Cognitive Social Learning Theory: Traditional Family Life

My grandmother was the primary caretaker and disciplinarian for my mother and her younger brother. She also worked outside of the home in order to provide for her family. My mother has never really discussed her life growing up with me therefore I only know bits and pieces from my other family members. I know that she had a difficult childhood, but I never knew to what extent. Before I began interviewing her, she informed me that growing up was not the happiest time of her life. As a result she does not have many fond memories. In her opinion, she believes that the way her life turned out had nothing to do with gender issues, but had everything to do with family dynamics.
In my mother’s case she did not have the traditional family life …show more content…
According to the cognitive social learning theory, parental characteristics can influence gender typing in relations to the type of role models that are available for children to mimic. Normally, the father plays a critical role in the development of children’s gender roles but due to my grandfather’s absence, my grandmother was the only one available to imitate. My mother chose to follow her mother’s footsteps by pursing an education degree and becoming a teacher. One could say that this decision was subconsciously chosen due to gender typing in that teaching is a field more fit for women; however, in her case it deals with preference. Women she grew up with chose both male and female dominated career choices which suggests that socialization does not always result in conformity. Although, my mother chose a predominately female career choice she personally preferred this field and disregards its relation to gender stereotyping in her decision making process. Although her actions supports this idea of a traditional gender attitude which is expected of women to display, I believe it has more to do with her personality and …show more content…
My father on the other hand grew up in a stable traditional family with both parents involved in his upbringing. Family is very important to both of my parents but more so for my mother because she did not have the opportunity to have the one she wanted. Which led to her decision to stay at home and care for my siblings and I rather than continuing to work. She was able to do so because my dad had a good job that allowed her to have the choice. If that was not an option she would have continued working, but because it was she did not have to. Her reasoning for doing so was because she wanted us to know that she was here for us when we needed her. My mother allowed us to pursue and dream and even encouraged them. She gave up her dream of being a teacher to stay home and care for us and give us a strong family that was not available to her. Gender issues may have had a small role in her decision making but each decision stemmed from her early experiences thus affecting her family and career