Parent support helps parents gain access to a broad range of
people and resources which contribute to positive development for
children and youth.  Programs which target development in one
domain such as health ~ and in the child only ~ do not recognize
the complexity of human development or parenting (Ramey & Ramey,
1993).  Enhancing parental competencies within a context of
family-friendly institutions and communities maximizes
opportunities for both parent and child development.
PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES
The roles we expect parents to fulfill include:  (a) providing
basic needs and protecting children from the natural and social
environment, (b) guiding physical and psychosocial development,
and (c) advocating within the wider community on behalf of
children (Alvy, 1987; Small, 1990).
Basic needs include adequate nutritious food, a safe and secure
shelter, clothing and medical care.  Parents protect their
children from psychological and physical threats in the
environment including harm from individuals, groups or
institutions by monitoring behavior and teaching self-protective
skills.  Parents are expected to provide guidance in cognitive,
educational, physical, sexual, social, moral, cultural, and
spiritual development by setting limits, providing information
and support, and modelling appropriate behaviors.  In their
advocacy roles, parents can promote safe neighborhoods and
communities, good schools, and adequate recreational facilities,
and help youth interact effectively with educational and economic
institutions.
The capacity to meet parental responsibilities may be
hierarchical in nature.  Advocacy is more likely to be undertaken
by those parents who are able to provide basic needs, protection
and guidance for their offspring.  As daily life becomes more
complex, parents find it increasingly difficult to perform these
expected functions without assistance from the wider society.
Both type and level of help needed vary because families are
diverse in composition, structure, values, resources, and
strengths.  Providing "social support will positively influence
parent functioning" (Powell, 1989, p. 93).
PARENTING STYLES
Both children's competence and parents' sense of effectiveness
are enhanced in an environment that is responsive to their needs
(Peterson & Hann, in press).  Parents who are warm and responsive
encourage secure attachment of the child in the early years.
Attentive communication and parental support help children
develop a sense of competence.  Support for parents in the
workplace, schools, child care facilities, neighborhoods and in
the larger social context creates an environment for the most
positive and responsive parent-child interaction.
An _authoritative parenting style_, characterized by open
communication, provides developmentally appropriate opportunities
for decision making and fosters social competence in youth.
_Firm but rational control of behavior_ includes helping children
understand why behavior is good or bad.  _Monitoring children's
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