Child-rearing practices have been studied from different theoretical positions and perspectives. On the one hand, there is a discussion on the conceptualization and operationalization of practices, styles, parenting strategies, on their variety and the consequences on a child's development and life chances (Baumrind, 1967, 1971; Darling & Steinberg, 1993; Lareau, 2003, 2011; Spera, 2005). On the other hand, the researchers discuss the reasons for the existing variety of child-rearing practices, styles, approaches in terms of class (Lareau, 2002, 2003, 2011; Weininger & Lareau, 2009), ethnic and national characteristics (Kremer-Sadlik & Fatigante, 2015; Kremer-Sadlik, Izquierdo, & Fatigante, 2010; Lee & Kao, 2009), structural constraints (Bennett, Lutz, & Jayaram, 2012; Chin & Phillips, 2004).

A large contribution to this debate on the variety and determinants of the practices has been made by the research conducted by Lareau, who distinguishes two child-rearing approaches: "concerted cultivation”, which is peculiar to middle-class parents and “accomplishment of natural growth”, employed by parents from poor and working class families (Lareau, 2003, 2011). Implementation of the concerted cultivation approach suggests that parents consider the development of a child through organized activities as an important component of child-rearing, while children from families which implement the accomplishment of the natural growth approach are mostly included in unstructured leisure activities.

Bennett and colleagues explain differences in the organized activities of children by structural constraints faced by working-class parents (Bennett et al., 2012). Comparative research of middle-class parents’ practices and attitudes in the United States and Italy indicated differences in the parental approaches to being involved in their children’s education, in their attitudes to children’s extracurricular activities, performance at school and to other aspects of their education (Kremer-Sadlik & Fatigante, 2015; Kremer-Sadlik et al., 2010).

The research of Diana Baumrind plays a crucial role in psychological studies of parental practices (Baumrind, 1967, 1971). She studied American middle-class families and identified parenting styles, based on two dimensions, called responsiveness and demandingness (Baumrind, 2005). Demandingness reflects the desire of the parents to integrate the children into society, to socialize them, whereas responsiveness refers to the promotion by the parents of the children's individuality, their desires.

The view on the conceptualization is offered by the integrative model of Darling and Steinberg (1993). They distinguish the concept of “parenting styles” and “parenting practices”. They define parenting practices such as “behaviors defined by specific content and socialization goals” (Darling, Steinberg, 1993: 492) and parenting style as “a constellation of attitudes toward the child that are communicated to the child and create an emotional climate in which the parent's behaviors are expressed” (Darling & Steinberg, 1993: 493).

In this study, I will use the concept of “child-rearing practices" or “parenting practices” in the sense that it was suggested by Darling and Steinberg’s defining practices. I will use “child-rearing approach” or "child-rearing strategies” for describing approaches proposed by Lareau. I will use the concept of parenting styles to refer to the behavioral aspects of parenting, indicated by Baumrind. This study aims to examine the impact of migration on child-rearing practices, but also to explain it in a broader methodological context by studying child-rearing styles and approaches. In a previous study, I focused on the class distinctions of the child-rearing strategies of migrant women and concluded that class differences in the structured activities of children are largely determined by structural factors (Akifyeva, 2016). In this study, on the contrary, I focused on the migration specifics of child-rearing by women with migration experience across class, carrying out a comparative study of Russian-speaking women living in Spain and Russia to reveal the migration specificity of child rearing.

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