delinquents was associated with frequent physical punishment by parents. The present study seeks to apply Miller's displacement and conflict paradigms in the further examination of some observations, made in a counseling situation, of methods of discipline and expression of hostility. In the process of counseling high school and college students for personal problems, it was noted that a large number of them, especially girls, had great difficulty in expressing negative feelings and criticism of their parents. This obtained in spite of the fact that parent-child interactions that would justify feelings of resentment on the part of the child were repeatedly described. That resentment was indeed experienced was verified by eventual verbalization of it in later phases of counseling. These counselees characteristically described their parents as dominant and overprotective. However, this was done indirectly in the context of descriptions of much love within the family where parents had considerable concern for the welfare and happiness of their children. There was a strong sense of obligation which served the means by which the parents imposed strong controls. Thus, even when the control sharply restricted the children's independence to an extent where they might reasonably experience resentment, the sense of obligation inhibited such negative feelings.