Corporal Punishment of Children and Change of Attitudes – a Cross Cultural Study

Corporal punishment of children and change of attitudes – a cross cultural study By Örjan Bartholdson Art. nr. 2001-2656 Save the Children fights for children’s rights.We deliver immediate and lasting improve- ments to children’s lives worldwide. Save the Children Sweden publishes books and reports to disseminate knowledge about the situation of children, to provide guidance and inspire new thoughts and discussions. Our vision is a world which respects and values each child, a world which listens to children and learns and a world where all children have hope and opportunity. This is a joint cooperation between Context and Save the Children Sweden. Context is a journalist cooperative focusing on global development issues and development co-operation. Its members are journalists with extensive professional experience of development co-operation in Latin America, Asia and Africa. (www.context.nu) ISBN 91-89366-67-0 © 2000 Örjan Bartholdsson, at the request of Context and Save the Children Sweden Project leader:Annika Malmborg Production manager: Ola Höiden Linguistic review: Diana Strannard Graphic design: Petra Handin, Kapsyl Reklam Cover illustration: Mia D’Angelou Printed by: Save the Children Sweden Save the Children Sweden 107 88 Stockholm Tel:08-698 90 20 Fax: 08-698 90 25 Internet: www.rb.se/bookshop E-mail: [email protected] Table of Contents Foreword . 4 1. Introduction . 5 Objective and method . 6 Definitions of punishment in this study . 6 Limitations . 7 2. Models for changing attitudes and behavior . 8 The importance of issue involvement . 8 Contexts of attitude change . 9 The need of an integrated approach . 13 3. Childhood – a universal phenomenon . 15 Cultures of rearing – a matter of personhood . 16 Rearing, punishment and abuse in western societies . 17 Cross-cultural understanding . 18 4. Corporal punishment . 19 General definitions . 19 The widespread use of corporal punishment . 20 Children’s right to integrity and physical safety . 21 Consequences of punishment . 21 Vulnerable categories of children . 22 Links to societal violence . 23 Alcohol and substance abuse . 24 Social networks and interference . 24 The potentially negative role of social networks . 27 Class identity . 28 5. Family relations in Latin America . 30 Machismo – the exaggeration of maleness . 31 Alternative caretakers . 32 6. Conclusions . 33 Regulatory context . 33 Relational context . 34 Ideological context . 36 Experiential and biographical contexts . 37 References . 39 Foreword This report forms part of an external evaluation of a campaign against corporal punishment and mistreatment of children in Central America and Mexico. The main objective of the study is to understand how corporal punishment of children can be addressed, in programmes and projects, mainly with a focus on the Central American region. The findings in the report will be used as a comparison when analysing the strategies and methods used in the campaign in Central America. However, the findings in the evaluation is of relevance for anyone working with the issue of corporal punishment, as it gives a framework of analysis for understanding the deep rooted values and conceptions underlying the use of corporal punishment of children. A tool to analyse how to approach corporal punishment in different contexts, is essential for anyone developing programmes or campaigns on the issue. The report begins with an introduction to communications theories, and to models for changing attitudes and behaviour. The second part deals with different cultures of child rearing as a matter of person hood. The third part intro- duces the reader to the issue of corporal punishment, and analysis it in relation to consequences for children, to class belonging, and to societal violence. It also describes why it is as a child rights issue, and how negative attitudes in social networks can prevent the development of the issue. Fourthly, specific aspects of family relations in Latin America are discussed briefly, before the final conclusions are presented. At the end of the report, a rich list of references is included, which inspires to further reading on the subject. Save the Children Sweden would like to thank and acknowledge the profes- sionalism of the evaluation team at Context, who has managed to use both an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach in analysing the issue of corporal punishment of children. The cooperation has been most awarding. Annika Malmborg Save the Children Sweden “Chen Wenxun scolded his son when the latter brought him a cup of cold tea. The father poured the tea on the ground and picked up a stick with which to beat his son. The son ran away and the father chased after him. The ground was slippery becau- se of the spilled tea and Wenxun lost his footing, struck his head, and died as a result of his injury. The son was charged with a crime and the verdict was ‘detention in prison for strangling” [Scharfstein 1974]. 4 Corporal punishment of children and change of attitudes 1. Introduction Child rearing is a universal phenomenon, practiced among all cultures and social categories. All groups of adults utilize praise and punishment as methods to socialize their children into a desired behavior in order to make them respected and/or successful members of their group. Methods of punishment may vary widely. Some groups use mild forms of social isolation, others resort to spanking, while, in extreme cases, children may be hit with sticks or even hung in ropes above the ground. In almost all cultures, however, corporal punishment is an integral part of rearing. During most of mankind’s history corporal punishment of dependent categories of people has not been questioned by the society at large. The victims have always been categories that have been regarded as lacking sovereignty over their own bodies, and/or not possessing full human value. Such categories have con- sisted of slaves, serfs, manual workers, women, and children. During the last cen- tury, however, one by one, groups have either ceased to exist, as in the case of slaves and serfs1, or gained full human value and respect, at least in international conventions and legislation. But there still remains one category that is regarded as lacking the full rights to their own bodies by large groups of people and that is children. In most societies there still exists powerful cultural reinforcement, through behavior and dis- course, that physical punishment of children is not to be equated with violence, even where a directly comparable assault on adults would constitute an illegal act. Notions of children and childhood, however, often have different social mea- nings in distinct cultures. In many cultures, for example, there is no extended transition period between childhood and adulthood. Boys and girls have to go through a rite of passage that transforms them into young adults, that burden them with all the responsibilities of being a grown-up. Even the period of ado- lescence, that plays such important role in western societies, is to a great degree a product of the youth culture that emerged in the 1950s. Notions of childhood may vary but all societies base their classifications on aspects of age and gender. The definitions of these criteria have a large impact on the forms of corporal punishment and on up to what age children may be subjected to punishment. In some cultures children are believed to be incapable of responsible behavior and will therefore only be subjected to very mild forms of physical punishment while people in other cultures regard castigation as absolutely necessary in order to inculcate the appropriate behavior. Boys and girls are, furthermore, mostly brought up differently and both forms and frequency of punishment often vary depending on gender. The last decades, however, have witnessed great progress in the protection of children’s rights, and more than 190 countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention stipulates that a person is a child 1 There are several regions in the world where in reality both slaves and serfs exist, but it is condemned both by national legislation and international conventions. Corporal punishment of children and change of attitudes 5 until 18 years old and that all children have the same rights regardless of gender. The highest international authority on the human rights of children, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, asserts that the UN Convention is not compatible with legal endorsement of corporal punishment. Despite the Con- vention, however, corporal punishment is still both widely used and even defen- ded by the authorities in some nations. Objective and method This study forms part of an external evaluation of the campaign against mistreatment of children in Central America and Mexico, 1996–2000. The objective of the study is to identify potential indicators that can be used to evaluate the strategies used in this campaign. The method of this study is largely based on an anthropological comparison of the social and cultural context of corporal punishment in different cultures. As psychological and psychiatric research has focused more on the detrimental effects of corporal punishment on children, this study combines findings from the former disciplines with anthropological research and conclusions. In general, anthropologists have not identified punishment that is socially accepted by a specific culture as a problem. They have described rearing in its cultural context, including both praise and punishment. More attention has been given to punishment and mistreatment that is regarded as socially and morally deviant in a specific culture. It has to be emphasized, though, that what is regarded as socially accepted punishment, and what is seen as abuse often lack a clear line of definition. This study analyzes the prevalence of cultural patterns of corporal punishment and different forms of mistreatment of children.

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