NCJ Number
61676
Journal
Children and Youth Services Review Issue: 1 Dated: (SPRING 1979) Pages: 75-86
Date Published
1979
Length
12 pages
Annotation
SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM A 1968 NATIONAL SURVEY WAS USED TO EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD PUNISHMENT EXPERIENCES AND ADULT VIOLENCE.
Abstract
THE SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED BY THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE. A TOTAL OF 1,176 ADULTS OVER AGE 18, IN 100 CLUSTERS THROUGHOUT THE U.S., WERE INTERVIEWED. DATA SHOWED THAT ABOUT 22 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO WERE SPANKED FREQUENTLY AS A CHILD HAD BEEN AGGRESSIVE FOUR OR MORE TIMES, COMPARED WITH ABOUT 12 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO WERE NOT SPANKED FREQUENTLY. THE ZERO-ORDER CORRELATION, HOWEVER, WAS ONLY ABOUT 0.11, AND AGGRESSORS COULD NOT BE STEREOTYPED AS HAVING BEEN SPANKED. ANALYSIS OF TWO TYPES OF ADULT AGGRESSION ALSO SHOWED LOW CORRELATION WITH CHILDHOOD PUNISHMENT. NEVERTHELESS, THE LOW CORRELATIONS MAY RESULT FROM THE FACT THAT OVER 60 PERCENT OF THE SURVEY RESPONDENTS REPORTED BEING SPANKED 'SOMETIMES,' RATHER THAN 'FREQUENTLY' OF 'NEVER.' EXAMINATION OF UNSTANDARDIZED REGRESSION COEFFICIENTS DID INDICATE THAT VARIATION IN SPANKING EXPERIENCE WAS FAIRLY STRONGLY RELATED TO ADULT AGGRESSION. THEREFORE, CHILDHOOD PUNISHMENT EXPERIENCE MAY BE QUITE RELEVANT TO ADULT AGGRESSION, BUT A VARIABLE USING A SIMPLE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CORPORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PUNISHMENT IS UNLIKELY TO BE A POWERFUL PREDICTOR. FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD FOCUS ON DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS OF PUNISHMENT PRACTICES, SITUATIONS IN WHICH THEY ARE USED, EXTREME EXPERIENCES SUCH AS FREQUENT USE OF STRAP OR STICK RATHER THAN AN OPEN HAND, AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF CHILDHOOD AGGRESSION TO CHILDHOOD PUNISHMENT. TABLES, FOOTNOTES, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)