This research summarizes the work done on two projects: Maternity and early upbringing in Chile today: a study of mother-child dyad considered from an ethnographic perspective (2010-2013) and Maternity and early upbringing in a rural Mapuche context (2013-2015) . Its aim was to contribute to the reflection on the different types of parenting that coexist in Chile.
Both studies identified the existence in Chile of different “cultures of parenting”, which determine the way in which parents or significant adults take care of and educate their children. Different strategies were observed, such as the amount of time spent with the child, everyday activities, the type of parental control and supervision over the child, forms of punishment and of affection, independence or interdependence among family members, the distribution of responsibilities, among others, which revealed the differences.
So, from 2010 to 2011, a research was conducted on the process of becoming a mother. To do this, researchers collected data from a sample of 16 women that were of different income and educational level and living in different areas of Santiago. This was done using an ethnographic approach, that is, investigating personally the daily lives of these families, following most of them from the third trimester of pregnancy and visiting them in their homes every month until the baby turned one year old.
Midwives, doctors and nurses who were involved in this process were also interviewed. As a main result, it was observed that many women – especially those with medium or low income- privileged household welfare, including childcare. This work provided information regarding expectations of these mothers and families, their fears and social relationships within and outside the family.
There are differences that go beyond the appreciation of these mothers being “good” or “bad” or that one is “better” than the other. They have to do with different parenting styles depending on the context in which mothers live, it has to do with different needs and values. It is different raising kids in the countryside than in the city; parenting is different when the family is only the father and son, and not the extended family; parenting is different in an ethnic group where the values and beliefs are different. The point is that these differences are valid and should be respected.
Murray, Marjorie 2012. Childbirth in Santiago de Chile: stratification, intervention and child-centeredness. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 26(3):319-337.
>Murray, Marjorie 2013. ‘Staying with the baby’: intensive mothering and social mobility in Santiago de Chile. In Parenting in Global Perspective: Negotiating ideologies of kinship, self and politics. Charlotte Faircloth, Diane Hoffman and Linda Layne, eds. Pp.256-284. London: Routledge
Murray, Marjorie 2014.. Back to work? Childcare and guilt during the first year in Santiago de Chile. Journal Of Family Issues. 2014;xx(xx):1-1.
Murray, M., Bowen, S., Segura, N., Verdugo, M. (en revisión). Apprehending volition in early socialization: raising “little persons” among rural Mapuche families.