There are many factors that influence a child’s development but what role does a parent play in the development of a child? What defines a parent? Are parents important in a child’s life or at least the figure of one? A parent is a person that is or acts as a mother or father to someone. Parents play a big role in a child’s life and contribute largely to the development of the children. How so? Each parent has his or her own methodology as to how they would raise their child, this is called parenting style. A developmental psychologist Diana Baurmrind studied parenting styles during the early 1960s. The four parenting styles she developed was based on the actions and behaviors of parents and how they affect child development, paying close attention to four important areas involving a parents ' warmth or nurturance, discipline strategy, communication skills, and expectations of maturity. However, there are many different theories and opinions on the best way to raise a child as well as the amount of investments of time and effort a parent is willing to give to their child or children. This concept is broken up into four categories known as the four types of Parenting Styles; they are the Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive and Uninvolved Parenting.

Authoritarian parents are not very affectionate. They are very restrictive, strict disciplinarians, and it is a very punitive parenting style. There is no discussion with their child and family rules and standards are not