Parenting among Nepalese families in Lisbon and its effect on child integration

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand which parenting style presented by Baumrind (1967) of authoritative, authoritarian or permissive the Nepalese immigrants in Portugal are associated with, what values they transmit to their children and how does it affect child integration in schools. The aim was to know if migrating to a country with difference in culture and values brings changes in the way parenting is provided for Nepalese parents and the affect it has on children. This was a qualitative study among 10 participants with 5 mothers and 5 fathers who brought their children to Portugal. The parent's perception of the way they provide parenting, the transmission of values and their children's response to these provided the primary data for this study. The data was collected through in-depth individual interviews which were conducted in Nepali language with the support of semi structured questionnaires. The research found that the Nepalese parenting style could not be incorporated into a single parenting style as suggested by Baumrind as it has components of both the authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles. I also found that parenting for Nepalese immigrants in Portugal was affected by native culture, children's reactions, Portuguese laws and norms and support systems. The mothers and fathers performed different parenting roles as mothers were mostly associated with care, support and comfort whereas fathers were mostly associated with monitoring and implementation of rules.