Physical Punishment Of Children Research Articles

43 A Qualitative Study to Establish a Culture Specific Presurgical Psychological Screening for Patients with Degenerative Spinal Disease in Taiwan

Objective:Presurgical psychological screening (PPS) is a procedure for mitigating possible unfavorable outcomes after spinal surgery. Although the effectiveness of PPS on degenerative spinal diseases has been investigated in Western studies, a potential cultural influence on PPS is still unknown. This study thus aims to explore the experiences of Taiwanese people before spinal surgery and tries to establish culture-specific components of PPS in Taiwan.Participants and Methods:A total of five participants aged from 44–69 with degenerative spinal diseases were eligible in this study. All participants visited a neurosurgical outpatient clinic for potential surgical treatment, and each participant underwent an one-hour semi-structured interview before surgery. The demographical information, medical history, psychological status (e.g., personality traits and emotional disturbances) and considerations to make a surgical decision, were recorded and further analyzed following the rule of grounded theory.Results:Four major components with 21 sub-components were reported when deciding to receive a surgical treatment for their spinal diseases, including disease-related considerations, medical information, self-concept and interpersonal relations. In terms of disease-related aspects, patients concerned about etiology, symptomatology, impacts, coping strategies and rehabilitation methods. As for medical information, patients paid more attention on medical compliance, the relationship with medical system, attitude for treatment, expectation to surgical outcomes, medical decisions and medical information. As for the self-concept, patients considered more on the impacts of disease on self-concept, strategies of emotional regulations and personality traits. In terms of interpersonal relations, patients reported more on the supportive resources, patterns of interpersonal activities and impacts of interpersonal relations on medical decisions. Additionally, other specific factors, such as past negative experiences (e.g., chronic insomnia, experiences of psychological counseling), litigation, physical punishment in childhood and social roles, were also reported.Conclusions:Like previous findings, our results supported that the interpersonal relations and doctor-patient relationship in PPS were important considerations before surgery, while we further evidenced that influences of family members on medical decision is determinant and unique in this culture.

Long-term impacts of the Bandebereho programme on violence against women and children, maternal health-seeking, and couple relations in Rwanda: a six-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial

Programmes that work with parents to build couple relationship and parenting skills and include critical reflection on gender norms are a promising approach for reducing violence against women and children. However, there is limited evidence of their longer-term impact. In Rwanda, the Bandebereho programme engaged expectant and current parents of children under five years. At 21-months, Bandebereho demonstrated positive impacts on intimate partner violence (IPV), child physical punishment, maternal health-seeking, and couple relations. This study seeks to explore whether those outcomes are sustained six years later. A six-year follow-up to a two-arm, multi-site randomised controlled trial was conducted in four districts of Rwanda between May and September 2021. At baseline, couples were randomly assigned to either the 15-session intervention (n=575) or a control group (n=624). At this follow-up, 1003 men and 1021 women were included in intention to treat analysis. Generalised estimating equations with robust standard errors were used to fit the models. This study was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04861870). Bandebereho has lasting effects on IPV and physical punishment of children, alongside multiple health and relationship outcomes. Compared to the control group: intervention women report less past-year physical (OR=0.45, 95% CI 0.34-0.60 p<0.001), sexual (OR=0.50, 95% CI 0.37-0.67, p<0.001), economic (OR=0.47 95% CI 0.34-0.64, p<0.001), and moderate or severe emotional (OR=0.40 95% CI 0.29-0.56, p<0.001) IPV. Intervention couples report less child physical punishment (OR=0.72, p=0.009 for men; OR=0.68, p=0.017 for women), fewer depressive symptoms (OR=0.52, p<0.001 for men; OR=0.50, p<0.001 for women), less harmful alcohol use, and improved maternal health-seeking, father engagement, and division of household labour and decision-making. Our study expands the evidence, demonstrating that programmes engaging men and women to promote collaborative and non-violent couple relations can result in sustained reductions in family violence six years later. The Echidna Giving Fund, Grand Challenges Canada, the Oak Foundation, and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund supported this study.

Child abuse and neglect and mental health outcomes in adulthood by ethnicity: Findings from a 40-year longitudinal study in New Zealand/Aotearoa

BackgroundLongitudinal studies consistently report adverse long-term outcomes of childhood maltreatment. Little is known about the impact of childhood maltreatment on mental health among a marginalized population (New Zealand Māori); therefore, we cannot assume the effects of maltreatment are the same across the population. ObjectiveAssociations were examined between childhood sexual abuse (CSA), childhood physical punishment (CPP) and childhood neglect (CN) (<16 years) and mental health outcomes 18–40 years, by ethnicity (Māori/non-Māori). Participants and settingData from the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a study of a birth cohort of 1265 children born in Christchurch in 1977. By age 40, 17.8 % (n = 191) reported New Zealand Māori ethnic identity; 82.2 % (n = 883) were non-Māori. MethodsCSA, CPP (<16 years) were measured at 18, 21 years; CN was measured at 40 years. Major depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, alcohol abuse/dependence and cannabis abuse/dependence were measured at ages 21, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years. Childhood confounding variables controlled. Analyses were extended to include Māori ethnicity. ResultsAfter statistical adjustment, experience of severe childhood maltreatment increased odds of mental health problems 1.8–2.6×, compared to no maltreatment; the effects of maltreatment were similar for males and females. For Māori, some higher rates of mental health problems were seen among those maltreated, no statistically significant associations were detected after Bonferroni correction (among severe maltreatment vs. no maltreatment). Limitations should be considered when interpreting results. ConclusionsExposure to childhood maltreatment has long-term effects into middle-age. Further research employing culturally-sensitive approaches may help clarify Māori childhood maltreatment outcomes.

Social Workers Should Stand against Physical Punishment of Children.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the leading professional organization for social work that established the Code of Ethics and sets the policy agenda for the profession. Guided by the Code of Ethics and the Grand Challenges for Social Work goal to "build healthy relationships to end violence," the NASW Social Work Speaks policy compendium should reassert its statement against the physical punishment of children. This recommendation aligns with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and children's right to protection from violence; the rigorous empirical research base, which demonstrates that physical punishment has detrimental consequences to child well-being; and similar policy statements issued by allied professional organizations. The NASW policies can advocate for ending violence against children by providing guidance on disciplinary practices that are based on principles of nonviolence and that respect children's human rights. Practitioners can support caregivers through interventions that provide alternatives to physical punishment.

Physical punishment and child, adolescent, and adult outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundPhysical punishment at home and in schools is widespread around the world. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses have synthesized evidence, mostly from high-income countries (HICs), showing that physical punishment relates to multiple detrimental individual outcomes. Yet, less work has been done to synthesize the evidence on the association between physical punishment at home and schools and child, adolescent, and adult outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where more than 90% of children live and physical punishment is most socially normative and prevalent. In this manuscript, we present a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis on the characteristics of the research, associations, and variation in associations, between physical punishment at home and in schools and child, adolescent, and adult outcomes in LMICs.MethodsWe will conduct a review of studies published in peer-reviewed journals using quantitative methods to assess the association between physical punishment in childhood and/or adolescence and individual outcomes in LMICs. We will search for studies in 10 different databases using keywords in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Chinese related to physical punishment. We will extract qualitative data from the studies and the statistics needed to transform all study-level effect sizes into standardized mean difference effect sizes. For the analyses, we will employ multi-level meta-analyses to use multiple effect sizes per study and leverage within-study variation as well as between study variation using moderation analysis. Besides the meta-analyses, we will also conduct a narrative synthesis of the findings.DiscussionThe proposed systematic review and meta-analysis will provide timely evidence to inform global research, policy, and practice on the links between physical punishment and lifelong individual outcomes.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO CRD42022347346

Parental Adverse Childhood Experiences and Perpetration of Child Physical Punishment in Wales.

Child physical punishment is harmful to children and, as such, is being prohibited by a growing number of countries, including Wales. Parents’ own childhood histories may affect their risks of using child physical punishment. We conducted a national cross-sectional survey of Welsh adults and measured relationships between the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) parents (n = 720 with children aged < 18) had suffered during childhood and their use of physical punishment towards children. Overall, 28.2% of parents reported having ever physically punished a child, and 5.8% reported having done so recently (in the last year). Child physical punishment use increased with the number of ACEs parents reported. Parents with 4+ ACEs were almost three times more likely to have ever physically punished a child and eleven times more likely to have done so recently (vs. those with 0 ACEs). The majority (88.1%) of parents that reported recent child physical punishment had a personal history of ACEs, while over half reported recently having been hit themselves by a child. Child physical punishment is strongly associated with parents’ own ACE exposure and can occur within the context of broader conflict. Prohibiting physical punishment can protect children and, with appropriate family support, may help break intergenerational cycles of violence.

1.80 Shaking As a Punishment of Very Young Children in Chad: Prevalence and Risk Factors

Shaking of infants and young children by their caregivers can result in head trauma and death. Little, however, is known about this behavior outside of high-income countries. This study examined shaking as a punishment in young children in Chad, a country with an overall high prevalence of physical punishment of children. This study aimed to determine: 1) the prevalence of shaking; 2) whether hypothesized child, maternal, and household characteristics are related to shaking; and 3) whether shaking is associated with other caregiver behaviors directed toward the child.

Attitude towards Wife-Beating and Child Physical Punishment as Correlates of Child Maltreatment among Somali Women

Attitude towards domestic violence and child corporal punishment contributes to child maltreatment, however, the interplay of these violent practices is not well researched in Africa. Thus, we sought to examine the association between child emotional and physical maltreatment, and women's attitude towards wife-beating and child physical punishment among Somali women. We used data collected in the 2011 Somaliland Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) from 4,820 households. We analyzed data from married/partnered women with children (n=1471) who were 15-49 years old. Bivariate associations were assessed by Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regressions were fitted to determine independent associations of women's attitude towards wife-beating and child physical punishment to child maltreatment variables. Overall, the proportion of children who experienced psychological aggression, moderate, or severe physical assaults were 71.5%, 70.2%, and 42.7%, respectively. Women's attitude towards wife-beating was not significantly associated with child maltreatment. However, we found significant associations between child maltreatment and women's attitude towards physical punishment. Health education programs focusing on changing cultural parenting beliefs may be useful in cultivating sound and effective childrearing strategies among Somali parents.

Childhood maltreatment and the menopause transition in a cohort of midlife New Zealand women.

Knowledge surrounding the link between childhood adversity and reproductive outcomes at midlife is limited. The present study examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment (childhood sexual abuse [CSA], childhood physical punishment [CPP]), and menopause status at age 40. Data were gathered from female members of the Christchurch Health and Development Study, a longitudinal birth cohort of 1,265 individuals (630 females) born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1977. Menopause status was defined by categorizing the female cohort at age 40 as either: 1) premenopausal, or 2) peri/ postmenopausal. Retrospective reports of CSA (<16 y) and CPP (<16 y) were obtained at ages 18 and 21 years. The analysis sample comprised n = 468 women with data recorded on both their menopause status at age 40 and history of maltreatment (<16 y), of whom 22% (n = 104) were classified as peri/postmenopausal. A statistically significant association was found between and severity of CSA and menopause status, but not between CPP and menopause status. The association with CSA was robust to control for both childhood confounding factors (<16 y) and intervening adult factors (18-40 y) associated with the menopause transition. In the fully adjusted model, women who had experienced severe CSA involving attempted/completed sexual penetration had twice the rate of entering peri/postmenopause compared with those who reported no CSA (39.0% vs 18.8%). Severity of CSA exposure was associated with earlier menopausal transition in this female cohort. These findings are consistent with the emerging literature on the long-term health and developmental impacts of CSA.

YOUNGSTERS’ PERCEPTION OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE TOWARDS CHILDREN IN POLAND

Introduction: The subject of this article is to examine young people’s awareness of the legal provisions in force in Poland regarding punishment for using physical violence against children. The research problem is an attempt to determine the degree of compliance, application and enforcement of legal provisions in Poland in the field of criminality of acts constituting physical violence against children. The initial thesis is based on the assumption that in Poland there is a low awareness of young people about the binding legal provisions prohibiting the physical punishment of children and about the harmfulness of all forms of physical violence. Method: The sociological method was used. They were students of secondary schools and a post-secondary school in Wrocław. The research consisted in analyzing the experience of individuals – students in order to determine how these problems are perceived by young people, how they deal with them and how they interpret the world around them and what they encounter, was the basic assumption of our research. Results: The results of the surveys indicate an urgent need for intensive social education on the harmfulness of beating children, including the elimination of seemingly harmless spanking as an educational form. The fundamental problem, in the context of the perceived consent to physical discipline of children in Poland, results from the traditionally understanding of the so-called non-statutory of educational punishment. Key practitioner messages: This text is intended to influence the further development of judicial decisions in the field of educational discipline.

Language, meaning and measure: Community perspectives and experiences of physical punishments and the transforming child protection and child rights landscapes in Tanzania

BackgroundOver the last decade Tanzania has become recognized as a regional leader in addressing issues of violence affecting children. Despite global partnerships and national initiatives, physical punishments remain legally sanctioned and broadly socially supported as part of responsible childrearing. ObjectiveThis research aimed to gain insights into community perspectives and experiences of physical punishments in children's upbringings and how community derived meaning and measurement of particular acts relate with global rights-based conceptualizations of physical violence against children. Participants and settingFourteen months of ethnographic research was conducted primarily in and around a peri-urban community in northwest Tanzania. Interviews with national- and global-level children's rights and safety representatives were conducted in Dar-es-Salaam. Twenty-four, school-going girls and boys (ages 8–12) and 53 adults directly participated in study activities. MethodsData collection methods included participant observation, participatory workshops (9), semi-structured interviews (36) and document reviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data. ResultsData revealed ongoing debate regarding the use of physical punishments in children's upbringings and their association with violence. Resistance to the global children's rights promoted discourse of complete elimination of physical punishment of children manifested as avoidance, negotiation and rejection. Corporal punishment proved a particularly problematic term. ConclusionsChild protection and children's rights are dynamic systems, vernacularized based on unique regional histories and ongoing social change. Prioritization of contextualized and dynamic constructions of children's wellbeing and safety can support the development of sustainable protection systems that support the safety and development of children and families in local communities.

Associations between spanking beliefs and reported spanking among adolescents-parent/caregiver dyads in a Canadian sample

BackgroundResearch consistently demonstrates that physical punishment of children including “spanking” is harmful. Interest in effective prevention is growing rapidly. The aim of the current study is to examine spanking beliefs among adolescents and parents in relation to reports of spanking that the adolescents experienced before 11 years of age.MethodsData were drawn from Wave 1 of a study conducted in 2017–2018 that included adolescents (14–17 years old) and one of their parents/caregivers from Manitoba, Canada (n = 1000 pairs). The study objectives were to examine: 1) spanking beliefs of adolescents and their parents; 2) the correlation between parent and adolescent spanking beliefs; 3) whether parents perceive the words “spank” vs. “hit” differently using intraclass correlation; 4) the association between parents’ beliefs about spanking and parent- and adolescent-reported use of it; and 5) the relationship between sociodemographic variables and spanking. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation, intraclass correlation, and binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses.ResultsThe prevalence of adolescent-reported and parents’-reported spanking were 46.0% and 39.6%, respectively. The proportions agreeing that spanking is a normal part of parenting were similar among adolescents (22.0%) and parents (18.5%), and were moderately correlated (intraclass correlation = 0.38, SE = 0.038). More than five times as many parents believed that “spanking” is necessary (19.5%) than believed that “hitting” is necessary (3.5%). Parents’ positive spanking beliefs were associated with increased likelihood of adolescent- and parent-reported spanking. Few significant associations were found between sociodemographic variables and parent-reported or adolescent-reported spanking.ConclusionsAdolescents’ spanking beliefs are related to their parents’ spanking beliefs, suggesting that they are transmitted across generations. Public education and law reform are needed to decrease the normalization and perceived necessity of spanking in child-rearing. Efforts should include improving the understanding that spanking is a form of violence against children. With only a few significant differences noted between sociodemographic variables and parent- and adolescent- reported spanking and the prevalent use of spanking across all sociodemographic variable categories, it may be useful to develop universal approaches to awareness-raising and implementation of education strategies in Canada.

Family correlates of emotional and behavioral problems in Nepali school children.

There is a substantial gap in our knowledge about family correlates of child emotional and behavioral problems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The present study contributes to filling this gap by examining such correlates in a larger population study in Nepal. Our study is a cross-sectional, observational study among 3840 Nepali children aged 6-18 years from 64 schools and 16 districts in the three main geographical regions in the country. We used the Nepali version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)/6-18 to assess children's internalizing and externalizing problems and an additional background information questionnaire to assess possible family correlates which included parental education, family structure, migrant worker parents, parental mental and physical illness, family conflicts, and child-rearing. The associations between family variables and child internalizing and externalizing problems were analyzed using bivariate correlations and multiple regression. Using bivariate analysis, we found that mental and physical illness in parents, conflict in the family, parental disagreement in child-rearing, and physical punishment of child correlated positively with both Internalizing Problems and Externalizing Problems. The same associations were found by using multiple regression analysis. In addition, parental education, family structure, and migrant worker mothers were associated with Externalizing Problems. However, the effect sizes were small. The results suggest that in Nepal, child mental problems were associated with several family risk factors. Further, the study points to the need of strengthening prevention- and intervention measures to minimize family risk factors of child mental health disorders.

“The First Mark of Pain”: Toward a child‐centered methodological reorientation of social theory, race and corporal punishment in American life

AbstractThe current white supremacist racial order in America fundamentally relies on fear and pain to shape the subjectivities of Black people in childhood. This violence is most visible when enacted by police officers against unarmed Black youth. A less visible yet more pernicious form of racist violence against Black children is exercised by community proxies such as Black teachers and parents. Annual government reports reveal that Black children are more likely to be injured or killed by their parents than by police. In this paper we inquire as to why, despite the many Black writers who have described parental violence as an intergenerational re‐enactment of the violence of slavery, and despite decades of research on the harms of hitting children, social theorists have not analyzed how Black parents can serve as proxies for white supremacist violence. We argue that Black parenting culture has in many ways internalized the white supremacist view that corporal punishment is required to instill the discipline necessary to spare Black youth from police violence and incarceration. We conclude that until social scientists foreground the voices of Black youth in their studies, rather than adults, our ability to understand and confront the reproduction of white supremacist violence will be impeded. We argue that the physical punishment of children in Black families is an aspect of the legacy or “afterlife” of slavery. We contend that this omission persists because Black youth voices are absent from social analysis on the issue of physical punishment, existing only in clinical studies divorced from macro‐sociological analysis, and we discuss how this omission occurred as a matter of scholarly history.

Banning physical punishment of children in the UK

The Welsh government is outlawing physical punishment of children, following the publication of a review showing it is ineffective in improving children's behaviour. Dave Hancock reports

Disclosures of harming others during their most recent drinking session: Findings from a large national study of heavy-drinking adolescents.

The extant Alcohol's Harms to Others (AHTO) literature is largely comprised of reports from victims. We investigated AHTO from perpetrators' perspectives, including how harms were associated with individual characteristics, and alcohol quantities consumed during the perpetration incident. Participants (N=2932) were 14-19 years old, recruited primarily through social media and screened as risky drinkers. They completed face-to-face (n=594) or self-administered (n=2338) surveys. They self-reported whether during their last risky drinking session (LRDS) they had perpetrated any verbal abuse, physical abuse or property damage. A multinomial logistic regression examined whether nine factors were associated with perpetrating zero, one or 2+ categories of AHTO. Eleven percent (n=323) reported perpetrating at least one form of AHTO (7.5% verbal, 1.9% physical and 4.6% property). Perpetration of AHTO at LRDS was uniquely associated with: younger age, male gender, experiences of childhood physical punishment, greater perpetration incident-specific drinking, concurrent illicit drug use, and less frequent use of safety strategies while drinking in the past 12 months. Controlling for the other variables, an increase of six Australian standard drinks (60 g of alcohol) increased the odds of perpetration by 15% [95% confidence interval (CI) adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.08, 1.23], and an increase of 15 Australian standard drinks increased the odds by 42% (95% CI AOR 1.20, 1.69). Individual characteristics, larger quantities of alcohol consumed, and a disinclination to practice harm reduction amplified risk of AHTO perpetration. This has implications for health promotion and risk prevention/reduction strategies.

Correction to: Physical Punishment of Children in Urban African American Neighborhoods

Correction to: Physical Punishment of Children in Urban African American Neighborhoods

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Spanking Have Similar Associations with Early Behavior Problems

To examine whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and physical punishment (ie, spanking) are unique risk factors for behavior problems in early childhood, and whether ACEs moderate the associations of spanking with child behavior problems. We conducted prospective, longitudinal analyses on 2380 families in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Mothers reported outcomes of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at age 5 years; and the main predictors, ACEs and spanking, at age 3 years. ACEs included 9 items: physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, mother's exposure to intimate partner violence, parental mental health problem, parental substance use, parental incarceration, and parental death. Multilevel models examined the associations between ACEs, spanking, and behavior problems, and the moderating effect of ACEs in the associations of spanking with behavior problems. Analyses were adjusted for preexisting behavior problems, demographics, and neighborhood conditions. ACEs (β=0.028; P<.001) and spanking (β=0.041; P<.001) at 3years were unique risk factors for increased externalizing behavior problems at 5years, after controlling for covariates. The magnitude of the associations of ACEs and spanking with externalizing behavior were statistically indistinguishable. ACEs did not moderate the association between spanking and externalizing behavior. ACEs and spanking have similar associations in predicting child externalizing behavior. Results support calls to consider physical punishment as a form of ACE. Our findings also underscore the importance of assessing exposure to ACEs and physical punishment among young children and providing appropriate intervention to children at risk.

Physical Punishment of Children in Urban African American Neighborhoods

Use and support of physical punishment are known to be elevated among individuals who are African American. Less is known about the association between a neighborhood’s racial composition and the frequency with which its children experience physical discipline. This study aims to (a) determine if children in mostly Black urban neighborhoods are subjected to spanking and other physical punishments more commonly than those living elsewhere and (b) assess the degree to which neighborhood characteristics (besides racial makeup) account for associations between neighborhood racial composition and physical punishment use therein. Ordinary least squares regression models are used to analyze data regarding 3-year-old children from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which is designed to be nationally representative of births in US cities with at least 200,000 residents. It is found that greater proportions of mothers in mostly Black neighborhoods than in other neighborhoods reported any past-year use of spanking, hitting with a hard object, and slapping, as well as more than 20 past-year occurrences of hitting with a hard object and slapping. Furthermore, a direct association is found between the percentage of African American residents in a neighborhood and an index of physical punishment usage, which is robust to controls for a variety of characteristics of the mother’s household and neighborhood. It is important to account for greater exposure to physical punishment as a factor that may disadvantage children growing up in mostly Black communities.

How the Indashyikirwa Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Programme in Rwanda Influenced Parenting and Violence against Children

There is increasing interest in working at the intersections of intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children (VAC), especially in the family, yet few programmatic strategies exist or have been evaluated to assess the combined impact of strategies on both types of violence. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the influence that Indashyikirwa—a programme designed to reduce IPV in Rwanda— had on VAC in the families of couples participating in the programme. Indashyikirwa included a 21-session couples’ curriculum, safe spaces for IPV survivors, and community activism against violence. In addition to reductions in IPV, a randomized control trial found significant reductions in parent’s reports of children witnessing IPV, parents’ attitudes condoning harsh physical punishment of children, and parents’ use of corporal punishment as discipline. This paper uses qualitative data to better understand how and why the couples’ curriculum influenced parenting and VAC. Twenty-eight participants (fourteen male-female couples) were individually interviewed at three time points, once before and twice after the couples’ curriculum implementation. Six men and six women who completed the curriculum and subsequently carried out activism were also interviewed at two time points. The data were analyzed thematically. Pathways motivating couples’ attitude and behavior changes towards children included reflecting on the consequences of IPV for children and appreciating the benefits for children of non-violent, gender equitable households. This analysis suggests that working with co-habiting couples presents a viable strategy for working to prevent IPV, VAC and promote more gender equitable family dynamics.