In the West it is not known that one has a connection with one's parents. But as you can see in Torah that this connection is not determinate of everything. [that is to say if they command one to disobey a negative commandment that has karet attached to it they must not be listened to. [You can see this in Naphtali Troup. A great sage in the time of Rav Haim of Brisk that simply did not get to be as well known, but also very deep. חידושי הגרנ''ט.
That is the legal aspect. However in a deeper sense clearly one should get an idea of what kind of parents he or she has. If they are wicked then it makes no sense to obey them. [That is not written into law which makes the only exception as when they are crazy.]
Why do I bring this up? Because I wanted to point out an important idea of Isaac Luria that one's inner light comes from the mother and outer light from the father. That is to say the connection with one's mother is more felt since it is internal. But it is the light of one's father that provides the outer light which is the protective shield around one. So one simply does not notice it until it is gone.
So my feeling is that people are not as aware as they ought to be about their inner connection and outer shield that they have from their parents.
