Cultural Transition From Collectivist Approach To Child Rearing

This last concept is notable because cultural differences in parenting choices may affect how the state (and society) respond to non-traditional ideas. While some are benign, such as ignoring a crying baby, some are seen as less benign, such as physical punishment.
A last consideration in discussing parental rights, responsibilities, and punishments is the potential for cultural variation. In the United States, parents are assumed to possess the intrinsic right to raise their child in a manner of their choosing. Other societies that take a collectivist approach to child rearing may not begin with that general assumption. As its most basic point, what is acceptable in one nation or culture may not be in others. In some cases, it may be possible

Korbin introduces two cases: one of a Londoner cutting her young child's face, and the other of an anthropologist in Papua New Guinea neglecting their child. In the case in London, the face cutting was a cultural tradition that served to demonstrate membership in that tribal group. Without the markings, the child would not be accepted by their cultural group. Face cutting in the West is seen as barbaric and abhorrent. Yet the practice is not so dissimilar to piercing a child's ears as a baby. While the child could not consent to the cutting, the practice may be considered not dissimilar from infant circumcision or ear piercing. In the second case, that of the anthropologist's child, our own cultural biases are perhaps even clearer. The story consists of a child crying and being ignored by its parents. The American parents were ignoring the child based on the belief that picking up a crying child spoils it and is harmful to the child's development. The beliefs of the New Guinea population are completely opposite, and they believed that ignoring a crying baby allows its spirit to escape and can lead to the death of the child. In that context, ignoring a crying child would be a very severe case of abuse and neglect. Yet this seems primitive from our own perspective. These two cases begin to illustrate how variation in cultural beliefs can greatly affect what might be considered abuse and what might be an accepted practice in a particular society. These are not black and white issues, and ignorance of alternative cultures could lead to disparate impacts and actions. Korbin suggests a framework of three levels to approach the issue of cultural diversity, considering both an internal perspective and an outside-looking-in perspective on cultural practices. The first consists of parenting practices that are questionably appropriate depending on the culture, such as the