Parenting influences from the pulpit: Religious affiliation as a determinant of parental corporal punishment.

Abstract

This study examined religious affiliation as a source of differences in beliefs about and reported use of corporal punishment by 132 mothers and fathers of 3-year-old children. Conservative Protestants reported using corporal punishment more than parents of other religious groups, but no religious differences were found in parents' reported use of 8 other disciplinary techniques. Conservative Protestants' belief in the instrumental benefits of corporal punishment was associated with their frequency of corporal punishment use. More than parents of other religious affiliations, Conservative Protestants intended to use corporal punishment for children's moral, social, prudential, and escalated misbehaviors and expected it to prevent future transgressions. Religious affiliation, particularly a Conservative Protestant one, appears to have a strong and consistent effect on child rearing.One of the most important and most salient tasks for parents of young children is discipline. How parents discipline their children predicts crucial aspects of children's positive and negative interpersonal behaviors, including the extent to which children comply with parental directives (Minton, Kagan, & Levine, 1971;

Perceived Social Norms, Expectations, and Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment among an Urban Community Sample of Parents

“…12 Approval of CP use also is high with nearly three quarters of US adults thinking it is okay and sometimes necessary to spank a child; 13,14 however, such findings tend to vary demographically with approval being highest in the South 15 and among Blacks, 16 Conservative Protestants, 17 persons with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and education 18 , and persons who experienced CP as a child. 19,20 Such a link, however, has been more equivocal among adults that were physically or psychologically abused as children.…”

Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review.

“…When they perceive children to be at fault, parents rate harsh corporal punishment (e.g., hitting with an object such as a belt) as less severe than if children were not at fault (Rodriguez & Sutherland, 1999). If children display escalated disobedience (i.e., knowingly disobey after being reprimanded), parents are more likely to use corporal punishment (Gershoff, Miller, & Holden, 1999;Holden, Miller, & Harris, 1999;Peterson et al, 1994; K. L. Ritchie, 1999). What time of day the child misbehaves may determine whether corporal punishment is used, as a majority of spankings occur between 5 p.m. and bedtime (Holden et al, 1995).…”

“…Parents themselves recognize the specificity in the effectiveness of corporal punishment; parents believe that corporal punishment is more effective at suppressing misbehaviors involving safety (e.g., running away from a parent in a crowded parking lot) than at preventing children from disobeying moral (e.g., hitting a friend) or social norms (e.g., interrupting a parent on the phone; Gershoff et al, 1999).…”

Physical Discipline and Children's Adjustment: Cultural Normativeness as a Moderator

“…One dimension is the culture's predominant religious affiliation, which has been found to be importantly related to parents' discipline strategies even within the United States (e.g., Gershoff et al, 1999). A second dimension is notable laws involving family life (e.g., the one-child policy in China).…”

“…One dimension was individualistic vs. collectivist orientation, which has been the orienting framework in much cross-cultural research (e.g., Markus & Kitayama, 1991). A second dimension was the culture's predominant religious affiliation, which has been found to be significantly related to parents' discipline behaviors within the United States (e.g., Gershoff, Miller, & Holden, 1999). A third dimension was notable legal action involving parents' discipline, particularly in the selection of Italy, where cases involving parents' use of physical discipline have been brought to trial (see Bitensky, 1998).…”