title: Causes and consequences of harsh parental punishment. An empirical investigation in a representative sample of 570 German families.
abstract: This article examines a multifactorial model of causes and consequences of harsh parental punishment. The social-psychological model as developed by Gelles was extended to also include the antecedent conditions leading to rigid assertion of parental power relating to the child. Furthermore, personality problems of the child observable as consequences of harsh parental punishment were included in our model. The conditions which predict harsh parental punishment are--in the rank order of their importance: a child perceived as difficult to handle, i.e., a "problem child"; parental anger-proneness; the rigid assertion of parental power; and intra-familial problems and conflicts. As consequences of harsh parental punishment and rejection as perceived by the child, two types of personality problems were observed: a syndrome named "Conduct Disorder" and a syndrome including personality problems such as anxiety and helplessness.
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D005860:Germany, West; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010290:Parents; D011678:Punishment