Mothers' Punishment Styles for Their Children: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the punishment behaviors used by mothers in the process of teaching behaviors to their children. For this purpose, data were collected from 26 mothers with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 11 using a semi-structured interview form. The collected data were analyzed by content analysis. As a result of the analysis, it was found that mothers used two different styles of punishment: Verbal/Physical Violence and Verbal/Physical Restraint. Verbal/Physical Restraint includes maternal behaviors such as restricting children's access to something they like or want, not talking to them at all or talking less, sending them to a different place and making them stay there for a while, and ignoring them audiovisually for a while. Verbal/Physical Violence includes maternal behaviors such as rebuking, threatening, beating, getting angry, raising her voice, yelling, and speaking harshly to children. The results of the study were discussed within the framework of the literature and recommendations were made.