A Horror Story of Authoritarian Parenting

In class the other day we went over the four different types of parents, each with there own style and way. These four include Authoritarian, Authoritative, Passive and Univolved. The one I want to cover today is Authoritarian parenting and the possible effects I think it may cause for some kids.
Authoritarian parents who tend to overemphasize the discipline side of the equation are referred to as authoritarian. Authoritarian parents are demanding in the worst sense of the word. They are intimidators, requiring obedience and respect above all else. They become overly angry and forceful when they don't get that obedience and respect. Their love and acceptance appear totally conditional to the child. They do not teach or listen to their kids or explain the reason for their expectations, which are frequently unrealistic. They often see their children's individuality and independence as irrelevant or threatening.
An example of this type of parenting could have been seen at my friend Bethany’s house. Going to her house I always knew that someone was going to be yelled at, and that when there it was probably just best not to speak. Some of the things I came to see over the years were things like, her dad held her to such high expectations as far as school was concerned that she was sometimes even too afraid to come home and tell him she had gotten anything lower than an A in her classes. There were times I could seriously watch her beg a teacher in tears for extra credit just so she could get that one assignment back up. Anytime she would ask a question it was always responded to in the ever so clever “Its’ none of your business” or my favorite cliché “Because I’m the parent and I said so.” The worst thing I think I noticed while I was there is that neither Bethany nor her brother was ever shown any affection until after they had accomplished something. It was straight up an Authoritarian house more like a boot camp then a home.
The research has shown that authoritarian parents tend to produce children who are more withdrawn, anxious, mistrustful and discontented. These children are often overlooked by their peers. Their self-esteem is often poor. Now I don’t know about the being overlooked by peers’ thing, but as far the rest of the issues she was a text book case and as being mistrustful well Bethany had that one down perfect. I don’t remember a single weekend when we would all go out and she would have to lie to her parents even if we were doing something as innocent as going to the bowling alley. Things for Bethany didn’t stay so innocent for long, she started going out drinking every weekend, she got into so hardcore drugs and she started to act as though her self-worth came only with the high number of men she had been sleeping with. It didn’t take long for her to end up pregnant and too this day I still ask myself if Cole was the one miracle that saved her life, but the bigger question I ask is had her Dad been more of an Authoritive parent would she of spiraled out of control or tried to get pregnant like she did just so she could have that one thing to love her unconditionally. We won’t ever know what could have been but I’ll always wonder was it her Dads parenting style that almost destroyed her life.