Beliefs and ideologies linked with approval of corporal punishment: a content analysis of online comments.
This study employs a novel strategy for identifying points of resistance to education efforts aimed at reducing rates of child physical abuse and use of corporal punishment (CP). We analyzed online comments (n = 581) generated in response to media coverage of a study linking CP with increased child aggression. Most comments (71%) reflected approval of hitting children for disciplinary purposes. Reasons for this approval were rooted in beliefs linking the use of CP with positive or neutral outcomes such as: 'I was spanked and I am okay', spanking improves child behavior, spanking is more effective than other forms of discipline and spanking is not abuse. However, also linked with approval were more macro-ideological beliefs about society such as: today's generation is worse off than previous ones, outside interference with parenting is wrong, one cause leads to an outcome, justifications for hitting children rooted in religious doctrine, bad parents cannot control their children and children have too much power. Our results suggest a need to better translate and disseminate empirical findings regarding the negative effects of CP to the public in a way that is highly sensitive to parents' needs to feel in control and effective when parenting.
Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA ctaylor5@tulane.edu.
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Taylor
Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA.
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Al-Hiyari
Research Center for Group Dynamics, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Lee
Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA.
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Priebe
Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA.
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Guerrero
Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70119, USA.
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Bales
D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology; D003469:Culture; D006801:Humans; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology*