The Adlerian psychological model has long been used in Western Europe and in the United States and Canada as a framework for understanding individual behavior and for conducting family counseling. The model is based on values of equality, mutual respect and cooperation. Parents are taught techniques and attitudes which will facilitate responsible and cooperative behavior in their children and induce more positive relationships among family members. The field of Anthropology has provided a multitude of studies examining family life in less-technologically complex societies. However, the Adlerian model, which provides a paradigm for interpreting interpersonal relationships, has never been used by researchers. This study utilized Adlerian theory in examining child-behavior, parent-child relationships and parenting attitudes among Zapotec Indians in a remote mountainous area of Oaxaca, Mexico. The people of the village in this study numbered 350 and were engaged in subsistence-agriculture. Open-ended interviews were conducted with adults concerning cooperation at the village and family levels and the cooperative and non-cooperative behavior of their children. Intensive observations were conducted in six families, during which all behaviors of children in each family along with consequent reactions of adults, were logged. Behaviors were then categorized as cooperative or non-cooperative according to certain criteria and tallied for each child. The sample contained 19 children who demonstrated cooperative behaviors, 83% of the time. Nine of the children fell into the 90-100% cooperative behavior range. Children carried out, to a lesser degree, most of the adult work tasks. In addition, they regularly served as caretakers for younger siblings. Parental attitudes elicited through the interviews reflected a preference for giving counsel or advice over physical punishment, a toleration of differences in children, a willingness to allow children to work at their own pace and an understanding of the adult "role" in child misbehavior. Adler's basic premise was that when children are allowed to belong to the family group in a constructive meaningful way, they do not need to find a place of significance through destructive means. This premise was confirmed by this study. Zapotec children begin around the age of three to participate in the family's daily work tasks. They seem to cooperate out of a recognition of the necessity of their contribution rather than as a result of any autocratic parenting behaviors on the part of adults. Since all work is valued, children grow-up in an atmosphere which allows and needs their constructive input.

The purpose of the study was to examine: (a) the influence communication strategies Mexican men and women reported using when negotiating household work with their partners; (b) the influence communication strategies perceived their partners use when negotiating with them; (c) whether spouses considered the reported strategies as being effective to make their partners do what they need/want, and (d) whether spouses perceived the influence communication strategies used by their partners effective. This dissertation consisted of two inter-related studies performed in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. The first study was an interview project, where 24 males and females were questioned about how they influence and are influenced by their partners in regard to participating in household tasks. The population consisted of married dual-income Mexicans with at least one child. The second study used the results of Study I to probe, via questionnaire, how couples influence and are influenced by their partners in regard to participating in household tasks, the relative reported frequency of use of the different strategies, and their perceived effectiveness when using them. 92 couples participated in this study: 46 males and 46 females who live in a double-income marriage. Mexican couples perceived equity about how the household tasks are distributed within their homes. Moreover, the degree of happiness about the contribution each partner makes to the household is high, and participants reported being very satisfied with their relationship. The influence communication strategy men and women reported using most often to make their partners participate in household tasks, and the one they perceive their partners used most often is positive affect. The reported strategies that are rarely or never used or perceived are: humor, sarcasm, ignore, and threat. Positive affect was perceived by husbands and wives to be the most effective influence, while the least effective was threat and ignore. The most significant correlation between strategies reported used by husbands and perceived by wives were positive affect, delegate and ignore. The most significant correlation between strategies reported used by wives and perceived by husbands were: suggest, avoid, and reciprocation. This study found a negative and significant relationship between using the strategy ignore and marital satisfaction, and a negative and significant relationship between perceived partners’ use of the strategy threat and marital satisfaction. / text

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished