Global Perspective
In order to fully analyze the lives of the Daniels, I have to take into account what their conditions were like growing up. In terms of a global perspective, the Daniels family lead fairly normal lives. They grew up as a wealthy family in the suburbs of Chicago. They did not deal with many of the issues that a first generation family would deal with such as language barriers or fitting into society. They were raised in a typical American setting that you would see on a sitcom. Being American was a large part of their family culture. They played sports, watched TV together, went to the lake and did anything else that you could picture a typical suburban family doing. This American identity runs deep in our family as we always have our 4th of July celebrations at our lakehouse with fireworks and our big American flag. School was easier for them than it would be for someone who may have immigrated therefore, they all excelled with ease. Things like race, social class or anything else that could cause a person to be disadvantaged from did not impact the Daniels family in any way.
The Results
Correlation Between Parenting Style and How Their Own Children Are Raised
In the Daniels family there is very clearly a correlation between the way that they were individually raised and the way that they raise their own children. Tammy being the oldest and a girl was held on the shortest leash and was constantly monitored. Therefore, when she raised her own kids she used concerted cultivation. She was constantly doing things for her kids like checking on their school and scheduling activities for them. Shannon on the other hand, was much more free spirited and allowed more freedom. This lead to her using a more natural growth style of parenting on her own children. She believed that independence in her children’s lives was important and supported them in the way of giving them more freedom. Finally, Erin, who was a sort of a middle ground in terms of the way she lived between Tammy and Shannon, raises her kids with a mix of the two parenting strategies. While she would like to be involved in everything her kids do she understands that their independence is also important. She feels that they can not only use her help when they need her but that they should also be able to do much of what they do on their own. Todd and Drew on the other hand both have much younger children than the rest of the family so it is hard to make claims based on their long term parenting style as it remains to be seen.
Universalities Across the Interviews
Across the board there was only one question that all of the people that I interviewed seemed to have the same answer to. When asked what does family mean to them, each person gave me the same answer: “Everything”. To each of the siblings their family supports and cares for them more than anyone else in the world. This is a value which each of them has instilled in all of the children in the entire family. Growing up our families would spend countless days at the lake together where we became best friends with our relatives, cousins and siblings. To all of us in the Daniels family, family comes before anything. A year ago we took a whole family trip to Maui and my Aunt Shannon said it best when she said; “Friends will come and go, but family is forever.”
Sociology of My Family 