Parents also need to make sure that the home environment suits the child's needs. Warmth, positive parental interactions with the child, and emotional tone of the home are some characteristics of the parent-child relationship that have been found to be especially important in promoting desirable behaviors of the child (Howard, 1996). "The best source of good discipline is a loving family" (Leung, Robson, Lim, 1992).
Consistency is an important part of the parent-child relationship. A more structured day with times and patterns for activities reduces the resistance in a child (Howard, 1996). However, some inconsistency can play a positive role in parenting because it helps the child's reaction to new situations.
Parents need to provide positive reinforcement for desired behaviors. Note that a general goal of positive reinforcement is to ensure that desirable behavior is eventually maintained by natural reinforcers (Text). There also must be an increase in some measure of the behavior in order to note that reinforcement has occurred. Positive reinforcers are something like rewards, or things one will generally work to receive. However, the definition of a positive reinforcement is more precise than that of reward. More specifically, positive reinforcement may be said to have occurred when three conditions have been met: a consequence is presented dependent on a behavior; the behavior becomes more likely to occur; and the behavior becomes more likely to occur because and only because the consequence is presented dependent on the behavior (Text). .
The simplest positive reinforcer is giving adequate attention to the child (Howard, 1996). Whether verbal or nonverbal, the effect is the same. A hug or a smile communicates as effectively as words. The important thing is to initiate contact with the child several times a day so that the child is confident of the parents" unconditional love and support.
