A Study On The Conflict And Negotiation Of Mutual Parenting Practices In Rural Families

Since the reform and opening up,Chinese rural labor force has begun to flow to cities on a large scale.A large number of rural residents have moved back and forth between urban and rural areas in a out-migrating manner.Migrant workers constantly understand the characteristics of the urban society and are forced or active to pursue new culture in the city.They use the “city dwellers” as a reference group to learn new ideas of parenting.In order to fully grasp the above background of intergenerational mutual parenting,the study classifies families into four types according to whether they have out-migrating for work: “two generations home-based type”,“the filial generation single out type”,“the parental generation single out type” and “ two generations out-migrating”.This paper takes the Z village in Henan Province as an example,the participant observation method and in-depth interview adopted.This research shows the conflicts of the conception of parenting in different families from the aspects of children’s diet,social interaction,intellectual cultivation and so on.According to the parental generation’s approval and disapproval of the filial generation’s conception of parenting,the interference and non-intervention in the parenting behavior,the four types of interaction patterns are divided into: “agree intervention”,“disagree intervention”,“agree non-intervention” and “disagree non-intervention”.The conflict caused by “intervention” will reach a consensus after effective communication.It is easy for two generations out-migrating families to reach consensus through communication.In the two generations home-based families,even if the consensus is not fully reached,the parent will reduce interference after communication.In the filial generation single out families,the two generations don’t agree to communicate and negotiate,and therefore no consensus has been reached.In the parental generation single out families,for the sake of family harmony,the parental generation will tolerate and delegate power.The younger generation will also show respect and understanding and will not interfere with each other’s practices.This study finds that the theory of family modernization cannot fully explain interactions between the parental generation and the filial generation in Z village.The process of family modernization has not led to the decline of family functions.Intergenerational generation still has close interactions because of parenting problems.There are both conflict situations in family intergenerational relationships,as well as static and coordinated aspects after communication.In the process,intergenerational responsibility ethics are reshaped and intergenerational emotions are constantly enhanced,which makes the tradition of intergenerational mutual assistance powerful and resilient.