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The terms physical punishment and corporal punishment are used here as synonyms to refer to an act by parents intended to cause the child physical pain, but not injury, for purposes of correction or control of misbehavior. The 1975 and 1985 National Family Violence Surveys revealed that over 90% of American parents use corporal punishment as just defined. This is consistent with a large number of other studies (Straus, 1991) and with the belief that corporal punishment is used by parents with toddlers or young children. The first issue to be addressed here is the extent to which this pattern continues into adolescence.
The second and central issue addressed is whether use of corporal punishment of adolescents is associated with psychosocial problems in adulthood. In contrast to physical "abuse" of a child, which is universally regarded with revulsion, 84% of all Americans regard hitting children as "sometimes necessary" (Straus, 1991) and harmless provided it does not cross the line to physical abuse. The same acceptance seems to be true of social scientists. Numerous studies have investigated the long-term disabling effects of physical "abuse" (Widom, 1989), but despite the prevalence of corporal punishment, only a few studies have considered the possibility that "legitimate" corporal punishment is also a risk factor for psychological maladaptation in adulthood, and most of those have been confined to increased risk of aggression (Lefkowitz, Eron, Walder, & Huesman, 1977).
Adult psychological distress, alcohol abuse, and violence toward family members are all problems which share a complex etiology though not necessarily a common etiology. We are not suggesting that these maladaptive behaviors are caused solely by corporal punishment in adolescence, but that corporal punishment needs to be considered as a significant risk factor which increases the probability of psychological disorders. The social and psychological dynamics underlying this association are presumed to resemble those of other forms of violent victimization in children and adults. Previous research has shown that victimization is a traumatic process which may result in interpersonal deficits such as feelings of powerlessness (Straus & Gimpel, 1994), diminished self-esteem, and self-defeating interpersonal strategies (McGrath, Keita, Strickland, & Russo, 1990; Herman, 1992). These characteristics are also consistent with psychological profiles of depression (American Psychiatric Association, 1987), alcoholism (Cox, 1987; Goluke, Landeen, & Meadows,...