Predictors of Adult Attitudes Toward Corporal Punishment of Children

Abstract

This study identifies predictors of favorable attitudes toward spanking. Analyses were performed with survey data collected from a representative sample of 1,000 adults from Quebec, Canada. According to this survey, a majority of respondents endorsed spanking, despite their recognition of potential harm associated with corporal punishment (CP) of children. The prediction model of attitudes toward spanking included demographics, experiencing or witnessing various forms of family violence and abuse in childhood, and perceived frequency of physical injuries resulting from CP. Spanking was the most reported childhood experience (66.4%), and most violence and abuse predictors were significantly and positively correlated. Older respondents who were spanked in childhood and who believed that spanking never or seldom results in physical injuries were the most in favor of spanking. On the other hand, respondents who reported more severe physical violence or psychological abuse in childhood were less in favor of spanking. Findings are discussed in terms of prevention of CP and family coercion cycle.

Perceived Social Norms, Expectations, and Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment among an Urban Community Sample of Parents

“…57 Moreover, adults who do not anticipate negative physical consequences from spanking are more likely to endorse it. 19 Hence, intervention efforts that focus on shifting knowledge and outcome expectations regarding CP, targeting both parents and key influencers, might be a promising approach for shifting attitudes about CP.…”

“…12 Approval of CP use also is high with nearly three quarters of US adults thinking it is okay and sometimes necessary to spank a child; 13,14 however, such findings tend to vary demographically with approval being highest in the South 15 and among Blacks, 16 Conservative Protestants, 17 persons with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and education 18 , and persons who experienced CP as a child. 19,20 Such a link, however, has been more equivocal among adults that were physically or psychologically abused as children. 16,19,21 Primary prevention of violence requires a careful assessment of potential root causes that are both significant and malleable.…”

“…19,20 Such a link, however, has been more equivocal among adults that were physically or psychologically abused as children. 16,19,21 Primary prevention of violence requires a careful assessment of potential root causes that are both significant and malleable. Having a positive attitude toward the use of CP is consistently one of the strongest predictors of CP use [22][23][24][25][26][27] and, based on declines of CP approval in other countries, it is clear that such attitudes are malleable.…”

“…Persons less inclined to think that CP could lead to physical harm are likely to have more positive attitudes toward CP use. 19 And mothers that expect CP to result in positive child outcomes, such as immediate compliance and long-term learning, but not in negative child outcomes, such as child distress, spank more frequently. 38 Unfortunately, many adults have expectations for their children that are inappropriate to the child's age, 39 and this can impact parents' disciplinary choices.…”

Predicting Adults’ Approval of Physical Punishment From Their Perceptions of Their Childhood Experiences

“…What is more difficult to explain is the common finding that childhood experience of physical punishment predicts adult approval of it (Buntain-Ricklefs, Kemper, Bell, & Babonis, 1994;Deater-Deckard, Lansford, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 2003;Gagné, Tourigny, Joly, & Pouliot-Lapointe, 2007;Lunkenheimer, Kittler, Olson, & Kleinburg, 2006;Straus, 1994). It could be argued that this relationship defies logic.…”