Women’s Parenting Styles That Contribute to Peace Building and Development: A Study of Three Districts(Makonde, Chegutu, Hurungwe) of Mashonaland West Province-Zimbabwe

Abstract

Peace achievement has always been far-fetched in many parts of the world especially in Asia and Africa. One would wonder if such acts by humans could be natural or a result of upbringing. In most cultures, if not all, mothers dominate the early lives of their children.  The purpose of this research was to assess the women’s parenting styles that contribute towards peace building and development in Makonde, Chegutu and Hurungwe districts of Mashonaland West Province of Zimbabwe. The study was largely qualitative, employing in-depth interviews and case study methods to assess the parenting styles that contribute to peace building and development and data on the variables (peace, development and parenting styles) were collected from 90 both female and male adult subjects of the ages ranging from 30-65 years from rural and urban areas of the three mentioned districts. In order to find out why individuals have maladjusted behaviours, structured interviews and self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data on mothers’ parenting styles that may contribute to such behaviours that may impede the culture of peace and development. From the findings, it has been noted that parenting that lacks mother-infant bonding, separation of new born from mothers, exclusion of fathers from early contact with the baby may lead to nurturing a violent or aggressive individual. Recommendations for future research were also made.