When Respect Means to Obey: Immigrant Mexican Mothers' Values for Their Children

Abstract

We describe Mexican immigrant mothers' values for their children and their understanding of how children acquire those values. Fifteen mothers were given a Q-Sort task of parental values and interviewed at length using a semi-structured format. Analysis of the mothers' transcribed narratives revealed salient features of a cultural model of child development that constrasts sharply with current professional models. The emergent portrait of children was one of inactive learners whose ability “to understand” dictated social behavior, developed very slowly over the years, and was dependent on parental direction and instruction.