ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the five parent-child relationships they are ethology, attachment, social learning, ecological systems, and behavioral genetics theories. From a chronological perspective, ethological theory is the most inclusive theoretical approach to parents, because it attempts to understand how parental behavior has evolved over tens of thousands of years. Attachment theory has its roots in both neopsychoanalytic theory ana ethology, but it is considerably more circumscribed. Social learning theories represent a group of theories that concern how behavior is modified through specific social experiences. One of the limitations of attachment and social learning theories is that they do not explicitly recognize the role of the context. Ecological systems theory, as developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, was designed to do just that. The overarching goal of the behavioral genetics theory is to understand the genetic influences on human behavior. With the exception of behavioral genetics, each theory recognizes the primary importance of parental behavior for children's development.
