Religion and Parental Child-Rearing Orientations: Evidence of a Catholic-Protestant Convergence

Weber's interpretation of the relationship between religious values and economic rationalism led observers of American society in the past to posit fundamental between-group differences in values to account for differing social and economic orientations of American religious groups, particularly those between Protestants and Catholics. This paper focuses on the relationship between religion and family life giving particular attention to parental values for children and approaches to child rearing. First, the differences in parental values that exist among religioethnic groups in American society and the changing role of religioethnic differences in shaping the child-rearing orientations of parents are examined. Data from Detroit surveys and other sources are used to demonstrate substantial changes in parental values across the past several decades. Also examined are reports of socialization practices, which reflect a high degree of similarity in patterns of behavior among religioethnic groups in modern society. finally, it is shown that expressions of religiosity, such as church attendance, may be more strongly related to some aspects of parental child-rearing orientations than are denominational differences.