'סמכות הורית' – המשׂגה תאורטית: המודל הדו-ממדי

The issue of parental authority has been the focus of social interest for many generations. In recent times, however, in light of the increasing violence and other abnormal phenomena among children and adolescents (alcohol and drug abuse, promiscuous behavior, etc.), it is gaining greater attention from the public. Due to the ambiguity surrounding the essence of the issue, the goal of the article is to establish a detailed and profound conceptualization of the construct of parental authority, based on the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. An analysis of the concept has shown that it is a bi-dimensional theoretical construct (power and legitimacy), with its four main aspects: demanding behavior on the part of the parent, potential parental influence on the child's behavior, legitimate parental authority: the parent's right to demand, the child's obligation to obey. According to this conceptualization, parental authority is a bilateral concept whose nature is generally multi-faceted and dynamic as a function of the child's age and the context in which it occurs. Parental authority is usually expressed in parent–child conflicts (disagreements) regarding the various issues that emerge in everyday family life.