The Effect of Harsh Parenting on Aggression among Migrant Children in China

• In Event: Urban - Rural Migration, Parenting, and Predictors of Delinquency among Chinese Youth

Abstract

Akers’ social learning theory states that juveniles learn delinquent behavior through imitation and differential reinforcement within the family and school environment. The processes of imitation and learning are carried out in interaction with parents, peers and other people they come into contact in their day-to-day lives. Harsh parenting and delinquent peer association can influence children’s attitudes toward violence and problematic behaviors directly and indirectly. The relationships among these factors, however, are not well understood, especially in Asia countries. This study aims at exploring how harsh parenting and peer violent behavior affect the children’s engagement in proactive aggressive behavior through the mediating effect of children’s violent values and norms, depression and other attitudes based on two-wave data collected from a probability sample in China.

Authors

• Min Liang, University of Macau

• Spencer De Li, University of Macau