Attitudes toward physical discipline as a function of disciplinary history and self-labeling as physically abused

Abstract

To examine the relation between childhood experience with punitive discipline, perceptions of a punitive childhood history, and adult attitudes regarding appropriate discipline, a total of 1359 university undergraduates completed a screening questionnaire to assess their childhood disciplinary histories and their perceptions of that history. A sample of 207 of the screened participants who reported a diverse range of childhood disciplinary histories participated in a second test session to assess attitudes regarding appropriate discipline. Among persons with severely punitive histories, those who did not label themselves as abused were less likely to classify events as physically abusive than those who labeled themselves abused. Persons with less severe punishment histories were comparable to those with severely punitive histories who also labeled themselves abused. Additionally, persons who had experienced a specific form of physical discipline as a child were less likely to label that form of discipline abusive. However, this effect of experience did not obtain among subjects who described a history of discipline-produced injury. Implications of these patterns for the intergenerational transmission of abuse are discussed.