African Americans” (Mindel et al, 1998, 117).
Italian-American families experience close bonds where the mother is the child-rearing agent with the father the disciplinary agent. Catholic faith maintains a large role in Italian family bonding. Italian mother’s exhibit a high degree of nurturing and both mother and father use love as a mechanism of behavioral control. However, female and male children are treated differently in terms of autonomy “By the age of seven, girls were expected to assist their mothers, and boys were given more freedom to roam. Punishment tends to be physical but intermingled with verbal and physical signs of affection” (Mindel et al, 1998, 118).
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