Cultural Differences in Child Images and Their Relationship to Social Delinquency Among Ethnic Minorities

Abstract

In this article, cultural differences in values and norms will be explored in relation to cultural differences in child images. The first question addressed concerns whether parents from different cultures differ in the values and norms that are most important to them in terms of child-rearing and, if so, what those cultural differences are and what they say about cultural differences in child images. Interwoven with this exploration is the social debate about values, norms, and problems involving ethnic minorities in The Netherlands. In addition, the issue of the relationship between cultural differences in values and norms, and problems experienced by ethnic minorities, will be addressed. We conclude that, using the individualist-collectivist concepts, there are small intercultural differences in the importance of values and norms, and that these differences might lead to cultural differences in child images. Other than this difference, European parents are remarkably similar in terms of the norms and values they think are important in child rearing. Because of the finding that the cultural differences in child images are quite small, it is argued that, if these differences have anything at all to do with problems of ethnic minorities, they certainly are not the main cause of these problems.