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

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Abstract

Despite the fact that corporal punishment (CP) is a significant risk factor for increased aggression in children, child physical abuse victimization, and other poor outcomes, approval of CP remains high in the United States. Having a positive attitude toward CP use is a strong and malleable predictor of CP use and, therefore, is an important potential target for reducing use of CP. The Theory of Planned Behavior suggests that parents’ perceived injunctive and descriptive social norms and expectations regarding CP use might be linked with CP attitudes and behavior. A random-digit-dial telephone survey of parents from an urban community sample (n = 500) was conducted. Perceived social norms were the strongest predictors of having positive attitudes toward CP, as follows: (1) perceived approval of CP by professionals (β = 0.30), (2) perceived descriptive norms of CP use (β = 0.22), and (3) perceived approval of CP by family and friends (β = 0.19); also, both positive (β = 0.13) and negative (β = −0.13) expected outcomes for CP use were strong predictors of these attitudes. Targeted efforts are needed to both assess and shift the attitudes and practices of professionals who influence parents regarding CP use; universal efforts, such as public education campaigns, are needed to educate parents and the general public about the high risk/benefit ratio for using CP and the effectiveness of non-physical forms of child discipline.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by the Tulane University Research Enhancement Fund (#546221 G1), the Louisiana Children’s Trust Fund (#547122 C1), and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (#5K01HD058733-02). The authors thank Nikki Ervin, Lisa Johnson, and Adriana Dornelles for their assistance with this project; Eastern Research Services for survey administration; and the 500 parents who took part in this survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Catherine A. Taylor, Lauren Hamvas, Janet Rice & Denise L. Newman

  2. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    William DeJong

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  1. Catherine A. Taylor
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  2. Lauren Hamvas
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Correspondence to Catherine A. Taylor.

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Taylor, C.A., Hamvas, L., Rice, J. et al. Perceived Social Norms, Expectations, and Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment among an Urban Community Sample of Parents. J Urban Health 88, 254–269 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9548-7

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