Parental ethnotheories and child caring in migrant families

Parental ethnotheories involve cultural models of parents’ beliefs on how to raise and nurture their offspring, including necessary measures for effective parenting. When different parental ethnotheories converge within the same social system, such as in the case of migrant families, parents face the task of adjusting their original parenting approach while still prioritising the essential objective of parenting: the physical and psychological development of the child.Immigration and related issues have gained significant importance in recent years. Immigration became a permanent feature in Italy, rather than a temporary or sporadic occurrence. Over the past decade, there has been a significant shift in immigration patterns in Italy, with a great increase of family-based immigration rather than work-based immigration, as many seek to settle permanently in the country.According to scholars [1], a crucial measure of stabilization is the fact that, despite varying frameworks, most immigrants in Italy currently reside in a conventional household arrangement, comprising of at least one parent and one or more children. Additionally, more emphasis should be placed on addressing the particular requirements of distinct cultural groups to facilitate the substantial diversity of geographical origins, nationalities and religious affiliations. In this case, it is essential to understand these families’ needs, expectations, and perceptions better. This understanding will enable us to plan social and health services better and promote their genuine integration into our country.However, little research has been conducted on the challenges immigrant parents face in bringing up their children in modern-day Italian society. The available literature indicates that ethnic minority parents share some beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors with the majority group, while differing significantly in other ways [2]. Migrant parents develop specific attitudes and behaviors, referred to as “culturally standardized formulas,” to encourage their child’s skills and behavior to align with the norms of the host country [3]. Therefore, analyzing parents’ ethnotheories is a valuable approach to understanding their experiences and helping to implement effective support techniques beyond temporary measures. Recent research suggests that maternal beliefs vary depending on their country of origin. The duration of time that immigrant mothers spend in Italy can influence the formation of their beliefs, indicating an acculturation process towards their new context.