Child Disciplinary Practices Research Articles

Child Disciplinary Practices versus Child Rights in Zimbabwe: Viewed through Social Work Lenses

Although parents are a vital cog in instilling and maintaining child discipline, very little information exists about the methods they employ. Using a qualitative approach, this paper explored the methods used by parents in Zimbabwe—an African context—to discipline children, elucidating their implications on children’s rights. The findings show that parents in Zimbabwe use both violent and non-violent disciplinary methods such as verbal reprimand, beating, and spanking, which, at times, violates children’s rights in the process. The use of non-violent means has also depicted a violation of children’s rights through deprivation of food, denial of playtime and shelter. Evident from the findings was, again, the existence of multiple-layered contestations on child discipline within the socio-cultural discourse—the most popularized being the debate on corporal punishment versus child rights violations. Through social work lenses, the paper provides a basis to dispel an anachronistic thought, which rationalizes the instrumentalization of punishment to achieve child discipline, underscoring the need for child rights-oriented discipline.

Prevalence of negative child disciplinary practices and its associated factors as reported by mothers in the West Bank: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundFor parents, how to manage child discipline is a difficult question in the task of raising a socially, emotionally, and physically mature adult. Negative discipline can be physical or psychological, and can negatively affect child development, mental health, and wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of negative disciplinary methods (NDMs) and their associated factors in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory, as reported by mothers. MethodsThe survey was conducted in November and December, 2014, to explore the disciplinary methods that mothers used for one of their children (aged 0–12 years) during the previous 12 months. 1195 Palestinian mothers were studied based on a stratified multistage cluster sampling method and using the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse and Screening Tool for Parents (ICAST-P). A scale was built from mothers’ reports on the use of NDMs, with good internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0·75). The dataset was split according to whether the mother used 0–6 NDMs or 7–20 NDMs in the previous 12 months. Bivariate analyses were performed using the chi squared test to compare these two categories in terms of demographic and socioeconomic variables, and exposure to Israeli political violence. Binary logistic regression was performed to check for confounders. The Institute of Community and Public Health and Birzeit University approved the use of the data. FindingsThe mothers were aged between 15 and 55 years. 11·3% of mothers (135 of 1195) were 15–25 years old, 45·4% (541) were 26–35 years old, and 43·2% (515) were 36–55 years old. 52·5% of children (627 of 1195) were male, 34·0% (406) were 0–3 years old, and 66·0% (789) were 4–12 years old. 5·2% of children (62) were the only child, 4·4% of children (53) were the first child, 27·6% (330) were the middle child (a child that is not the first or the last child), and 62·8% (750) were the last child. 45·8% of the mothers and children (547) lived in the north of the West Bank, 23·3% (278) lived in the middle of the West Bank, and 31·0% (370) lived in the south of the West Bank. 5·3% of mothers (63) reported that their homes were bombed or shelled by the Israeli army. 83·8% of mothers (1002) reported using 0–6 NDMs and 16·2% (193) used 7–20 methods. Other demographic and socioeconomic variables collected were not significantly associated with NDMs. Binary logistic regression revealed that females were less likely to be exposed to NDMs than males (OR 0·63, 95% CI 0·45–0·88, p=0·0074), and that children aged 0–3 years were less likely to be exposed to NDMs than children aged 4–12 years (0·50, 0·33–0·76, p=0·0014). Compared with last children, first children (2·84, 1·46–5·51, p=0·0020) and middle children (1·49, 1·02–2·17, p=0·0375) were more likely to be exposed to NDMs. Compared with mothers aged 36–55 years, mothers aged 15–25 years (2·67, 1·47–4·85, p=0·0010) and 26–35 years (1·54, 1·05–2·26, p=0·0289) used more NDMs. Compared with children in the north of the West Bank, children in the south of the West Bank (2·46, 1·66–3·64, p<0·0001) and middle of the West Bank (1·90, 1·24–2·93, p=0·0034) were more likely to be exposed to NDMs. Compared with mothers whose houses were not bombed or shelled by the Israeli army, mothers whose houses were bombed or shelled were more likely to use a higher number of NDMs (2·71, 1·84–1·95, p=0·0012). InterpretationNegative child discipline is prevalent in Palestine and is associated with factors such as the child's gender, their age, their index in the family (whether they are the only child, first, middle, or last child), the mother's age, the district, and the political conditions in Palestine. Effort should be made to help families to understand alternative methods to address child discipline, through education, discussion, and parenting programmes. FundingThis study is part of a larger study of child discipline in Qatar and the occupied Palestinian territory. The study was conceptualised and planned with the funding of Qatar National Research.

Child disciplinary practices, abuse, and neglect: Findings from a formative study in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe

BackgroundZimbabwe has a high prevalence of children who have experienced abuse according to national data. ObjectiveTo understand how parents/caregivers and children describe child discipline, abuse, and neglect and what factors influence each, in order to inform the adaptation of a positive parenting/caregiving intervention in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. ParticipantsA total of eight focus groups were conducted, four with parents/caregivers (N = 40) and four with their children ages 10–14 (N = 40), separately, between June-July 2016. SettingChitungwiza, Zimbabwe. MethodsWe used an inductive and deductive analytic approach to analyze focus group transcripts, using MAXQDA 12. ResultsThere were similar themes across focus groups of children and parents/caregivers. Findings suggest that parents/caregivers and children may be somewhat aware of the differences between discipline and abuse, but they are not completely clear about what the definitions of discipline and abuse are, and where the boundaries between discipline and abuse lie. The use of both non-physical and physical forms of discipline were described in the community, however physical discipline was a reoccurring theme in the focus groups of both parents/caregivers and their children. There were several factors that influenced discipline and/or abuse of children in the community, including the child's gender and theseverity of the child's misbehavior/actions. Parents/caregivers shared that orphan/non-biological children were particularly vulnerable to forms of abuse and neglect committed by parents/caregivers in the community, for example, withholding food and overworking a child. ConclusionsUnderstanding the differences between discipline, abuse and neglect, as well as factors that influence occurrences of abuse/neglect and/or severity of abuse/neglect, need to be considered when assessing the vulnerability of children, in order to develop and refine parenting/caregiving interventions for the Zimbabwean context.

Perception of Child Abuse and Child Disciplinary Practice among Adults Abused as Children: Comparison to General Population.

Objectives:The aim of this study was to compare differences in perception and knowledge of child abuse and child disciplinary practices according to the history of child abuse victimization.Methods:A questionnaire survey on child abuse was conducted with 491 adults raising children. We compared the perception and knowledge of child abuse and child disciplinary practices between two groups of adults with and without a history of childhood abuse victimization.Results:The group with a history of childhood abuse had lower levels of knowledge of child abuse (F=6.990, p<0.01) and engaged in more negative disciplinary practices (F=5.974, p<0.05) than those without. However, no differences in the perception of child abuse were observed between the two groups.Conclusion:The results suggest that adults with a history of childhood abuse have lower levels of knowledge of child abuse and use more negative disciplinary practices in raising their children. This highlights the need to administer not only educational but also more direct hands-on interventions to vulnerable parents in order to foster healthy parenting and disciplinary practices.

The role of co-occurring intimate partner violence, alcohol use, drug use, and depressive symptoms on disciplinary practices of mothers involved with child welfare.

Evidence suggests intimate partner violence (IPV), substance use, and depression adversely affect the disciplinary practices of caregivers involved with child welfare; however, it remains uncertain whether the combined effects of these conditions are syndemic. The purpose of this study was to examine the (1) associations between IPV, problematic drug use, problematic alcohol use, and depressive symptoms and self-reported disciplinary practices among a sample of mothers with child welfare contact; and (2) effect of co-occurrence of these conditions on child disciplinary practices. We used data from the second cohort of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW II). The analysis focused on 965 biological mothers with children who were subjects of child abuse/neglect investigations between February 2008 and April 2009 in the United States. We conducted multiple linear regression analyses. Our findings showed that IPV (B = .28; 95% CI = [.04, .53]) and depressive symptoms (B = .27; 95% CI = [.03, .52]) were independently associated with psychologically aggressive disciplinary practices. Also, IPV was independently associated with physically aggressive disciplinary practices (B = .64; 95% CI = [.18, 1.11]); and IPV (B = .21; 95% CI = [.06, .35]) and depressive symptoms (B = .22; 95% CI = [.07, .37]) were independently associated with neglectful parenting strategies. A significant effect was found for the interaction between problematic drug use and depressive symptoms with physically aggressive practices as the outcome. As the number of conditions caregivers had increased, so did their propensity for self-reporting each of the disciplinary practices (p < .05). The findings highlight the need for using a more holistic/multidisciplinary approach to child maltreatment prevention research, policy, and intervention.

Transnationalism, parenting, and child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Alberta, Canada.

Child discipline remains a topic of public health interest across the globe. Despite this enduring interest, very little is known about the child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Canada. This paper explores the disciplinary practices of African immigrant parents in Alberta, a Canadian province with a recent surge in the population of African immigrants. Employing a critical ethnographic methodology, informed by transnational theory, we collected data through in-depth qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of African community leaders (n = 14), African immigrant parents (n = 32), policymakers (n = 2), and health and immigrant settlement workers (n = 10). As members of the African immigrant community, we were deeply immersed in the research settings, which afforded us the opportunity to collect pertinent observational data in the form of reflexive notes. Thematic analysis of the data revealed child disciplinary approaches that incorporate Canadian and African parenting practices, as well as practices that appear somewhat unique to this demographic. We found that African immigrant parents used corporal discipline, persuasive discipline, and a hybrid of the two, as well as emerging practices involving transnational fostering and emotional isolation of children who persistently misbehaved. These practices, in their totality, appeared to be influenced by the transnational experiences of parents and precepts that are traceable to Canada's legal and educational systems. We present theoretical, policy, and service implications of our findings, including a recommendation to incorporate sociocultural dimensions of child discipline into Canadian child welfare policies and practices.

Associations between child disciplinary practices and bullying behavior in adolescents

Objectiveto investigate associations between different types of child disciplinary practices and children and adolescents’ bullying behavior in a Brazilian sample. Methodscross-sectional study, with a school-based sample of 10- to 15-year-old children and adolescents. Child disciplinary practices were assessed using two main subtypes: power-assertive and punitive (psychological aggression, corporal punishment, deprivation of privileges, and penalty tasks) and inductive (explaining, rewarding, and monitoring). A modified version of the Olweus Bully Victim Questionnaire was used to measure the frequency of bullying. Results247 children and adolescents were evaluated and 98 (39.7%) were classified as bullies. Power-assertive and punitive discipline by either mother or father was associated with bullying perpetration by their children. Mothers who mostly used this type of discipline were 4.36 (95% CI: 1.87-10.16; p<0.001) times more likely of having a bully child. Psychological aggression and mild forms of corporal punishment presented the highest odds ratios. Overall inductive discipline was not associated with bullying. Conclusionsbullying was associated to parents’ assertive and punitive discipline. Finding different ways of disciplining children and adolescents might decrease bullying behavior.

Associations between child disciplinary practices and bullying behavior in adolescents

Objectiveto investigate associations between different types of child disciplinary practices and children and adolescents’ bullying behavior in a Brazilian sample. Methodscross-sectional study, with a school-based sample of 10- to 15-year-old children and adolescents. Child disciplinary practices were assessed using two main subtypes: power-assertive and punitive (psychological aggression, corporal punishment, deprivation of privileges, and penalty tasks) and inductive (explaining, rewarding, and monitoring). A modified version of the Olweus Bully Victim Questionnaire was used to measure the frequency of bullying. Results247 children and adolescents were evaluated and 98 (39.7%) were classified as bullies. Power-assertive and punitive discipline by either mother or father was associated with bullying perpetration by their children. Mothers who mostly used this type of discipline were 4.36 (95% CI: 1.87-10.16; p<0.001) times more likely of having a bully child. Psychological aggression and mild forms of corporal punishment presented the highest odds ratios. Overall inductive discipline was not associated with bullying. Conclusionsbullying was associated to parents’ assertive and punitive discipline. Finding different ways of disciplining children and adolescents might decrease bullying behavior.

Perceptions of child discipline and its contributions to child abuse in a low-income community in Nairobi, Kenya

Background:There is a fine line between child discipline and maltreatment. Perceptions of child discipline in three tribal groups living in an informal community in Kenya are reported.Methods:Child disciplinary practices in the Kibera community of Nairobi were surveyed among three tribal groups (the Luo, Luyha and Nubi) to determine perceptions and modes of discipline and what was perceived as excessive.Results:A random sample of 538 adults with children <18 years; 73% were mothers and 20% fathers. Overall, 98% had ever disciplined a child; 376 (70%) understood discipline to mean showing love and praising children when they do good but punishing wrong-doing, and 108 (20%) understood it to mean beating children whenever they do wrong. The majority said children should be disciplined by the mother (62%), father (47%) or whoever is around at the time of the offence (57%). It was deemed acceptable that teachers discipline children by 11% of the Luos, 23% of the Luhya and 34% of the Nubi. The most commonly used method was caning, used by 520 (97%), then pinching (40%), slapping (33%), pulling ears (20%) and denying food (19%). Sixty-three per cent of parents recognized that excessive punishment could cause fainting, and 64% that it could cause death. Factors reported as contributing to excessive discipline were domestic tension, poverty, stress and ‘difficult children’.Conclusion:There were consistent patterns of child discipline in three tribal groups living in Nairobi. There was a high prevalence of excessive discipline in the form of physical abuse, and clinicians should be aware of the signs of excessive discipline and be prepared to act in the interests of the child’s welfare.

Evaluation of Free to Grow: Head Start Partnerships to Promote Substance-Free Communities

Free to Grow: Head Start Partnerships to Promote Substance-free Communities (FTG) was a national initiative in which local Head Start (HS) agencies, in partnership with other community organizations, implemented a mix of evidence-based family-strengthening and community-strengthening strategies. The evaluation of FTG used a quasi-experimental design to compare 14 communities that participated in the FTG intervention with 14 matched comparison communities. Telephone surveys were conducted with two cohorts of the primary caregivers of children in HS at baseline and then annually for 2 years. The survey was also administered to repeated cross-sectional samples of primary caregivers of young children who were not enrolled in HS. No consistent evidence was found in changes in family functioning or neighborhood conditions when the 14 FTG sites were compared to 14 matched sites. However, caregivers of young children who were not in HS in three high-implementing FTG sites showed evidence of improvements in neighborhood organization, neighborhood norms against substance abuse, and child disciplinary practices. Results provide highly limited support for the concept that family and neighborhood conditions that are likely to affect child development and well-being can be changed through organized efforts implemented by local HS programs.

Commentary: Violent child disciplinary practices in low- and middle-income households

Child discipline as exercised by caregivers is a universal aspect of child rearing in all cultures. It can be thought of as deliberate actions on the part of caregivers designed to teach children self-control and acceptable behaviour. Whereas the need for child discipline is generally recognized, the application of violent psychological and physical disciplinary practices is a matter of considerable discussion and debate. Definitions of child maltreatment differ significantly between countries and cultures. To compound this problem, few data are available to monitor how parents and other caregivers discipline children, by means of violent as well as non-violent methods, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This makes it difficult to describe the nature of child disciplinary practices, their extent and their consequences. It also makes it difficult to develop evidence-based strategies that can mitigate any harmful practices. The data on which the analyses of the report published in this issue of the IJE are based 1 provide one of the few resources available to the field of child protection to help develop a more complete understanding of the prevalence of child disciplinary practices in a cross-national context. Part of the mandate of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, including rights with respect to practices by caregivers. Although UNICEF has been collecting household data since the mid-1990s, data on violent and non-violent child disciplinary practices has not always been part of that data collection effort. To address the need for more specific data on this issue, UNICEF included an optional module on child discipline during the third round of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), which was completed in 33 of over 50 countries in the survey. This effort made MICS the most comprehensive effort to collect data on child disciplinary practices from lowand middle-income countries. The MICS child discipline module is a modified version of the Parent–Child

Attitudes of Turkish parents, pediatric residents, and medical students toward child disciplinary practices

Objective The aims of the study were to: determine the attitudes of parents, pediatric residents, and medical students from a Turkish population toward childhood disciplinary methods; ascertain the association of participants’ abusive childhood history with their attitudes toward discipline; and assess their attitudes about disciplinary actions, which should be reported as abuse. Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Ankara University School of Medicine, Department of Social Pediatrics. Sixty-five parents, 39 pediatric residents, and 106 medical students completed a questionnaire (Survey of Standards of Discipline). This questionnaire was designed to measure sociodemographic characteristics, attitudes toward childhood disciplinary practices, and abusive childhood experiences. There were 43 different disciplinary acts in this questionnaire. The participants were expected to give responses to these acts in three categories: (a) acceptable as discipline; (b) unacceptable as discipline; and (c) unacceptable as discipline—would report to authorities as child abuse. Based on the responses to this questionnaire, we developed the Severity Scale. Using this scale, physical severity scores, verbal severity scores, and total severity scores were measured for each participant. Results None of the participants accepted life-threatening practices as discipline, but some declared certain abusive disciplinary practices as acceptable. Some forceful disciplinary methods were not considered as reportable by participants. All severity scores of both residents and students were found to be higher than those of the parents (for verbal severity scores p = .042). Also, both verbal and physical severity scores of parents with one child were higher than those of parents with two children (for verbal severity scores p = .044). Ninety-one participants (43.3%) indicated that beating was an acceptable form of discipline. Of parents, 66.9% reported abusive childhood history by their own criteria. Of medical students with an abusive childhood experience, 56.5% accepted beating as appropriate ( p = .001). Both verbal and physical severity scores were found to be higher in participants with abusive childhood history. Conclusions Abusive childhood history and lack of education regarding appropriate discipline techniques are linked to the acceptance of certain physical discipline practices. Turkey's cultural and traditional norms may be associated with the use of physical punishment, and in some cases, physical abuse. The lack of awareness of abusive discipline methods among physicians constitutes problems for child protection and must be addressed. Thus, educational programs on child disciplinary practices are required to provide an increased awareness of child abuse among health professional trainees and parents in Turkey.

Violence against women in India: evidence from rural Maharashtra, India

In recent years violence against women has emerged as an important social problem in India. It has attracted the attention of a wide spectrum of agencies, from healthcare providers to law enforcement authorities. This study attempted to determine the characteristics and the magnitude of physical and psychological violence against women in rural Maharashtra, central India. The study initially undertook focus group activities. This was followed by the formulation of the survey instrument in English, which focused on partner violence and child disciplinary practices. After pre-testing the instrument in 25 households, the actual study was conducted by trained interviewers in five randomly selected villages of rural Maharashtra. The study included 500 households (sample size = 500 women, eligible if they had at least one child less than 18 years of age). The results revealed that of the women interviewed, almost one-third (30.4%) had no formal education and the women's husbands were better educated. More than half the women lived in one-room dwellings and were at or above the clinical cut-off point for depression on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). 38% of the women were verbally insulted by their husband with a median of 11 times in past 6 months. Almost half the women said they had been slapped, hit, kicked or beaten by their husbands at some time. 24% of the women reported having been kicked by their husbands at some point during their married life, and 44% were reportedly kicked during pregnancy. 12% were specifically threatened by their husbands with having kerosene oil poured on them to set them on fire. 30% of the physically assaulted victims required medical care. Considering the prevalence of domestic violence, health-care providers should screen for domestic violence in routine practice. In addition, protocols should be developed for referral of abused women to appropriate community resources. In the present Indian rural setting, solutions to domestic violence must be found within the social structure of the family and the community.

Puerto Rican Abusive and Non-Abusive Mothers' Beliefs About Appropriate and Inappropriate Child Discipline

This article presents the findings of a study conducted with a purposive sample of 40 abusive and non-abusive island Puerto Rican mothers about their knowledge and use of disciplinary practices. The mothers were interviewed using open-ended questions and vignettes. The questions required them to identify the behavior problems they most frequently confronted in their children; their knowledge of different disciplinary practices; and their assessment of the appropriateness or inappropriateness of child disciplinary practices. Mothers were then presented with the ten vignettes and asked to respond to the following questions: (1) How do you think each of these described situations should be managed? (2) Have you ever confronted such a problem? and (3) If so, how did you handle it? Both abusive and non-abusive mothers knew and used a wide repertoire of disciplinary practices that combined verbal-rational and punitive-controlling methods. Differences between abusive and non-abusive mothers were noted with more abusive mothers experiencing stressful socioeconomic conditions, confronting problems with their children, and more frequently, recommending and using punishments. Discussion addresses hypotheses for further research and recommendations for social work practitioners.

LIFE AS MOTHERS IN A NEW LAND: THE EXPERIENCE OF MOTHERHOOD AMONG THAI WOMEN IN AUSTRALIA

In this article, we examine the accounts of 30 migrant Thai women in Australia who had become mothers. The women recognized that they had entered a new environment, which was different from their previous one. This had a marked impact on their lives as wives and mothers. Cultural differences play a major role in their coping with motherhood and the mothering role. We find that the women had several main concerns in their new land: social isolation, different childrearing and child disciplinary practices, and the desire to preserve Thai culture. Most women wish to have more children in their new land, but others are concerned about social and political environments in Australia. We also find that the social class of the women and the ethnic background of their spouses play an important role in their coping with motherhood and childrearing. We conclude that motherhood and mothering is a great challenge, which is made more complex when it is combined with migration. This is important if we are to understand motherhood from an ethnicity perspective.Only then may we see better health care for immigrant women who choose to become a mother in their new land.

Early Problem Behavior Among Children From Low-Income, Mother-Headed Families: A Multiple Risk Perspective

Examined proximal and contextual factors most strongly related to externalizing behavior among young children growing up in low-income, mother-headed families. Participants were 50 low-income single mothers and their preschool-age children who were visited twice in the home setting. Measures of proximal (low levels of supportive parenting, high levels of punitive disciplinary practices, low levels of maternal emotional well-being) and contextual (low maternal support, high levels of family stress) risk were assessed in relation to maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and an index of negative child behavior during a clean-up task. Child defiance during the clean-up task was highly associated with punitive maternal control in the same situation but had no other direct correlates. However, multiple risk factors representing both proximal and contextual variables were associated with variations in children's behavior problem scores. Mothers of children with high behavior problem scores reported lower feelings of self-efficacy in handling child care and emotional stressors, more frequent use of punitive child disciplinary practices, and lower feelings of satisfaction with the quality of their supportive resources than others. Maternal self-evaluations of coping efficacy mediated the relation between perceived support and child behavior problems, suggesting that constructs of personal control are important to represent in future studies of highly stressed parents.

Early Problem Behavior Among Children From Low-Income, Mother-Headed Families: A Multiple Risk Perspective

Examined proximal and contextual factors most strongly related to externalizing behavior among young children growing up in low-income, mother-headed families. Participants were 50 low-income single mothers and their preschool-age children who were visited twice in the home setting. Measures of proximal (low levels of supportive parenting, high levels of punitive disciplinary practices, low levels of maternal emotional well-being) and contextual (low maternal support, high levels of family stress) risk were assessed in relation to maternal reports of child externalizing behavior and an index of negative child behavior during a clean-up task. Child defiance during the clean-up task was highly associated with punitive maternal control in the same situation but had no other direct correlates. However, multiple risk factors representing both proximal and contextual variables were associated with variations in children's behavior problem scores. Mothers of children with high behavior problem scores reported lower feelings of self-efficacy in handling child care and emotional stressors, more frequent use of punitive child disciplinary practices, and lower feelings of satisfaction with the quality of their supportive resources than others. Maternal self-evaluations of coping efficacy mediated the relation between perceived support and child behavior problems, suggesting that constructs of personal control are important to represent in future studies of highly stressed parents.