Moderate Spanking

Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1986

Moderate Spanking: Model or Deterrent of Children's Aggression in the Family? R o b e r t E. Larzelere 1

Received July 19, 1985 Previous research has rarely distinguished among the effects of minimal, moderate, and severe physical punishment on children's antisocial aggression. Using a nationally representative sample, this study compared the effects o f different frequencies o f physical punishment on children's reported physical aggression against other family members. In addition, the interaction o f parental reasoning with physical punishment was examined. All analyses were repeated f o r preschoolers, preadolescents, and adolescents. The results generally indicated a linear positive association between physical punishment and child aggression. For preadolescent and adolescent aggression toward the parent, however, this association depended upon parental use of reasoning, such that spanking had a minimal effect on aggression f o r frequent reasoners. The combination o f infrequent reasoning and frequent spanking was associated with dramatically increased aggression. The conclusion emphasizes additional unresolved issues about the effects o f spanking, particularly the ambiguous direction o f causal influence between parent and child. KEY WORDS: aggression; corporal punishment; induction; parent-child conflict.

INTRODUCTION

It is well established that people who are physically aggressive are especially likely to have experienced severe physical punishment as children. Studies have found this to be true for child abusers (e.g., Gil, 1971; Parke ~Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University, La Mirada, California 90639. 27 088547482/86/0300-0027505.00/0 9 1986 Plenum Publishing Corporation