THROUGH THE EYES OF CHILDREN - YOUTHS PERCEPTIONS AND EVALUATIONS OF MATERNAL AND PATERNAL ROLES

Although scholars have called for greater inclusion of children unders tandings in sociological research, most studies of family roles and re lationships are still adult-centered, In this paper we explore childre n's perceptions and evaluations of maternal and paternal roles by cont ent-analyzing more than 3,000 essays in which children explain why the ir parent is the ''best'' mother or father The parental qualities and activities children value and how children frame familial relationship s document the salience of gender and gender processes in families. Th ese patterns generally complement and expand upon patterns found in st udies on parenthood conducted from adults' perspective. Yet some impor tant differences exist as well, such as the relative unimportance of l abor force participation in children's appraisals of their fathers and children's greater focus on mutuality when describing relations with their fathers. To assess the degree to which children perceptions have changed we also compare essays from 1979-1980 with those from the ear ly 1990s and find a clear shift in emphasis from a caretaker/provider role to a more recreational role; this shift, on closer inspection, is more applicable to fathers than to mothers. These findings underscore the need of family, gender and social psychological research to incor porate children's perspectives.