NCJ Number
137647
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1992) Pages: 147-155
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study compared ad hoc samples of college students in the United States and India on their punishment in childhood, their evaluation of that punishment, and their current acceptance of corporal punishment in child rearing.
Abstract
The U.S. sample consisted of 49 females and 46 males enrolled in an introductory psychology course at a large public university. The Indian sample consisted of 94 females and 66 males enrolled in the University of Delhi. All subjects were unmarried and without children. The Discipline Questionnaire used in the study is a 20-minute, 53-item self-report instrument modeled on the Graziano-Namaste (1990) questionnaire. It provides demographic information and general discipline-related information. The remaining items consist of three summary scales that measure past punishment, evaluation of past punishment, and current attitudes toward punishment. The data indicate that the majority of both national groups had been physically punished as children, that physical punishment was condoned more by the American than by the Indian students, and that in both cultures the frequency of childhood punishment was associated with its greater acceptance in adulthood. Because subjects from both countries did not strongly endorse propunishment attitudes, they may be open to learning other methods of discipline. 2 tables and 18 references