ABSTRACT
Patterns in childrearing are intimately related to the social-cultural milieu in which family life is embedded. As the smallest social unit, it is the family that transmits the standards and values of society from one generation to the other. No wonder then that the alarming increase in violence among young children in the United States had sparked intense debates in this country regarding “family values.” In these debates, many consider the demise of the nuclear family to be at the root of some of the worst mental health problems of our children.
