Exploring Physical Punishment and Physical Abuse in Child Protection Investigations: A 10 Year Review

Background and Purpose: While increasing numbers of governments around the world have abolished the corporal punishment of children, this practice is still legal in Canada. Child welfare agencies in Canada generally support the abolition position but there is much ambiguity about how these cases are processed by child welfare authorities. The Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) presents a unique opportunity to explore physical punishment and physical abuse over time in a Canadian context. This paper examines rates of investigated and substantiated physical abuse, physical punishment and physical harm over a period of 10 years.

Methods: The OIS is a cyclical, cross sectional study which examines the incidence of reported child maltreatment and the characteristics of children and families investigated by child welfare authorities in Ontario. The OIS has been conducted every five years since 1993. In this paper, secondary analyses of OIS data were conducted to compare investigations where the primary concern identified was physical abuse across the 2003, 2008 and 2013 cycles of the study.

Results: There was a statistically significant decline in the incidence of both reported and substantiated physical abuse in Ontario between 2003 and 2013 (15.41 per 1,000 children to 10.65 per 1,000 children). The rate of substantiated physical abuse which was considered by the investigating worker to have occurred in the context of punishment declined significantly over the same ten year period. However, physical abuse which occurred in the context of punishment consistently constituted the vast majority of substantiated physical abuse investigations (just under 80%) across each cycle of the OIS between 2003 and 2013. Reporting sources for physical abuse investigations have changed over this period, with fewer reports from non-professionals (e.g., relatives, neighbours) and an increase in the proportion of reports from professional sources, namely schools. There was more than a twofold decrease in the incidence of documented physical harm as a result of substantiated physical abuse between 2003 and 2013 and harm requiring medical treatment dropped by a factor of two in this same period. Substantiated physical abuse cases transferred to ongoing child welfare services at the conclusion of the initial investigation decreased from 2003 (1.75 per 1,000 children) to 2013 (0.98 per 1,000 children), although a larger proportion of substantiated physical abuse investigations were transferred in 2013 (42% in 2013 vs. 31% in 2008 and 30% in 2003).

Conclusions and Implications: Overall, the rate of investigated and substantiated physical abuse, physical punishment and physical harm has decreased in Ontario in the ten year period between 2003 and 2013. Given that the vast majority of substantiated physical abuse occurs in the context of punishment, these findings may reflect a change in the use of physical discipline and punishment practices among caregivers. These changes may be driven by shifts in public perception of corporal punishment. The results support continued efforts to educate caregivers and the general public about the negative implications of corporal punishment and to encourage alternative methods of discipline. Alternative explanations for these findings are discussed.