Caring and educative role of parents in social perception

Over the last decades, very profound and multifaceted transformations of social life and customs have taken place worldwide. New global cultural trends, which have infl uenced the changes in the patterns of family life, as well as the changes in family structure have emerged. Moreover, the preferences in relation to the value of family life, educational tradition and the young people’s attitudes towards marriage and parenthood have changed. At the same time, the roles fulfi lled by parents have changed, which has its signifi cant implications visible above all in the fi eld of the tasks as well as care and educational functions fulfi lled by the family. The article discusses the problem of the perception of the caring and educational role of mother and father. It was assumed that the caring and educational role generally consists in satisfying the offspring’s basic needs, their higher needs and taking up educational activities in terms of health, moral, aesthetic and intellectual education. Thus, it is creating offspring such conditions which will allow to achieve potential development and life independence. The article is a report from research carried out by means of a survey method using the technique of a questionnaire. In the context of this research, the main research question: “What is the social perception of the caring and educational role of mother and father?”, was answered. Based on these results, it can be stated that the respondents attribute these features which are related to expressive functions to the role of a mother. They notice, however, that fathers more often spend their free time with a child, stablishing close emotional relations with a child, therefore, according to them, the fatherly role is extended to issues related to the care and upbringing of offspring.