Entry 3- Draft 2

If someone told you that your motherly instinct came from the way that your mother treated you would you believe them? That is exactly what Katie Sellers, who wrote the Journal "Adolescent Mothers’ relationships with their own mothers: Impact on parenting outcomes" says in her recent addition to her writings. She says that the effects will be shown through the amount of attention that we give our children all the way to the amount of nurturing that they are given. The author states that your nurturing techniques possibly date all the way back through our family tree and that everyone's mother effects the way they raise their own children.

With this blog I have to say that I disagree with it more than I agree. I do agree with the fact that we are slightly affected by the way that we are nurtured and that it has an impact of the way we nuture our offspring but I feel that the biological viewpoint of the family tree nurturing line is a little ridiculous. Sure maybe our mother has an affect on the way we handle our children but does our great great great grandmother's nurturing skills really affect us today, I would have to disagree with that. I understand that it may go back to our grandmothers or great grandmothers but convincing me that we are affected by our whole family tree does not make sense to me.

In my own life experiences I have seen the exact opposite through my extended families situation. I have seen my cousin who was raised by a mother who was the least bit of nurturing and she is the most nurturing mother to her children. I feel like everyone's situation is too different in order to make this argument true, also everyones family doesn't stay around their family members, some move away or just don't want to live with their families. Therefore, if they are not with their family members how can they be influenced in the way that they nurture their own children?

Also,I have read over one journal that was based on a study of how mothers play a certain role in a child's life but it also explains a lot about how a father impacts a childs life. Therefore I am not sure that it is a narrow enough topic to help answer my question because there is so much information dedicated to talking about the father I am not sure if it is a good idea to use as a possible source.
I believe that it is valuable information but I do not know that there is enough to concentrate only on the research that it covers about the mothers verses the amount it covers with the fathers.

Entry 4- Draft 2

In many of the journals that I have read they have shown that mother's do make a positive impact in a child's life and without them present a child can suffer from a lack of emotional and physical support early in life. It also affects the amount of affection that a child is willing and comfortable to show later in life, which therefore eventually affects the way a child interacts with every person they come in contact with or have a relationship with. I do believe that there is a lot of information out there about this topic but it is not on the surface you have to look pretty hard to find what you are looking for, not that it is covered up but simply because it is overlooked. The assumption that I had when i started my research to answer this question was that I would find a lot of biased articles on bad parenting but in return I have found very scholarly journal articles based upon legitimate studies conducted by many renowned psychologists at many leading Universities which shocked me.

I agree that mother's play a surprisingly big role in the way a child grows up and even the actions that they choose later in life. I am not stating that if a mother isn't perfect in her nurturing role that she would produce bad behavioral children but I do believe there is an effect in many ways. The research I have found shows that as long as a mother is present and caring to some extent that it has shown to indeed impact the amount of social and emotional behavior that a child conducts on a normal day to day basis.

In my opinion in my research I have covered many topics but there are still some grey area's where more research needs to be done, specifically in areas where I am trying to find facts to back up my argument in multiple ways. I need to figure out the answer to the inquiry questions verses trying to choose one side or the other so that I can prove that a mother's nurturing role is affective in a child's actions emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Entry 2- Draft 2

During my research I have found many studies that state that children with the absence of a mother's nurturing affection are drawn away from showing emotions throughout their life and in relationships based on the amount of nurturing that they were given as a child. These studies have been written about in two different scholarly journals and both conducted at two different Universities. In conclusion though, the outcomes were very much alike showing that indeed children that had a nurturing mother in their life while growing up were distinctly more in touch with their emotions then those who grew up with the absence of a nurturing mother.

I agree with this information because I feel that having the presence of a mother's nurturing in a child's life and I also feel that mother's can provide a nurturing role that father's simply do not know how to show a child, therefore I believe that this research is accurate, although there are a few exceptions. I hope to find out more information to further my indication that this is indeed an issue that impacts many children as they grow up and to show mother's to think carefully about the decisions that they make with their children.

I feel like this information has a connection to things that I have seen in my own personal life. In my life as I have grown up I have realized that young men who have grown up with the presence of a nurturing mother tend to be more emotionally stable and they tend to be more affectionate in most cases but not all the time. Those who have grown up with the absence of a nurturing mother have been more prone to withhold their feelings and affections and to be scared of emotional, serious relationships. I want to further my research on this information, therefore I have not come to a complete conclusion about the rationality of these events.

Entry 1- Draft 2

My Inquiry question is Does the mother's nurturing role in a child's early life affect the way the child interacts with others mentally, emotionally, and physically later in life? I chose this as my inquiry question because I have a curiousity about the affects that mother's have on their children and how the amount of nurturing that a mother gives a child affects them later on in life. I feel that this is an area that has really not been studied much but I feel like in researching this I can further understand the affects of a mother's nurturing and why it is important. I feel that this is an important quiestion to ask because it allows us to study the different situations that children grow up in and to study the impact that their surroundings has on their life in the present and in the future.

I was first interested in this question because I want to understand how influencial our mother's still are in todays generation and in our lives. I also wanted to learn how children are impacted differently when they grow up with the absense of a nurturing mother and the emotional support that a mother can provide. I believe that people should care about this subject because it allows everyone to understand the effects that mother's have on their children in a generation where we feel that our parents do not dictate who we are and who we become.

Entry 5- Draft 2

Sources:

Massie, Henry. ”The Relationship between Mothering in Infancy, childhood experience and adult mental health.” The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 28 Jun 2008. Web. 26 Feb 2012

Summary:

The journal is based on a study that involved seventy-six individuals that were studied through videos from birth to age thirty gathering knowledge of mother and child interaction and how it affected the children throughout their life. The journal focuses on how children are affected mentally and emotionally based on their mother’s role in their life early on and then leading into their adult life.  This article emphasizes the importance of a mother-child relationship and has a lot of information to support the importance for mental health development. The journal states that the mother’s relationship with their child during infancy and early life shows many fundamental implications for an individual’s proper mental health.

Evaluation:

This article is credible based on the amount of elaborate research that the author has done in preparation to writing this journal. Throughout the journal there are many studies involved in which both time and money were put into each of them.  The author Dr. Henry Massie, is an accredited Psychiatrist and practices in Berkeley, California.  The studies that were conducted were fair and that they had very few flaws based on the information given. This journal is useful for my research topic because it shows the results and effects of proper nurturing from a child’s early life stages throughout their adult life.

Greene, Anthony. “Socialization.” The Intersections Collection. Boston, MD: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. 61-63 78-80. Print.

Summary:

The author states information about the debate of Nature vs. Nurture explains that throughout the nineteenth century into early twentieth century the debate leaned towards heredity. He then goes on to explain that scientists are starting to look at the environmental side of the nature argument and how it relates to everyday relationships within the family structure.  This chapter also states the sociobiology perspective stating that it is neither one nor the other but both have equal influences on how a child is raised. According to the author there is plenty of information and studies that have been done to prove both sides of the debate equality correct.

Evaluation:

This source is credible based on the professors involved in this study and the amount of work that was put into publishing this book. Every editor of the book has been or is currently a professor in a University setting. The editors also hold sociology degrees ranging from masters to doctorates.  Dr. Anthony Greene who compiled the book in a former sociology professor at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I feel that the argument is not biased after reading the information I would say that the amount of studies done and information given about both sides, Nature vs. Nurture makes it an equal argument in the book. It was useful for researching my topic because the argument of Nature vs. Nurture brings in a perspective that is needed to fully understand the role of a mother in a child’s life.

Sellers, Katie. “Adolescent Mothers’ relationships with their own mothers: Impact on parenting outcomes.” Journal of Family Psychology. Feb 2011. Web. 12 Mar 2012

Summary:

This journal is based on the facts that prove that the way that we were raised by our mothers will impact the ways in which we care for our own children. It will impact everything from the attention that we give them all the way to the amount of nurturing care that we show to them. This author states that our nurturing instincts do not only come from ourselves but also from what was instilled in us as young women based on the ways that our mother nurtured us. The journal states that our nurturing skills as mother’s can date back through our family tree which is an interesting idea to consider. In this journal the author looks at a data analysis to compare grandmother- mother relationships compared to the mother and their children’s relationships.  The study was conducted n 181 urban African American grandmothers, mothers, and adolescent mothers. The study showed in general that in general after 13 months of caring for their child the mother’s became less negative and more nurturing to their children.

Evaluation:

This source is credible based on the facts and the studies that were conducted in order to prove that the information was legitimate and relevant to society. The author has a degree in psychology which shows that she has a grasp of the information that she is writing and studying about. This article may be seen as slightly biased based on the study and data analysis that was analyzed in order to write this journal because they only used African American’s for the study and no other race. They chose to study this group of people because they were a high risk group. The study that was conducted was fair and had few flaws, only a narrow viewpoint of data.

This journal is useful for my research because based on this journal I can compare and contrast what affects us as mother’s to treat our children the way that we do and if it truly affects children later in their lives in relationships.

Bogels, Susan, Juliette Stevens, and Mirjana Majdandzic. "Parenting and Social Anxiety: Fathers' Versus Mothers' Influence On Their Children's Anxiety in Ambiguous Social Situations." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 52.5 (2011): 599-606. ERIC. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Summary:

This journal was based on a study that examined children and their social anxiety when it came to interacting with others and playing with other children. They tested children in order to see which parent was more influential in determining which way that they acted in a social setting.  The study concentrated on whether the children were social, anxious, or confident in individual social settings separate from their parents.

Evaluation:

This journal is credible because it is considered a scholarly piece of writing and the fact that the journal is based on a legitimate experiment helps show the honesty of the author and her writing. Other reasons can be supported by the fact that the author is a Psychology professor at the University of Amsterdam, which makes her credible in any cases. The results showed that the father’s behavior impacted children of high socially anxious children and mother’s tended to influence the actions of low socially anxious children. This study was not biased and showed equal sides of both results and gave explanations.

This is useful for my research because the study that was conducted can be a vital part of my argument and would add emphasis to the question that is being researched. It will have people think about the question from a different point of view.

Meunier, Jean Christophe, Mark Wade, and Jennifer M. Jenkins. "Mothers' Differential Parenting and Children's Behavioral Outcomes: Exploring the Moderating Role of Family and Social Context." Infant & Child Development 21.1 (2012): 107-133. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.

Summary:

This study was conducted to show how parenting styles affect socio-emotional status of children. The study used different factors such as neighborhoods and organizational habits in order to conduct this study. Another variable evaluated was the marital status and well-being of the parents of the children. There were 920 different children studied in order to conduct and gain the amount of data that was discovered. The study shows that throughout decade’s differential parenting has shown to affect the amount of adverse child outcomes.

Evaluation:

The findings of this study show that differential outcome is in reality a negative phenomenon. Studies have shown that poverty has been a significant factor in children’s developmental skills because in that situation they do not have the same opportunities as other children. Marriages under stress have proven to be a negative influence on a child’s development. This journal is not biased because they used 382 different households with different backgrounds which made the study very broad. This journal can be proven to be credible based on the volume number that shows the amount of work that has been put into making all 24 volumes.

This study could be useful with my research because it allows you to look at how the way women in a family setting act as they are in a mothering role and also see the effects of families without a mother present.

Entry 4- Draft 1

I have found that many of the journals that I have read show that mother's do make a positive impact on children and that there is a relation between a mother's nurturing and the amount of affection a child shows towards others later in life.

My current perspective I agreeing that other's play a big role in the way a child grows up and even the actions that they choose later in life. I am not saying that if a mother wasn't present they would be a bad child I am just saying there is an effect in some way.

I feel like I am still some what in the gray area of how I am going to prove one side or the other and how i am going to prove that a mother's nurturing is effective to a child's actions.

Entry 3- Draft 1

I have read over one journal that was based on a study of how mothers play a certain role in a childs life but it also explains a lot about how a father impacts a childs life. Therefore I am not sure that it is a narrow enough topic to help answer my question because there is so much information dedicated to talking about the father I am not sure if it is a good idea to use as a possible source.

I believe that it is valuable information but I do not know that there is enough to concentrate only on the research that it covers about the mothers verses the amount it covers with the fathers.

In order to gain the reader's attention in my final blog I am going to try to use a question to pull the reader in.

Entry 2- Draft 1

I have found information that states that children without mothers are drawn away from emotional and physical needs in a relationship based on the amount of nurturing that they were given as a child. This information was exactly what i needed to find and points exactly to the question I wanted to answer.

I agree with this because I feel that a mother shows an emotional side to a child and a comforting side that sometimes a father does not know how to show to a child, therefore that makes sense.

I feel like this is a connection to experiences that I have seen especially in real life situations where I have seen young men who grew up without a mother was very afraid of showing an emotional side in a relationship and also had trouble showing a comforting side of them.

Entry 1- Draft 1

My inquiry question:

Does the mother's nurturing role in a child's early life affect the way the child interacts with others mentally, emotionally, and physically later in life?

I chose my inquiry question because I am very interested in the role of a mother and how having a nurturing mother verses the absense of a nurturing mother affects the child emotionally.

I feel like this is important because many childen grow up in situations where there wasnt a nurturing mother present.

I am really interested in this topic because I want to understand how influential our parents still our in our lives and how someone differs who maybe didnt grow up with a kind, nurturing mother as other people get to.