Intergenerational Continuity of Parenting Practices of Bangladeshi Mothers

The study aimed to explore Bangladeshi mothers' contextual parenting practices, their flow pattern between two generations, factors contributing to change, and the continuity process from one generation to the next.Social cognitive theory framework was used, along with a theory of urbanization and a theory of modernization to examine the continuity of protective parenting practices across two generations. A cross-sectional hermeneutic phenomenological study design was followed from a social constructivist paradigm. Eleven maternal grandmothers (G1) and 11 mothers (G2) were purposively selected from Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews. The mothers learned protective parenting practices from the grandmother generation through direct instruction, experience, observation, and modeling within an interaction of various social elements. Protective parenting practices were found to be essential and persisted with some modifications despite modernization. Based on the findings, a process model of intergenerational continuity of parenting practices has been offered, which depicts intergenerational learning within a transitional social context.