Values of Child-Raising among Mothers of Three-Five-Years-Old Children: A Phenomenological Study

Cognitions of child-raising are rather different in various cultures. An important component of these cognitions is values of child-raising. The main objective of this paper is to study the values of child-raising among mothers of three-five-years-old children. Phenomenological research method was employed in this study, which is a qualitative research. Semi-structured interview and targeted sampling were used to collect the data. 15 mothers raising children of 3-5 years of age, residing in Tehran, discussed their viewpoints about raising their children. Their talks were recorded and analyzed through Colaizzi’s method. On the basis of this study, five main themes with their subthemes were extracted. The main themes are: acceptability by others, having human values, considering specific status for parents, having religious tendencies and having faith in cultural values. Regarding the reasons for the said values, mothers’ responses focused on two pivots, i.e. “not being left alone” and “having peace of mind in life”. The mothers seemingly believe that if their children possess the said values, they will experience peace of mind in their lives and will not be left alone.