A Decrease in Victimization From Physical Punishment in Finland in 1934–2014: An Evidence of an Emerging Culture of Nonviolent Parenting

Abstract

S ubsequent to the establishment of a Finnish law in 1983 [1] criminalising all types of physical punishment on children, in all situations, a significant decrease in victimisation from physical punishment was found in 2011. [2] A similar trend has been found in neighbouring Sweden, the first country to abolish physical punishment in all situations in 1979. [3] Decreasing trends regarding the physical punishment of children have also been reported in countries with incomplete legislation against it, like Canada, [4, 5] and parts of the US. [6-8] In order to establish whether the observed decrease in Fin-land reflects a permanent change in childrearing practices, a second survey was launched three years after (2014) the first one. [2] This approach was selected since, according to Cohen (1994), [9] the best way to secure the correctness of findings is to rely on the method of replication. Progress in International Legislation Against the Physical Punishment of Children A clear association between the existence of a law against physical punishment and how often children are being victimised has been reported. [10, 11] A study including six European countries showed that children in countries without

Is a harsh childhood growth environment reflected in parental images and emotional distress in adulthood?

“…A surprising result in the present study was that the adult offspring's recollection of corporal punishment used by the mother was positively associated with a sociable maternal image (including talkativeness, happiness and spontaneity). The data of our study was collected before and during wide societal changes affecting attitudes and practices in the use of corporal punishment (Osterman et al 2018;Peltoniemi 1983;Sariola 2014). Among other things, Waters et al (2000) emphasized that fluctuations in attachment security related to meaningful changes in the family environment may enable changes in attachment relations.…”

“…In Finland, all kinds of physical punishment were criminalized already in 1983 (Finnish Law 1983) as the second nation in the world -Sweden being the first, in 1979 (Janson et al 2011). Thus, physical punishment was common and part of the educational culture in Finland until 1983, but its acceptability has steadily declined since the introduction of the law (Osterman et al 2018). In a survey in 1981, physical punishment was accepted by 44% of the respondents, at least in exceptional situations (Peltoniemi 1983), whereas in a study carried out in 2014, only 15% of the respondents agreed at least partly on the acceptability of physical punishment of children (Sariola 2014).…”