ELLIOT B. WEININGER SUNY College at Brockport ANNETTE LAREAU University of Pennsylvania* Paradoxical Pathways: An Ethnographic Extension of Kohn’s Findings on Class and Childrearing Stratification is a central issue in family the social sciences, yielding a large literature research, yet relatively few studies highlight that seeks to explain variations across social its impact on family processes. Drawing on in- classes in childrearing (for an overview, see depth interviews (N = 137) and observational Hoff, Laursen, & Tardif, 2002). One of the data (N = 12), we extend Melvin Kohn’s most important figures in this area is Melvin research on childrearing values by examining Kohn. Over the course of nearly 5 decades, Kohn how parental commitments to self-direction has studied the psychological consequences of and conformity are enacted in daily life. social class, especially as it impacts family life Consistent with Kohn’s findings, middle-class (Kohn, 1959, 1963, 1969; Kohn & Schooler, parents emphasized children’s self-direction, 1983; Kohn & Slomczynski, 1993). In particular, and working-class and poor parents emphasized he and various colleagues have investigated children’s conformity to external authority. how occupational conditions stemming from Attempts to realize these values appeared class membership affect the value commitments paradoxical, however. Middle-class parents through which parents approach childrearing, routinely exercised subtle forms of control with middle-class parents emphasizing self- while attempting to instill self-direction in their direction and working-class parents stressing children. Conversely, working-class and poor conformity to external authority. parents tended to grant children considerable As surveys of the field have noted, however autonomy in certain domains of daily life, (e.g., Hoff et al., 2002), the assumption that thereby limiting their emphasis on conformity. value commitments mediate the relation between social structure and parenting behaviors requires The relation between social structure and strict empirical evaluation. We thus seek parenting has been a long-standing interest in to extend Kohn’s finding concerning the relation between class and childrearing values by drawing on an ethnographic data set that includes both detailed interviews and Department of Sociology, SUNY College at Brockport, 350 New Campus Drive, Brockport, NY 14420 observations. We use these data to analyze ([email protected]). the roles self-direction and conformity play *Department of Sociology, McNeil Building, Ste. 113, in the childrearing practices of middle-class, University of Pennsylvania, 3718 Locust Walk, working-class, and poor families. Our goal is Philadelphia, PA 19104-6299. to extend the analysis of the class-childrearing This article was edited by Ralph LaRossa. relation beyond an acknowledged (Kohn, 1977, Key Words: ethnography, inequality, leisure, parent-child pp. xxxii – xxxiii) limitation of previous studies: relations, parenting styles. their reliance on reports of behavior rather 680 Journal of Marriage and Family 71 (August 2009): 680 – 695 Paradoxical Pathways 681 than direct observation. By closely examining ‘‘conditions of life’’ resulting from class parents’ attempts to enact value commitments in position mediate the relationship. Of these, Kohn childrearing, we hope to clarify processes that asserts, it is occupational self-direction that does remain partially obscure in the research carried the majority of relay work: Membership in the out by Kohn and his colleagues. different social classes entails differences in Our paper focuses on how parents enact com- the level of self-direction individuals exercise mitments to self-direction and conformity in in their jobs, and these differences have two domains of family life: verbal interaction pronounced psychological consequences (Kohn, between parents and children and the use of 1963, pp. 475 – 476; Kohn & Slomczynski, leisure time. As Kohn leads us to expect, we find 1993, pp. 230 – 235). Self-direction, in turn, abundant evidence that in the day-to-day busi- is defined in terms of the ‘‘use of initiative, ness of childrearing, middle-class parents tend thought, and independent judgment in work’’ to stress the importance of self-direction. They (Kohn & Slomczynski, p. 110). As such, it is often place their children in situations in which intended to be a multidimensional concept. Its they must make decisions and then prod them constitutive elements include the substantive to provide (rudimentary) justifications. Middle- complexity of work typically performed, the class parents also tend to use leisure activities closeness of supervision that the individual to promote children’s nascent sense of curios- experiences, and the degree of routinization (i.e., ity and self-control. Working-class (and poor) repetitiveness and predictability) of his or her job parents, by contrast, tend to stress conformity activities (Kohn & Slomczynski, pp. 110 – 113). to external authority. This is clearest in their According to Kohn, because work comprises relatively frequent use of directives in interac- a central, ‘‘imperative’’ activity in modern tions with their children. As a consequence of societies, the experiences engendered in the these contrasting emphases, children have sub- occupational sphere give rise to a process of stantially different experiences depending on ‘‘learning generalization’’ with respect to self- the economic position of their families. Beyond direction and thereby come to affect various this, however, we find that the way in which aspects of psychological orientation in other a commitment to conformity or self-direction domains of life (Kohn & Schooler, 1983, p. 142; is ‘‘translated’’ into actual childrearing prac- Kohn & Slomczynski, pp. 6 – 7). tices is far from simple. Children are regularly Kohn’s unwavering interest in the various placed in settings largely antithetical to these relationships implied by this model has led him values. Middle-class children are frequently the to develop ever more sophisticated versions of objects of adult micromanagement and control it. Thus, he has carried out longitudinal analyses in precisely those contexts that are expected to (Kohn & Schooler, 1983; Kohn & Slomczynski, promote self-direction; their working-class (and 1993) and, more recently, complex comparative poor) counterparts, by contrast, are often placed ones (Kohn & Slomczynski), including a in settings that leave them largely free of parental consideration of the impact that large-scale control. Thus, although we find clear evidence of social transformations have on the relationship the value commitments Kohn has documented, between social structure and personality (Kohn, we also identify paradoxical pathways to their 2006). Importantly, his more recent work has enactment. also utilized newer statistical techniques to test for reciprocal effects at each step of the model, Theoretical Background with results that strongly support his basic contention of a fundamental process stretching Despite numerous revisions and expansions from class to psychological functioning by way over the years, much of Kohn’s work revolves of occupational self-direction. around a particular explanatory account of the On the substantive side, Kohn’s interest in relationship between class and psychological the psychological dimension led him, from a functioning (see Kohn, 1977, pp. xxv – lx; very early date, to focus on manifestations of Mortimer, 1993; Spenner, 1988, 1998). In very class within family dynamics. In particular, he general terms, this model can be summarized has returned again and again to the question as follows: One’s position in the social division of whether the experience of self-direction in of labor exerts effects on psychological func- work can be causally connected to variations in tioning primarily in an indirect manner; certain the degree to which parents value self-direction 682 Journal of Marriage and Family and conformity for their children (Kohn, 1959, greater or lesser similarity to Kohn’s ‘‘self- 1963, 1969, 2006; Kohn & Schooler, 1983; direction/conformity’’ distinction (Franklin & Kohn & Slomczynski, 1993). He has further Scott, 1970; Grabb, 1981; Morgan, Alwin, & attempted to establish that these parental values Griffin, 1979; Mortimer & Kumka, 1982; Spade, are, in fact, reflected in children’s values, and 1991; Wright & Wright, 1976). Nevertheless, as has even developed some tentative analyses of Gecas (1979) noted some time ago, the question the transmission process through which such a of how these contrasting value commitments result may come about (Kohn & Slomczynski, may impact the actual texture and experience of pp. 171 – 201). It is this (central) line of family life calls for greater attention. To be sure, Kohn’s research—his pursuit of the relation Kohn’s (1969, pp. 91 – 107) celebrated study of between class and self-direction within family the conditions under which parents from differ- dynamics—that we are concerned with here. ent classes resort to punishment of their children Kohn’s methodological approach to discern- has provided insight into the relation between ing parents’ value orientations has been to childrearing values and parental behavior. Yet develop a list of characteristics children may such studies remain rare. In this paper, we exhibit (e.g., consideration, curiosity, obedience, show that approaching this topic via participant- good manners) and then to ask parents either to observation