Citation

Flynn C. J. Fam. Violence 1996; 11(1): 59-80.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology, USC-Spartanburg, 29303 Spartanburg, SC

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF02333340

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examined regional differences in college students experiences with corporal punishment. Students from two universities, one in the Northeast and one in the South, were surveyed about three aspects of spanking: their experiences receiving physical punishment, their assessments of their punishments, and their attitudes toward spanking. In general, Northeastern students were less likely than Southern students to have been hit and were hit less frequently. Further, Northeastern students were less likely than Southern students to feel that their spankings were justified, and less likely to favor spanking. Analyses of covariance for selected dependent variables controlling for religion, parents' education, and gender revealed that the effect of region was more important for attitudes than for behaviors. Implications of the findings for parents, children, and family professionals are discussed.