This research was undertaken to construct a set of developmental levels from logical analysis and empirical interview data which represent a conceptual blueprint for parental functioning. The data were collected to investigate the organization and development of parents' awareness of their children as people, the parent-child relationship, and the parental role. In the mid-1970s, 56 parents from a broad cross-section of social and family backgrounds were interviewed. An age-stratified sample of 16 children was also given the interview. A subsample of eight parents with a recent history of having abused or severely neglected a child was matched with a comparison group on ethnic issues, socioeconomic status, and age of oldest child. The participants for the parent sample came from three sources: the Orthopedic Outpatient Clinic at Children's Hospital Medical Center (CHMC), the Family Development Clinic at CHMC, and a suburban middle-class community. The primary instrument for data collection was a semistructured reflective interview which used both direct personal questions and hypothetical dilemmas to probe reasoning about parental issues. In the personal section of the interview, parents were asked directly about their children as people, disciplinary practices, influences on developmental outcome, goals and expectations for their children, how they have learned to be parents, and how someone knows if he or she is a good parent. The second part of the interview consisted of hypothetical parent-child conflict situations. These dilemmas dealt with issues of authority, trust and communication, conflict, and the nature of the child's subjective experiences. Semistructured questions explored the parent's reasoning about the issues raised by the dilemmas. The children were given the same interview with the questions beginning "If you were a parent ..." Six years later, 13 of the children were reinterviewed to see if the four qualitatively different reasoninglevels about parenting represented a developmental hierarchy, independent of verbal IQ. The Murray Center has transcribed interview materials for all the participants accompanied by score sheets and background sheets. IQ scores are available for the children as well.
