Jewish immigrant parents from the Former Soviet Union: A method for studying their views of how to respond to children's misbehavior

Objectives: First to acquire knowledge about measures which Jewish immigran t parents from the Former Soviet Union may apply when facing misbehavior of children, and second to develop a methodology which would overcome barrier s to talking about their child rearing practices. Method: Interviews with 273 immigrant parents were conducted in Israel. An adaptation and modifications were made to an instrument developed by Gardne r, Scarr, and Schwartz to assess parents' approach to disciplinary methods titled "The Parental Discipline Techniques Instrument." Parents were presen ted with situations which describe misbehavior of children and they were as ked in each situation to assess the child's behavior and for three alternat ive measures. Results: Talking to the child (in a unidirectional manner) was the most com mon method suggested by the respondents as a first option. When they were a sked for alternatives, the most common disciplinary method suggested was se tting "restrictions" for the child. "Isolating" the child and "ignoring" th e child were also suggested to a certain extent. There were methods, mostly indirect methods (e.g., the use of formal and informal networks), which we re suggested in response to one type of misbehavior and did not appear in r esponses to other misbehavior. Conclusions: The methodology utilized in the study was found to be adequate in overcoming impediments which may hinder learning about the participants ' views of how to respond to children's misbehavior. Such information could contribute to assessment and intervention in situations of maltreatment by enabling professionals to place the parent's behavior within the range of responses common within the specific cultural context of the immigrants. (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.