ABSTRACT

As this adolescent’s story so vividly conWrms, parents play a deWning role in their children’s value socialization. For most children, it is the beliefs and values Wrst experienced within the context of family life that shape their character and lay the foundation for healthy psychosocial functioning in adulthood (Grusec & Kuczynski, 1997; Kagan & Lamb, 1987; Walker, 1999). Although

the inXuence of parents on a child’s value socialization undoubtedly begins in early childhood, it is perhaps especially critical during the adolescent years. For it is during this period, with its striking advances in biological, cognitive, and social development, that the child often begins to explore and question familial norms and values in the quest for greater autonomy over his or her own life (Erikson, 1968; Hill & Holmbeck, 1986; Holmbeck, PaikoV, & Brooks-Gunn, 1995; Smetana, 1995, 1997; Silverberg & Gondoli, 1996; Steinberg & Silverberg, 1986).