Toward Relationship‐Directed Parenting: An Example of North American Born Second‐Generation Korean‐American Mothers and their Partners

Abstract

Historically, parenting has been constructed hierarchically; however, contemporary parenting models frequently emphasize parenting as relationship (Siegel & Hartzell [2004] Parenting from the inside out: How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive; Tuttle, Knudson-Martin, & Kim [2012] Family Process, 51, 73-89). Drawing on interviews with 20 North American born second-generation Korean-American mothers and their partners, and sensitized by TP-CRO, a social constructionist framework for conceptualizing parent-child relational orientations, this grounded theory analysis identified three main processes that facilitate relational connection as a parenting orientation rather than the rule-directed approach historically associated with first-generation immigrant Asian families. These include: (a) emphasizing dominant culture values; (b) inviting open communication; and (c) promoting mutuality. Results also show how parents integrate collectivist cultural values of their first generation immigrant parents' traditional culture into North American parenting ideals with which they primarily identify. The study demonstrates the usefulness of the TP-CRO for understanding parent-child relationships within multicultural parenting contexts and offers suggestions for working with second-generation Korean families.