Opinions about child corporal punishment and influencing factors

Abstract

The use of corporal punishment has been linked to negative developmental outcomes for children. Despite this finding, Section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code permits the use of corporal punishment by parents for children 2 to 12 years of age. Therefore, this study's first objective is to investigate opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The second objective is to investigate predictors of opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. The sample consists of 818 nonparents (70.7% female, 29.0% male) who completed an online study. Results indicate that 38.6% were favorable toward upholding Section 43. However, this decreases to 25.8% when a condition is included, stating that parents would not be prosecuted for mild slaps or spankings. For attitudes toward spanking more generally, results reveal that 16.7% of the participants held favorable attitudes. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that planning to use corporal punishment upon becoming a parent predicted having a more favorable attitude toward Section 43 as well as toward spanking more generally (after controlling for sociodemographics). In contrast, having experienced violence during one's childhood predicts having less favorable attitudes toward Section 43 and spanking more generally. Significant interactions are found between childhood experiences of corporal punishment and perceptions of parental warmth/support and impulsiveness during discipline in predicting attitudes toward spanking. Those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood but also more parental warmth/support hold more favorable attitudes toward spanking and those who report experiencing more corporal punishment during childhood and also more parental impulsiveness hold less favorable attitudes toward spanking. Findings indicate that examining opinions toward Section 43 and spanking separately is important because these concepts are not synonymous. In addition, both more immediate factors and those related to one's developmental history play a role in predicting opinions toward Section 43 and spanking more generally.