Parenting "ibrido" tra continuità culturale e nuovi modelli. Hybrid forms of parenting between cultural continuity and new models

When families migrate, culture of origin and new culture may conflict, with an important impact on parenting practices and educational values. The main goals of this study are: 1) to compare parental practices and educational values between local and immigrant mothers in Italy; 2) to describe determinants of parenting (demographic and sociocultural variables) in both samples. The empirical study has been conducted with 101 mothers (42.6% Italian and 57.4% immigrant from Eastern Europe, Africa and South America) with children aged 6-11 years. Data were collected by means of self-report questionnaire on parental practices and educational values. No differences in parental practices between Italian and immigrant mothers were found, whereas local and immigrant mothers appreciate different educational values and promote different socialization goals: independence, assertiveness and creativity are most important for Italian mothers, while obedience and religious identity are primary for immigrant mothers. Results are discussed referring to the concept of acculturation and “hybridised parenting”.