AN EXPLORATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS CONCERNING THE ROLES OF PARENTS IN FAMILY LIVING AS INDICATED BY THEIR RESPONSES TO CERTAIN FAMILY SITUATIONS IN SELECTED MOTION PICTURES

280 Pages·13.023 MB·English

by  HASKETT, HAZEL BERNIECE

Sponsoring Committee: Professor Henrietta Fleck,
Associate Professor John C. Robertson and
Associate Professor William D. Wilkins
AN EXPLORATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS
CONCERNING THE ROLES OF PARENTS IN FAMILY LIVING AS INDICATED
BY THEIR RESPONSES TO CERTAIN FAMILY SITUATIONS
IN SELECTED MOTION PICTURES
HAZEL BERNIECE HASKETT
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Education in the School of Education of
New York University
Pinal Document
C’ (/ j
Accepted, Date _
1952
The student hereby guarantees that no part of the disserta­
tion or document which he has submitted for publication has been here­
tofore published and(or) copyrighted in the United States of America,
except in the case of passages quoted from other published sources;
that he is the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation or
document; that the dissertation or document contains no matter which,
if published, will be libelous or otherwise injurious, or infringe in
any way the copyright of any other party; and that he will defend,
indemnify and hold harmless New York University against all suits and
proceedings which may be brought and against all claims which may be
made against New York University by reason of the publication of said
dissertation or document.
Sponsoring Committees Professor Henrietta Fleck,
Associate Professor John C. Robertson and
Associate Professor William D, Wilkins
This abstract approved by Chairman
7*-^
jz<ty
ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION
AN EXPLORATION OF THE CONCEPTS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS
CONCERNING THE ROLES OF PARENTS IN FAMILY LIVING AS INDICATED
BY THEIR RESPONSES TO CERTAIN FAMILY SITUATIONS
IN SELECTED MOTION PICTURES
HAZEL BERNIECE HASKETT
1952
1
The importance of exploring adolescents' concepts is generally
recognized. In the light of theories about responses to motion pictures
the investigator explored concepts of high school students in the eleventh
and twelfth grades concerning the roles of parents in family life.
Parental role categories selected for investigation were: child guide,
provider, and homemaker. The purpose of this study was to determine the
similarities and differences (if any) in students' responses when data
were compared according to selected factors.
The region for investigation, the vicinity of New York City,
was considered representative of a typical American scene based on
Warner and Lunt's^ studies of social class status in America.
Motion pictures and questionnaires distributed following projec­
tion of films were the instruments chosen by the investigator to stimulate
and reveal adolescents' concepts of parental roles in family life. The
investigator chose excerpted Hollywood motion pictures and developed ques­
tionnaires with the advice and counsel of a Board of Judges. The instru­
ments were utilized i or stimulating and eliciting students' reactions. On
the basis of findings in a pilot study the film, A Gift from Dad followed
by Questionnaire No. 1, and the film, Earning and Giving followed by
Questionnaire No. 2, were used in the main study.
Questionnaire No. 1 limited the students' responses to six re­
sponsibilities of parents in their roles of child guide, provider, and
homemaker, and to six categories of responses: "mother," "mother with
^W. Lloyd Warner and Paul S. Lunt, The Yankee City Series, Vol. 1
The Social Life of a Modern Community.
2
some help from father," "mother and father share equally," "father with
some help from mother," "father," and "others." By administering Ques­
tionnaire No. 2, a comparatively free-response type, different cate­
gories of responses were obtained. These diversified opinions were used
as supplementary information concerning adolescents’ concepts about
parental roles, and as a way of determining the reliability and validity
of Questionnaire No. 1.
Data were analyzed by proportional comparisons of students'
responses according to: social class status (upper with lower, upper
with middle, middle with lower); sex; foreign and non-foreign parentage;
wage earning and non-wage earning mothers; number of children in the
family; and religion. The results, the critical ratios, were interpreted
to determine the presence of statistically significant differences between
the selected groups. In each of the groups significant differences
appeared; however in some cases this represented a small magnitude of
responses.
The results indicate that students1 responses may be classified
in two categories: conventional and transitional. The transitional con­
ceptual type of mother-father roles is a role interpretation based on the
concept of mother and father sharing responsibilities in family life.
Conventional concepts of parental roles refer to retaining rigid mores
which are more customary to the culture.
This study indicates that the majority of adolescents’ responses
follows the conventional pattern: to mother is delegated the roles
of child guide and homemaker, and to father, the role of provider. An
indication of the transitional conception is evidenced by responses
3
signifying that mother and father share in the roles of child guide and
homemaker. Of all the factors pursued in this study— social class, sex,
foreign and non-foreign parentage, wage earning and non-wage earning
mothers, number of children in the family, and religion, the one that
appears to have the greatest influence is social class status. The lower-
class students are more conventional-minded concerning the role of child
guide and the role of homemaker than either the upper or middle-classes.
The results of this study indicate the need for adolescents to
explore their attitudes and beliefs about parental roles in family life.
The investigator recommends: (1) the extension of family life education
to parents and to boys and girls in the lower grades, (2) home visitation
and participation in community activities on the part of teachers in order
to become acquainted with parents, and (3) a comprehensive study of cul­
tural background and experience with parents of various environments for
pre-3erviee and in-service teacher education.
The study suggests need for further research in the following
areas: (1) role analysis to determine whether or not certain role-types
are preferable, (2) analysis of teaching materials, procedures, and tech­
niques for effective use in challenging students' concepts of roles of
family members, (3) analysis of social class factors which influence con­
cepts of parental roles, and (4) an analysis of concepts of parental
roles held by home economics teachers, elementary school children, col­
lege students, and parents.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to express deep appreciation to Professor
Fleck for her invaluable assistance, guidance, inspiration, and en­
couragement as chairman of her Sponsoring Committee, and to Professor
Wilkens and Professor Robertson for their counsel and advice through­
out the period of preparation for this study and in the writing of
this dissertation.
The author also wishes to acknowledge the cooperation accorded
her by the administrators, teachers, and students of the high schools
selected for this survey in Ridgewood, New Jersey, in Far Rockaway, in
Bronxville, and in Yonkers, New York, and the schools in Neoga, in Noble,
and in Mattoon, Illinois where the pilot study was conducted.
Thanks are due also to Teaching Films Custodians, Inc. for the
use of the two films required for the execution of this study, and to
the Board of Judges for their advice concerning the instruments used in
this study.
The author, a former Instructor of Home Economics at New York
University, is deeply grateful to the administrators of the School of
Education, to Professor Fleck and her teaching staff in the Home Eco­
nomics Department for their cooperation during her graduate study.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. THE PROBLEM OF THE STUDY.......................... 1
The Problem...................................... 1
Scope of the Problem............................ 1
Definitions of Terms........... . ............... 4
Delimitations of the Study...................... 5
Assumptions ...................................... 6
The Setting for the Study........................ 7
Need for the Study................................ 7
Summary.......................................... 11
II. RELATED STUDIES.................................. 13
Roles of Men and Women............................ 13
Family Relationships .............................. 20
Social Class Distinctions ........................ 24
The Use of Films in the Classroom................. 28
Summary......................................... 30
III. PROCEDURE FOR THE STUDY.......................... 32
Selection of Factors for Exploration............... 32
Parental Roles.................................... 34-
Instruments for Collecting D a t a ................... 37
Selection of Films.............................. 39
Development of Questionnaires................... 4-3
The Pilot Study................................ 44-
Summary of Physical Characteristics of
Procedure..................................... 49
Summary of Material Collected and the Treatment
of Data in the Pilot Study..................... 50
Summary of Material Revealed by the Questionnaires 56
Reliability and Validity of Questionnaires ....... 5&
Selection of Schools for the Main Study............ 58
Process of Collecting Data in the Main Study ........ 59
Summary.......................................... 73
IV. THE TREATMENT, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF
DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRE NO. 1 ..................... 74
Selection of a Sample Stratified According to
Social Class Status .............................. 74
Adequacy of the Sample . . . . . .... ............... 74
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
Chapter Page
IV (Continued)
Comparison of Responses Between Students Whose
Mothers Are Wage Earners and Students Whose Mothers
Are Non-Wage Earners......................... 119
Resume of Differences................................. 121
Interpretation of Data ........................... 122
The Roles of Child Guide, Provider, and
Homemaker.............................. 123
Comparison of Responses Grouped According to the
Number of Children in the Family....................... 123
Resume of Differences Between Group 1 and Group 2 ... 124.
Resume of Differences Between Group 1 and Group 3 . . . 128
Resume of Differences Between Group 2 and Group 3 ... 129
Interpretation of Data ......... 130
The Roles of Child Guide, Provider, and
Homemaker......................................... 130
Comparison of Student Responses Grouped According
to Religion.......................................... 132
Resume of Differences Between the Jewish and the
Catholic Groups ..................................... 132
Interpretation of Data................... 136
The Role of Child Gu i d e...................... 136
The Role of Provider.......................... 137
The Role of Homemaker....... 137
Resume of Differences Between the Protestant and
the Catholic Groups................................. 137
Interpretation of Data ......................... 138
The Role of Child Gu i d e...................... 138
The Role of Provider.......................... 139
The Role of Homemaker........... 139
Resume of Differences Between the Protestant and
the Jewish Groups ........................... 139
Interpretation of Data............................... 140
The Role of Child Gu id e ...................... 141
The Role of Provider.......................... 141
The Role of Homemaker........................ 141
Summary for Comparison of Responses by Students of
Three Religious Faiths-— Jewish, Catholic, and
Protestant.......................................... 141
Summary for Chapter............................. 142
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)
Chapter Page
V. THE TREATMENT, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF
DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRE NO. 2 ............................ 147
Introduction......................................... /, 7
1
Some Actual Statements of Students..................... 149
Organization of Responses .............................. 156
Interpretation of D a t a .................................. 157
Key for Table X X V I ................................... 158
The Role of Child Guide.............................. I64
Emotional Development .............................. 165
Intellectual Development........... 169
Physical Development ...................... . . . . 170
Social Development......... 172
Discipline of Children .............................. 172
The Role of Provider ............................ 173
The Role of Homemaker......... 175
Care of the House.................................. 175
Care of the Yard and C a r ........................... 178
Feeding the Family ...................... 179
Students1 Opinions About Mothers Working Away from Home . . 180
Summary for Chapter..................................... I83
VI. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS . . . . 188
Summary and Comparison of Responses from Question­
naire No. 2 with Questionnaire N o . l ........... 189
Summary and Conclusions Drawn from Questionnaire No. 1 . . 191
Comparison of Students' Responses Grouped According
to Social Class Status .............................. 191
Comparison of Responses with Respect to Sex: Boys
and Girls.......................... 193
Comparison of Responses with Respect to Students
Grouped According to Foreign and Non-Foreign
Parentage........................................... 194-
Comparison of Responses with Respect to Students
Grouped According to Wage Earning and Non-Wage
Earning Mothers ...................................... 195
Comparison of Responses with Respect to Students
Grouped According to the Number of Children in the
Family............................................. 195
Comparison of Responses with Respect to Students
Grouped According to Religion.................... 196
vi