International Research on Parenting and Parent Education: Collaborative Conference and Beyond

Globally, parents in families are coping with major societal changes. Economic distress, shifting resource allocation, and other societal pressures challenge today’s parents. Consequently, scholars in growing numbers focus on issues related to parenting and parent education. The papers in this special issue represent a very small but geographically diverse sample of the research of current global research on parenting. Global issues related to public policy and practices in a changing world are examined. Specific topics include contemporary international issues of maternal and paternal leave, cross-cultural influences, parenting policies, fertility, and relationships between deviance and parenting. Earlier versions of the papers were presented by scholars at the 2009 International Conference on Parent Education and Parenting. The conference was the first joint meeting of the University of North Texas’ Center for Parent Education (CPE) and the International Sociological Association’s Committee on Family Research (CFR). Because of the success of this initial conference the collaboration has continued and the third annual international conference is being planned in 2011. Detailed information about the CPE, the 2009 conference, other international research, practice presentations, and directions for future research are presented.