Home vs Work in the Family Dynamic
During the period of the late 1800s and early 1900s, Progressive reformers began to influence how families raised their children. In terms of low-income families, reformers wanted to adjust how the children were raised by means of conditioning and disciplining them into conforming to their established placement in society. Another goal of these reformers was to attempt steering these children away from malicious behavior and committing crimes (Mintz, 2004). Also within urban environments during the interwar period was the popularity of youth subcultures rebelling against their parents. With an unbalanced dedication of work and school as well as high standards of American society, teens were often at odds with adults and their personal family values (Diamond, 2009). Youth during this period tended to have economic responsibilities and important roles for their family’s income. Urban families had the concern of lacking schooling for children if the children are also working in an industrial environment, whereas rural families worried less about an imbalance between schooling and agricultural work (Walters and Briggs, 1993).
As society began turning away from children making economic contributions for their families, the question of how a child should be raised remained. There was no straightforward answer, as techniques for child rearing were continuously changing, especially based on the children’s ages. Positive and negative feedback to actions as well as bringing joy to the children progressed to encouragement and preparation for independence (McNally, Eisenberg, and Harris, 1991). To contribute to the ‘proper’ child rearing process were guidelines on how the home should be designed to accommodate for children. If certain needs of children were not met, such as providing children their own safe and private space as well as space for them to play and be creative, the home may not have been considered to be good enough for children (Miller, 1986).
Gender Roles
Gender roles played a significant part in the family dynamic. For example, in the Industrial Era, the role of women shifted from child bearers and mothers to a notion of “true womanhood”. Although many women remained as mothers, they focused less on having children and more on improving their education for personal benefit. This attitude of independent and self-sufficient women increased in popularity as they raised their own standards of living (Kleinberg, 1999). Although this gained popularity among women, within society as a whole was a strict acceptance of full-time mothers. It wasn’t until times of war that women were placed into the labor force while still needing to be mothers to their children (Kleinberg, 1999).
Experiences for Families of Color and Immigrants
Native American children and families faced unique experiences in child rearing and family dynamics. White Americans contributed heavily to this experience by enforcing their traditions and customs of child rearing upon indigenous families. Indigenous families often lived together with their extended families, including grandparents. White Americans criticized this style of living, claiming it was unhealthy for adults to live with both their parents and their children, as it did not promote individuality and self-sufficiency. However, instead of only trying to change the families’ ways of living, they removed the native children from their families and place them with white families where they would be raised in what was perceived to be a “proper” American way (Burch, 2021) or in boarding school-like institutions where Native culture was forbidden (Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center).
The Bridgewater Family documented their encounters as African Americans traveling from the American South to the American West in hopes for true freedom. Through Mamie and her daughter Octavia’s documentation, the Bridgewater family’s struggles are important primary sources of Black families in America (Williams, 2020). Their family history begins with enslaved ancestors in the south in the 1800s, but at the turn of the century, Mamie Bridgewater decided to bring her family to Montana in search of better economic and social opportunities that she was sure her family would not find in the South. Despite using military involvement, participation in Black social groups, and other ways to get the most out of their move out west, the family found it difficult to avoid discrimination as a matriarchal, African American family (Williams, 2020).
Immigrants often prioritized family in their intentions of living in the United States. Their goals to establish a family in America were demonstrated by their efforts to participate in American society, whether through themselves as individuals or through their children. Their struggle, however, was the balance between raising their children who can be successful in American society and raising them to maintain a part of their cultural background. As much as they wanted their children to fit in, generational conflict grew as Americanization of immigrant children became increasingly popular and almost necessary for a successful life in the United States (Parrillo, 1991).