Parents' perceptions regarding the discipline of their hearing-impaired children

Perceptions that parents have of their hearing-impaired children's misbehaviour, the techniques used in handling these behaviours, and the perceptions of success the parents experience in controlling such actions are examined in this study. One hundred and thirty-four parents with hearing-impaired children responded to a self-report questionnaire eliciting the following information: family background, perceptions of their children's misbehaviours, techniques used in dealing with their children's misbehaviour, perceived success of corrective techniques used, and their beliefs concerning the use of disciplinary techniques. Findings indicate that successful parents (those who perceived themselves as 'successful' in handling their hearing-impaired children's misbehaviour) differed from the unsuccessful parents (those who perceived themselves as 'unsuccessful' in handling their hearing-impaired children's misbehaviour) in two important ways. One was in the way parental groups perceived the incidence of misbehaviour in their children, that is, successful parents reported a significantly lower incidence of misbehaviour than did unsuccessful parents. The second difference involved the types of disciplinary techniques practised to control misbehaviour, that is, successful parents most often chose a technique involving 'discussion with explanation', while unsuccessful parents most often employed techniques involving 'scolding'.