Social class and patterns of parent-adolescent interactions: A case study of GBPUAT, Pantnagar

Pages: 435-438
Arti Kumari, Ritu Singh, Manisha Mehra and Amit Kr. Mishra (Department of Human Development and Family Studies Collage of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, Uttrakhand)

The present study investigated parent-adolescent interaction in families from four different social classes (Class I, Class II, Class III, and Class IV) of G.B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Families falling under social class I of the university had parent(s) working as Professor and Associate Professor in the university; those falling under social class II had parent(s) working as Assistant Professor or equivalent and Doctor in the university; those falling under social class III had parent(s) working as Accountant, Supervisor, Lab Technician and Clerk in the university and those falling under social class IV had parent(s) working as Attendant, Driver, Peon, CRC laborer, Gardner and Sweeper. Forty adolescents were randomly selected as respondents from each social class of families making a total of 160 adolescent respondents for the present study.Parent-adolescent interaction was assessed through adolescents’ perception on it using standardized PCR scale. In the present study it was seen that adolescents from social class I and social class II perceived their parents, both mothers and fathers to be significantly more protecting; demanding; symbolically punitive; symbolic and object reward giving than those from social class III and social class IV. On the contrary, adolescents from social class III and social class IV reported their parents, both mothers and fathers to be significantly more rejecting, practicing object punishment, neglecting and indifferent than those belonging to social class I and social class II. Hence, higher the social class of a family, higher or better is the education and economic level of the parents and thereby significantly better is the parent-adolescent interaction.