Parental influence on the development of social ethics in Indonesian children

Abstract

This study investigates parental approaches to instilling social ethics in children, emphasizing the importance of behavioral guidelines in shaping positive peer relationships and preventing deviant associations. Despite the crucial role of parental influence in children's moral development, there remains limited research examining how different parenting styles contribute to ethical social behavior in early life. This study aims to address this gap by exploring the types of parenting practices used to develop children's social ethics and identifying the supporting and inhibiting factors within the family and community context. Employing a qualitative field research design, data were collected through observation and analyzed using descriptive methods. The findings reveal that parents predominantly adopt democratic parenting, which facilitates the internalization of social ethics among children. Children demonstrated the ability to differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable social behaviors, consistently showing friendliness and restraint from negative conduct. Contributing factors include parental involvement, religious education, and community-based moral instruction. Inhibiting factors encompass economic hardship, limited educational attainment, and a lack of consistent religious influence in the surrounding environment. These results highlight the significance of parenting style and socio-religious context in shaping children’s social conduct and underscore the need for community support systems to enhance ethical development.

Keywords: Children; moral development; parenting; social ethics; upbringing