NCJ Number
176181
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 22 Issue: 12 Dated: December 1998 Pages: 1189-1202
Date Published
1998
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Three hundred nineteen Kuwaiti mothers and fathers were interviewed using structured questionnaires in December 1996 to determine their attitudes toward corporal punishment of children and the sociodemographic factors related to these attitudes.
Abstract
The survey took place in five general clinics covering the major administrative areas of Kuwait. Eighty-six percent of the parents supported physical punishment as a means of child discipline. Agreement with physical punishment was higher in cases of serious misbehavior such as stealing (63 percent) and sniffing glue and using drugs (77 percent). Multiple regression analysis revealed that the parent's lower level of education and Bedouin ethnicity were positively associated with support for physical punishment. In addition, parents who had experienced physical punishments themselves were more likely than other parents to support corporal punishment, but the difference was not statistically significant. The findings on the inverse relationship on education and support for corporal punishment suggested that attitudes to corporal punishment are changing. Further research should focus on the possible negative psychosocial impacts of corporal punishment, given the findings from other countries. Figures, tables, and 21 references (Author abstract modified)