ABSTRACT
One of the clearest and most pronounced differences in people’s attitudes toward the use of slaps and spankings appears when the authors compare people of different ages. There are, however, some possible explanations for the age-related perceptions of slaps and spankings. “Ordinary” physical punishment and “child abuse” are but two ends of a single continuum of violence toward children. The child was the focal point for the discussion of physical punishment and violence. Granted, being at risk of being injured is not the same as being a victim of child abuse. Research on child abuse often finds mothers to be at least as violent if not more violent than fathers. “Spare the rod and spoil the child,” “kids need to be hit,” “the bamboo stick makes a good child”–these phrases all have the same thing in common–parents argue that hitting a child is necessary, normal, and good.
