Discipline - why we do what we do

Discipline! Why do you do it the way you do? What are you trying to teach/accomplish?

For my Midterm Project, I will conduct parent interviews concerning discipline, with a focus on communication.

For example:

Did your mother ever use "the look" to make you behave? 

Did you know what it meant? How did you know?

Did you ever use "the look" on your children to make them behave? 

How did you know it would work? 

How has the meaning of the look changed/stayed the same from when you were a child to when you were/are a parent?

Do you think that your children understand the same meaning in "the look" that you did as a child?

Does "the look" always work?

Did all of your children understand it/respond to it in the same way?

Then, I will ask similar questions about other types of discipline strategies. Like time outs, spankings, groundings; what messages did these send to you as a child? Do/did you use the same or different strategies with your own children? How did they respond? What messages are/were you trying to send through the punishment? What messages did you receive through the punishments that your parents chose? How did that effect the way you discipline your children?

How do strategies of discipline effect future relationships? Are there patterns that can be studied? What can we learn from their experience?

If any of my regular readers/subscribers would like to volunteer as interview subjects, let me know.

See my results HERE