An Investigation of Parenting Style in Jalal Al-e Ahmad’ novel “The School Principal” Based on Diana Baumrind’s Theory

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
parisa nasiri 1
farzad baloo 2
hadi nurmohammadi 3
1 Doctoral student of Persian language and literature, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran
2 Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature Department, Mazandaran University
3 PhD in Persian language and literature, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran
Abstract
Parenting style is one of the significant approaches in the field of psychology which deals with the importance of the role of parents and the way they interact with their children. In the 1960s, Diana Baumrind identified four main types of parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Each of these styles takes a distinct approach to raising and interacting with children on the part of parents. One of the most well-known authors of contemporary fiction, Jalal Al-e Ahmed, using caustic humor explored in the book “The School Principle” how to raise children, how to educate them, and how parents might help their children improve their social skills. In the present study, we investigated the parenting style in Al-e Ahmed's novel “The school principal” through a descriptive-analytical approach. The findings of the study reveals that this novel among the four types offered by Baumrind, can be examined based on the authoritarian parenting style. Furthermore, its elements lead us to positive and beneficial implications for parenting education in the

Extended Abstract

Parenting style is one of the significant approaches in the field of psychology which deals with the importance of the role of parents and the way they interact with their children. In the 1960s, Diana Baumrind identified four main types of parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Each of these styles takes a distinct approach to raising and interacting with children on the part of parents. One of the most well-known authors of contemporary fiction, Jalal Al-e Ahmed, using caustic humor explored in the book “The School Principle” how to raise children, how to educate them, and how parents might help their children improve their social skills. Considering to the importance of parenting and the ability to analyze literary texts based on this theory, no research has been conducted on examining contemporary narrative literature, especially the story of the school principal, based on parenting styles.

In this research, through a descriptive-analytical method, we aim to understand how the story of “The School Principal” describes and explains the role of the family as the primary center of child rearing based on parenting style, what cultural, social, and educational factors play a role in the target work, and how the story aligns with which of the parenting styles. It seems that, considering that the story narrates the educational situation and the cultural and social conditions of students, the role of parents as another key component in child rearing and their interaction with them is depicted as bilateral and mutual. Also, the economic and social factors of individuals have a direct relationship with the educational and cultural conditions of children. The findings of the research indicate that, based on this perspective and examining the story of the school principal by Jalal Al-e Ahmad, this work is investigable and researchable based on the authoritative parenting style.

Al-e Ahmad, by portraying poor families, parents with low levels of education, their neglect of children, unfavorable living conditions in terms of education and livelihood, and the cultural and social situation as well as the psychological characteristics of children in the story of the school principal and other works related to parenting that were addressed in this research, seeks to demonstrate that the parents of students, who are mostly from the lower strata of society, often behave violently and harshly toward their children, in addition to unfavorable economic and health conditions. Their disregard and use of force towards children diminishes the level of self-confidence and self-belief in children, of which a part is due to the lack of awareness of the right parenting methods and acquiring necessary skills in the field of appropriate parenting styles.

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Literary Criticism
Volume 16, Issue 63
Autumn 2023
Pages 145-177