Prof.
Helena
Hurme has done comparative research related to the family and especially
to intergenerational relations in Finland and in Poland together with colleagues
from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. The studies have concerned,
for instance, Finnish and Polish adolescents' conceptions of their grandparents,
filial responsibility norms, i.e., what the rights and duties of the oldest
generations are in Finland and in Poland, how the family is conceived by
preschool children and which are the most important goals of upbringing
and which are the most efficient methods. The results showed, for instance,
that Polish adolescents describe their grandparents in greater detail than
the Finns do and use more personality terms and descriptions of their emotions
and activities, whereas Finns use more descriptions of their appearance.
The Poles give the grandparents much more rights to intervene in the life
of their children and their grandchildren, but also much more duties towards
them than do the Finns. Polish preschoolers draw their family as much larger
than do the Finns: Polish children included up to twenty-three persons
in their picture of the family and gave them all names, whereas a Finnish
preschool child typically drew four persons and perhaps a dog! Polish parents
were more ready to use physical punishment and being an example, the Finnish
parents would rather create rules or use persuasions. The Polish parents
stressed obedience, politeness, intellectual growth and health more as
goals of upbringing, the Finns stressed security and freedom.
