Parents' Self-Reported Use of Corporal Punishment and Other Humiliating Upbringing Practices in Finland and Sweden: A Comparative Study
2017 (English)In: Child Abuse Review, ISSN 0952-9136, E-ISSN 1099-0852, Vol. 26, no 4, p. 289-304Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Sweden and Finland were the first countries to ban corporal punishment 30years ago. Since then, the prevalence of attitudes supporting the use of corporal punishment and the practice itself have decreased. This study examines the current frequencies of corporal punishment and other humiliating upbringing practices in Finnish and Swedish families. The analysis is based on survey data among 3170 Finnish and 1358 Swedish parents with children from newborn to 12years of age. Data were analysed using univariate tests (chi-square) and logistic regression. According to the analysis, a larger proportion of Finnish parents, and especially mothers, use humiliating upbringing practices compared to Swedish parents. This difference is not found with regard to corporal punishment. A larger proportion of Finnish parents push their children compared to Swedish parents, while a larger proportion of Swedish parents shake their children. In both countries, corporal punishment is more frequently used by fathers, boys are more often victimised than girls, toddlers are more often exposed to corporal punishment and school-age children are more often subjected to psychologically abusive practices. Corporal punishment and other humiliating upbringing practices are strongly correlated in both countries. The differences found between countries were not explained by socio-demographic factors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2017. Vol. 26, no 4, p. 289-304
Keywords [en]
child maltreatment, corporal punishment, physical punishment, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, children
National Category
Psychology (excluding Applied Psychology) Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology) Other Health Sciences
Research subject
Sociology; Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-65712DOI: 10.1002/car.2482ISI: 000406480400005OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-65712DiVA, id: diva2:1175660
2018-01-182018-01-182023-04-21Bibliographically approved