Do Corporal Punishment Bans Promote Positive Parenting? Evidence from a Global Survey of Children

Background and Purpose: A key policy strategy to promote positive parenting is to change social norms regarding corporal punishment (CP), a risk factor for physical abuse and negative health outcomes. In accordance with this strategy, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child recommends nations legally ban CP in all settings, including the home. To date, 62 countries have banned CP in the home. There is growing evidence that CP bans are associated with positive societal outcomes such as less physical fighting among adolescents and less support for the use of CP by parents. While many voices contribute to the debate about whether CP should be banned, what is largely missing are the voices of children. This study addresses this gap by examining children’s reports about safety at home, parenting, and family interaction across CP policy contexts.

Methods: Data come from the second wave of the Children’s Worlds study (2013-2014). Over 50,000 children in 16 countries across 4 continents completed a cross-sectional survey at school. Children were around ages 8, 10, and 12. Six countries banned CP prior to data collection (Germany, Israel, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Spain). Ten countries did not have a ban at that time (Algeria, Colombia, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Malta, Nepal, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey). Using multilevel modeling, accounting for clustering at the country and school levels, child-reported outcomes were compared between countries with and without a CP ban. Outcomes were measured on a 5-point agreement scale and include: feeling safe at home, parents listening to the child, having a good time as a family, and parents treating the child fairly. Due to differences in covariates available between the age 8 and ages 10 and 12 surveys, outcomes were analyzed separately for age 8 (n = 16,385) and ages 10 and 12 (n = 35,429). Covariates included child age, gender, nativity, family structure, how often the child’s family worries about money, and country GDP per capita.

Results: Compared to children who live in countries where CP remains legal in the home, children who live in countries where CP is banned felt safer at home (age 8: b = .30, p = .002; ages 10-12: b = .24, p = .02), had a better time with their families (age 8: b = .26, p = .02; ages 10-12: b = .21, p = .02), and, if they were ages 10-12, they were treated more fairly by their parents (age 8: b = .19, p = .08; ages 10-12: b = .24, p = .02). Differences in parents listening to their children were not statistically significant.

Conclusions and Implications: CP bans may be changing social norms regarding CP in the home. While this study does not directly measure CP, parents may be using non-violent alternatives, thereby promoting feelings of safety and positive parent-child interactions. The third wave of Children’s Worlds data, which includes recent surveys from 35 countries, is scheduled for public release in July 2021 and will be incorporated into the analysis.