Role Taking and Socialization in Single-Parent Families

Abstract

This article examines the conditions and consequences of role taking in single-parent families. First, the authors discuss the theoretical relevance of role taking for parent-child interaction. Second, they suggest some conditions for parental role taking. Third, the authors consider how social class and family structure affect role taking in single-parent families. They propose that in addition to role taking in the dyadic parent-child relationship, two other forms of role taking are consequential for child socialization and family relations. One is specific to triadic relationships, the other to the family unit. Second-order role taking occurs when a parent elicits the perspective of the spouse in understanding the child. Third-order role taking, similar to Mead's concept of the “generalized other” as the vantage point for role taking, occurs when a parent elicits the perspective of the family as a whole. The authors explore these ideas in a qualitative study of single and married parents.