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Experience of Parental Corporal Punishment in Childhood and Adolescence and Its Effect on Punitiveness

NCJ Number
247915
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2014 Pages: 129-142
Author(s)
Stefanie Kemme; Michael Hanslmaier; Christian Pfeiffer
Date Published
February 2014
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The family, as the primary instance of socialization, plays a key role in nurturing values and attitudes.
Abstract
The family, as the primary instance of socialization, plays a key role in nurturing values and attitudes. Based on this notion, this paper looks at how parental corporal punishment in childhood and adolescence, as an expression of a strict, authoritarian upbringing, can influence punitiveness later in life. The results of a representative German sample using multivariate analyses show that individuals who were physically punished or abused by their parents during childhood or adolescence are more punitive than non-victims of parental violence. Based on these findings, the question of whether changing parenting styles might have implications at the macro-level of punitiveness is addressed. Abstract published by arrangement with Springer.