NCJ Number
216559
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 281-286
Date Published
May 2006
Length
6 pages
Annotation
A total of 227 college students in the United States and Japan were presented with 4 scenarios and surveyed about attitudes toward physical punishment, perceptions of appropriate discipline methods, and past experience with physical punishment.
Abstract
Experiences of being physically punished by parents were similar for the American and Japanese samples (91 percent and 86 percent, respectively). The American students were more likely to report being hit with an object than were the Japanese students; however, the Japanese students may have experienced more incidents of physical punishment, because corporal punishment is commonly practiced in Japanese schools. Body locations for physical punishment varied; the bottom and the hand were the sites most often mentioned. Type of child misbehavior influenced students' view of punishment. Japanese students considered talking back to a parent worthy of a more severe punishment than did the American students. American students were more likely to consider the intent of the child than the type of behavior as grounds for physical punishment; for example, although a child's behavior might cause significant harm, if it was accidental or unintended, physical punishment was considered less warranted than if the child had a malicious intent. The U.S. participants were 120 college students (58 percent female and 80 percent White) enrolled in general education classes at a midwestern university. The Japanese participants were 107 college students (68 percent female) enrolled in psychology and Japanese expression classes. The three sections of the questionnaire solicited information on demographics, punishment selected for a hypothetical situation of a child's behavior (four different scenarios in four questionnaires randomly assigned), and general attitudes toward physical punishment. Respondents were also asked about their own past experiences in being physically punished. 1 table and 23 references