Abstract
In an Internet-based study, 1,583 Bahamian adults living in The Bahamas were asked about their knowledge, attitudes, and practices relating to corporal punishment. The study confirmed the attitudes and practices towards corporal punishment reported in other studies. Both male and female respondents were physically punished as children (92.4% of males and 87.1% of females). The study indicated that a limited number of participants had knowledge of the detrimental effects of corporal punishment; for example, 28% of male and 36.2% of female participants agreed that corporal punishment was associated with learning problems at school. Respondents with more knowledge about the effects of corporal punishment were less likely to use disciplinary methods of concern. There was a strong link between knowledge and attitudes and between attitudes and experiences of physical punishment in the childhood of respondents. The data suggest that education about the detrimental effects of corporal punishment could help to reduce its use and prevent children from suffering the unintended consequences of corporal punishment.
Highlights
A review of the literature on corporal punishment in The Bahamas, focusing on its use in schools (Fielding & Ballance, 2020), indicated that it has a long history both in The Bahamas and the Caribbean region
The attitudes of respondents are in favour of the use of corporal punishment in the home, even though its use can run the risk of child abuse, as harsh physical punishment was used in the four weeks prior to the study by 8.5% of caregivers
Many participants were relatively young adults, so very likely their knowledge, attitudes, and practices will be those that inform the upbringing of the generation of Bahamians (Allen Carroll et al, 2016); corporal punishment is likely to continue to be used at least into the middle of the 21st century unless interventions are made
Summary
A review of the literature on corporal punishment in The Bahamas, focusing on its use in schools (Fielding & Ballance, 2020), indicated that it has a long history both in The Bahamas and the Caribbean region. Its use continues today (Sutton & Álvarez, 2016) even though The Bahamas signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 1989), which aims to protect children from violence, in 1991, and despite the increasing evidence that corporal punishment is harmful to children (e.g., Gershoff, 2010). Within Bahamian society, studies have demonstrated negative consequences of childhood punishment when it becomes harsh (Knowles, 1999; Roth et al, 2020), which included reduced academic achievement (Dede Yildirim & Roopnarine, 2019).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
