Introduction: What do we mean when we talk about good parenting?

Abstract

What do we mean when we talk about “good parenting”? How do we know if someone providing care to a child is doing it the “right way”? These are important questions that any caregiver, teacher, researcher, scholar, or other parenting and child-care professionals should recognize can only be answered within cultural context. However, too often the way cultural values and beliefs interact with parenting values and beliefs is ignored in the scholarship. In this chapter, we make the argument that scholarship on parenting and caregiving is overly influenced by Western cultural ideals. We also introduce the format of this edited volume and explain the goal of providing scholars of parenting, as well as parents and other experts and professionals, with important and relevant information about cultural ideals and values in regard to parenting behaviors and outcomes.