Digital natives and parental surveillance: A qualitative study of parenting practices and child surveillance technology
(2022) SOCM04 20221Department of Sociology
Sociology
- Abstract
- The thesis sets out to explore how surveillance technology is affecting modern parental practices. Based on 12 in-depth interviews with parents of children aged 10-17, technological surveillance and parenting are studied. The data is analyzed though a combination of both preexisting concepts of Baumrind on child development and independent constructs. The concept of remote parenting has been derived from the data collected in this study and refers to parental intervention on the child’s behalf that occurs from a distance. The results of the study are presented in the form of four categories of parenting styles. The findings of this study suggest that technological surveillance is more likely to be present when there are lower levels of... (More)
- The thesis sets out to explore how surveillance technology is affecting modern parental practices. Based on 12 in-depth interviews with parents of children aged 10-17, technological surveillance and parenting are studied. The data is analyzed though a combination of both preexisting concepts of Baumrind on child development and independent constructs. The concept of remote parenting has been derived from the data collected in this study and refers to parental intervention on the child’s behalf that occurs from a distance. The results of the study are presented in the form of four categories of parenting styles. The findings of this study suggest that technological surveillance is more likely to be present when there are lower levels of trust in the relationship. Intense technological surveillance has been shown to be more common in parents with younger children, suggesting increased use of remote parenting methods in recent years. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- Technology like location trackers and special accounts which give parents full insight into their children’s digital activities are steadily gaining popularity. Parents can, if they wish, follow their children’s every move with the help of smart technology. This thesis explores how this possibility for control is affecting how parenting is done and if other factors like the age of the parent- or child makes a difference. In the following study 12 parents of children between the ages of 10 and 17 years old have been interviewed. I am using already established research findings on child development and trust to analyze the interviews and combining the preexisting research with my own concept of “remote parenting”. Remote parenting refers to... (More)
- Technology like location trackers and special accounts which give parents full insight into their children’s digital activities are steadily gaining popularity. Parents can, if they wish, follow their children’s every move with the help of smart technology. This thesis explores how this possibility for control is affecting how parenting is done and if other factors like the age of the parent- or child makes a difference. In the following study 12 parents of children between the ages of 10 and 17 years old have been interviewed. I am using already established research findings on child development and trust to analyze the interviews and combining the preexisting research with my own concept of “remote parenting”. Remote parenting refers to parenting actions and habits which are performed from a distance. Tracking the child’s location via GPS or even calling and texting the child are actions which I include in the term remote parenting. The results of this study are presented according to four different styles of parenting that were discovered in the interview material. The results show that parents who trust their children to a great extent are less inclined to surveil and control their children through technology as the parents who do not trust their children as much. Furthermore, the results of this study show that parents who have children between the ages of 10-13 use technological surveillance more than parents of children aged 15-17. This suggests that the technology is gaining popularity. Although the number of people interviewed in this study is too few to make hard claims, the results propose that technology is changing the way that parenting is done. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9099803
- author
- Meyer Qvarnström, Etta LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOCM04 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- surveillance, control, parenting, location tracking, child development, trust
- language
- English
- id
- 9099803
- date added to LUP
- 2022-09-12 15:39:16
- date last changed
- 2022-09-12 15:39:16
@misc{9099803, abstract = {{The thesis sets out to explore how surveillance technology is affecting modern parental practices. Based on 12 in-depth interviews with parents of children aged 10-17, technological surveillance and parenting are studied. The data is analyzed though a combination of both preexisting concepts of Baumrind on child development and independent constructs. The concept of remote parenting has been derived from the data collected in this study and refers to parental intervention on the child’s behalf that occurs from a distance. The results of the study are presented in the form of four categories of parenting styles. The findings of this study suggest that technological surveillance is more likely to be present when there are lower levels of trust in the relationship. Intense technological surveillance has been shown to be more common in parents with younger children, suggesting increased use of remote parenting methods in recent years.}}, author = {{Meyer Qvarnström, Etta}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{Digital natives and parental surveillance: A qualitative study of parenting practices and child surveillance technology}}, year = {{2022}}, }