ABSTRACT
Parent-child relationships are at the heart of the microsystem of interaction in the ecological view of human development. However, a singular focus on dyadic relationships involving parent and child fails to recognize that parent–child relationships are embedded in a mesosystem of broader contexts, like peers, schools, and neighborhoods. The childrearing principles and practices of one’s own culture seem “natural,” of course, but some may actually be rather unusual in an absolute sense. Even family structures take different forms depending on culture; nuclear families represent only one of a variety of social ecologies in which parents and children are found. Children in many cultures are tended by a variety of nonparental care providers, whether in their own homes, daycare centers, or wheat fields. Biological parents contribute directly to the genetic makeup of their children, but parents also directly shape children’s experiences.
