Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 13, No.

1, 1998

To Spank or Not To Spank:

The Effect of Situation and Age
of Child on Support for Corporal Punishment
Clifton P. Flynn1

This study examined college students' attitudes toward spanking as a function

of the situational context and age of the child. As expected, respondents were
more likely to find spanking appropriate for preschool (ages 3-4) and early
school age children (ages 7-8) than for older children (ages 11-12). Physical
punishment was also viewed as more suitable when the child's misbehavior
was disrespectful (talking back to a parent), or violated strongly held norms
(hitting a playmate, stealing), and less appropriate for age-related or less serious
misbehavior. Gender and race differences emerged, with males and blacks
showing more support for corporal punishment than females and whites. In
general, findings revealed strong support for spanking, although there was
evidence of some ambivalence, especially among white and female respondents.
Implications of the findings are discussed.
KEY WORDS: childrearing attitudes; corporal punishment; physical punishment of children;
spanking.

INTRODUCTION

The physical punishment of children is highly normative in the United

States, both with regard to its acceptance and its practice. Virtually all par-
ents spank their children (Straus, 1991; Wauchope and Straus, 1990), and
the vast majority of American adults favors corporal punishment as a dis-
ciplinary technique (Flynn, 1994).

1Department of Sociology, University of South Carolina Spartanburg, Spartanburg, South

Carolina 29303.

21
0885-7482»8/0300-0021$15.00/0 © 1998 Plenum Publishing Corporation
22 Flynn

Not surprisingly, the more a parent favors corporal punishment, the

more likely that parent is to use it with his or her children (Straus, 1991).
Understanding individuals' attitudes toward spanking seems to be an im-
portant component of predicting who may actually physically punish their
children. Given the growing evidence of the potentially harmful conse-
quences of "ordinary" spanking (e.g., Straus, 1991; Straus and Gimpel,
1992; Straus and Kaufman Kantor, 1994), many scholars are arguing for
the eventual elimination of physical punishment as a disciplinary strategy
(Straus, 1994). Reducing use of corporal punishment will likely depend in
part on addressing the powerful normative endorsement spanking enjoys
among the general public, and on knowing under what circumstances in-
dividuals approve or disapprove of its use.
However, very little is known about when most people think spanking
is appropriate. Most researchers have studied attitudes toward physical
punishment by focusing on more general attitudes toward spanking, at-
tempting to assess support for corporal punishment in a broader normative
context (e.g., Deley, 1988; Ellison and Sherkat, 1992; Flynn, 1994). Others
have looked at more specific aspects of attitudes, using such items as
whether one favors spanking or slapping a 12-year-old child, or whether
one intends to spank one's own children (e.g., Graziano and Namaste, 1990;
Straus et al, 1980). Only a few studies have examined how support for
spanking varies depending on the contextual situation (Grasmick et al,
1992; Ruane, 1993) or the contextual situation in combination with the age
of the child (McCormick, 1992).
It is not completely clear how support for spanking generally is related
to support for spanking in specific situations and at different ages. It seems
likely that those who endorse a general spanking norm will be more likely
to find corporal punishment acceptable in a wide variety of settings. How-
ever, there may also be many individuals who favor spanking generally, but
who actually support its application in varied limited situations and/or with
children of certain ages. Conversely, it is possible to imagine those who
oppose spanking as a general rule, but may consider it necessary in certain
unusual or special occasions.
The present study surveyed college students about the appropriate-
ness of spanking children at three different ages: 3-4 years, 7-8 years, and
11-12 years — and in six different situations. The purpose of this study is
threefold: (a) to determine how attitudes toward spanking vary by the situ-
ation and the age of the child; (b) to explore differences along these
dimensions on the basis of gender and race; and (c) to see how general
attitudes toward spanking relate to more specific beliefs about when and
for whom it is appropriate.
To Spank or Not To Spank 23

College students are a significant, yet problematic population to study.

Because of their status (young, never-married, and without children), stu-
dents' views toward corporal punishment can be assessed before they
become parents. However, it is important to remember that one's attitude
toward spanking may change as a result of becoming a parent. Further, a
favorable attitude toward spanking does not guarantee that the behavior
itself will be employed. Nonetheless, knowledge of the beliefs of future
parents (and citizens who will influence social norms as well as policy), can
be of great benefit to our understanding of this issue.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The incidence rate for physical punishment peaks at about age 3 or

4, with nearly 80% of parents reporting use of physical punishment. Inci-
dence of spanking declines with age, though nearly half of parents report
physically punishing children as old as 12 (Wauchope & Straus, 1990). Less
is known about how attitudes toward spanking are related to the age of
the child. However, an earlier study found that favorable attitudes are not
limited to the corporal punishment of young children. Between 70% and
77% of respondents in the First National Family Violence Survey believed
that spanking or slapping a 12-year-old child was at least somewhat nec-
essary, normal, and good (Straus et al, 1980).
The three studies that have examined support for corporal punish-
ment in various contexts have involved diverse and specific populations.
Only McCormick (1992) looked at how attitudes were related to both situ-
ation and age of child. McCormick (1992) surveyed 619 family physicians
and pediatricians in Ohio about their attitudes about "striking the child's
buttocks or hand with an open hand lightly, leaving no mark except tran-
sient redness" (p. 3163). The respondents were presented with three
different scenarios — child refuses to go to bed at bedtime, child runs into
the street without looking, and child hits playmate — and with three dif-
ferent ages — 2, 5, and 8 years old. For all three ages, physicians were
least likely to favor spanking for relatively minor misbehavior (refusing to
go to bed), and most likely to favor spanking when the child's misbehavior
was dangerous (running into the street). And while a minority of physicians
supported corporal punishment in any single scenario, 67% favored spank-
ing in at least one scenario. While no dramatic differences in attitudes
appeared based on the age of the child, this may be due to the fairly narrow
age range used. Family physicians were more likely than pediatricians (70%
compared to 59%) to support corporal punishment.
24 Flynn

Grasmick et al, (1992) surveyed a random sample of Oklahoma

City residents about their attitudes toward corporal punishment in
schools. Respondents were asked in five different situations whether
"teachers should spank school children." Of the five scenarios pre-
sented, respondents were most likely to favor spanking a child that de-
liberately injured another child, followed by stealing from the school
or another child, using obscene language, talking back to the teacher,
and skipping school without a reason. Two thirds agreed that spanking
was appropriate when used against a child who had intentionally hurt
another child, but only one-fifth agreed that children who skipped
school should be physically punished. No target age for the child was
given.
Finally, Ruane (1993) examined the "social context of tolerance of
force" among students at four northeastern colleges. Students were
asked to rate how wrong it is to slap a 6- or 7-year-old child in 25 dif-
ferent scenarios. Students were most likely to approve slapping a child
for disrespectful behavior that challenges authority or violent behavior
(disrespectful force), and least likely to tolerate force used on a child
who is noncooperative or displaying age-related misbehavior (childish
force).
The five scenarios with the lowest disapproval ratings were: holds a
pillow over baby sister's face, threatens the parent with a knife, hits the
parent first, deliberately breaks the father's camera, and calls the grand-
mother an old bitch. The five scenarios with the highest disapproval ratings
were: child has not cleaned his/her room, parent is furious, parent is having
problems at work, child is dawdling and makes the parents late, and child
breaks the father's camera by being careless.
Yet for the remaining 60% of the scenarios, Ruane identifies the typi-
cal response of her subjects as reflecting neither approval nor disapproval
of force, but ambivalence toward its use. These scenarios include behaviors
that Ruane characterizes as typical of parent-child interaction — "disobe-
dience, unreasonableness, tantrums, insolence, inattentiveness, whining,
defiance, or school misbehavior. . . . The data suggest that the social audi-
ence is equivocal about the appropriateness of force as a way of
counteracting such behaviors. If such behaviors are typical of family dy-
namics, and if these behaviors elicit ambivalent reactions to parental force,
then the likelihood of reducing tolerance of force may be questionable. To
reduce tolerance for such parental force may require a change in values"
(Ruane, 1993, pp. 299-300).
To Spank or Not To Spank 25

Gender and Race

Some studies have identified gender differences in attitudes (e.g.,

Grasmick et al, 1992), while others have found no differences. In some
instances, differences between males and females disappear in multivariate
analyses (Ellison and Sherkat, 1993; Flynn, 1994). In general, when gender
differences have been found, males have been more likely to support spank-
ing than females.
The effect of race on spanking attitudes appears to be stronger than
that of gender. Studies have shown blacks to have more favorable attitudes
toward spanking than whites (e.g., Alvy, 1987), even after controlling for
relevant socioeconomic variables (e.g., Flynn, 1994). However, one study,
using data from the 1975 National Family Violence Survey, examined race
differences in black and white parents' approval of slapping or spanking a
12-year-old child. Cazenave and Straus (1990) found no race differences,
with 83% of Blacks and 81% of whites expressing approval.
Alvy (1987) compared black Head Start parents' beliefs about spanking with
those of low income white and higher income white parents of preschoolers. He
found that white parents, particularly higher income whites, were ambivalent about
spanking, and reported spanking out of anger or as a last resort. Black parents,
on the other hand, viewed spanking more positively, and were much more likely
to see physical punishment as a valuable tool for teaching such central lessons as
obedience to authority, appropriate social behavior, and right from wrong.

METHODS

Sample

Undergraduates (n = 285) in introductory psychology and sociology

classes at a public southeastern university served as subjects for this study.
During the class period, students filled out a 10-page questionnaire cover-
ing their experiences with and attitudes toward corporal punishment, as
well as other social and psychological items. The questionnaire took ap-
proximately 25 min to complete.
Since a significant majority of the sample consisted of traditional college
students, it was important to control for race, marital status, parental status,
and age. Thus, the sample was restricted to students who were black or white,
never-married, nonparents, and under the age of 25. This reduced the total
number of subjects to 207.
26 Flynn

With regard to demographic characteristics, the sample was 63.8%

female and 84.1% white. Nearly two thirds of respondents' fathers (64.3%)
and 70% of mothers had less than a college degree. Approximately seven
out of eight students (86.3%) were Protestant.

Measures

Spanking attitudes were measured by asking respondents whether it

was appropriate to spank a child of three different age levels: 3 or 4 years,
7 or 8 years, and 11 or 12 years — in six different situations — ignoring a
request to clean his/her room, running into the street without looking, tak-
ing something that did not belong to him/her, misbehaving in public, talking
back to his/her parent, and hitting one of his/her playmates. Possible re-
sponses to each item ranged from strongly disagree (0) to strongly agree
(3). For each age group, the responses could be summed to form three
spanking attitudes subscales — one for a younger child (preschool), one for
a middle child (school age), and one for an older child (near teen). Subscale
scores ranged from 0 to 18, with higher scores indicating more favorable
attitudes toward corporal punishment.
Differences in spanking attitudes on the basis of gender and race
(black/white) were analyzed using two repeated measures analyses of vari-
ance. In addition, specific spanking attitudes as defined above were also
examined as function of support for corporal punishment in general. Such
normative support was measured by asking whether subjects strongly agreed
(3), agreed (2), disagreed (1), or strongly disagreed (0) that "it is sometimes
necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking."

RESULTS

Table I presents the percentages who think spanking is appropriate

for each of the six scenarios at each of the three ages. For both the
younger child and the middle child, spanking is viewed as appropriate by
a majority of respondents for all situations except when a child ignores a
request to clean his/her room. For the older child, less than half of the
sample favors spanking in four of the six situations. Only stealing and
talking back to a parent were seen by a majority (60%) as being suited
to the use of physical punishment. Interestingly, in all but one scenario
— hitting a playmate — spanking was seen as most fitting for a 7- or
8-year-old child.
To Spank or Not To Spank 27
28 Flynn

For all three age groups, taking something that did not belong to the
child and talking back to the parent were seen as the most appropriate
situations for spanking. The two scenarios where spanking was viewed as
least suitable for all three age groups were ignoring a request to clean one's
room and running into the street without looking.
When considering all six situations combined, spanking is seen as
most appropriate for children of the two younger ages. The percentage of
respondents who agree with spanking in at least one of the scenarios was
90% for a 3- to 4-year-old child, 83.1% for a 7- to 8-year-old, and 66.7%
for an 11- to 12-year old.

Effect of Gender

Table II examines gender differences in attitudes toward spanking

based on situation and age of the child. In general, the results follow the
patterns discussed above. Yet for all scenarios and at all ages, males have
more favorable attitudes toward spanking than females. Over 90% of male
respondents agree that it is appropriate to spank a younger child (97.3%)
or a middle child (92.0%) child in at least one of the six situations. The
comparable figures for female respondents are 84.1% and 78.0%, respec-
tively. For an older child, 70.7% of males and 64.4% of females supported
spanking in at least one of the scenarios.
In order to more fully assess the relationship between gender and
age of child, a repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted
using the three spanking subscale scores. Gender served as the be-
tween-subjects factor and age of child was the within-subjects factor.
The means for males and females for each of the three ages are pre-
sented in Table II. The analysis revealed significant main effects for
gender (F[l, 396] = 4.46, p = .0359), and for age level (F[2,
396] = 16.68, p = .0001). Across the three age groups, males had sig-
nificantly more favorable attitudes toward spanking, with an overall
mean of 10.1, compared with 8.9 for females. Both males and females
most strongly favored spanking 7- to 8-year olds (mean = 10.1), fol-
lowed by 3- to 4-year-olds (mean = 9.3), and lastly 11- to 12-year-olds
(mean = 8.6), with all three means being significantly different from
each other. There was no gender by age interaction effect (F[2,
396] = .31, p = .7367).
To Spank or Not To Spank 29
30 Flynn

Effect of Race

Comparisons of spanking attitudes on the basis of race are presented

in Table III. Although the general patterns identified previously persist,
there are some interesting differences. In every scenario except one, blacks
were more likely to favor spanking than whites. With the exception of a
3- to 4-year old child who fails to clean his or her room, a majority of
black respondents supported spanking in every other situation at every
age.
As the child gets older, the disparity between blacks and whites in-
creases, particularly at the oldest level. For an 11- to 12-year-old child, the
percentage of whites agreeing with spanking ranges from 30.8% to 56.9%.
For blacks, the percentages range from 56.4% to 81.8%. At this age, 84.8%
of blacks think spanking is appropriate in at least one of the situations,
compared with 63.2% of whites.
At every age level, whites are most likely to support physical punish-
ment when a child talks back to a parent, steals, or hits a playmate. Two
of these three — talking back and stealing — are also considered highly ap-
propriate by black respondents for using spanking. Although hitting a
playmate was also seen as justifying spanking by blacks, black respondents
consistently saw spanking as even more appropriate for a child who mis-
behaves in public.
As with gender, a repeated measures analysis of variance using the
age-related spanking subscales scores as the dependent measure was con-
ducted to more fully assess the impact of race on spanking attitudes, with
race serving as the between-subjects factor. The means for blacks and
whites at each age level are found in Table III. The analysis revealed sig-
nificant main effects for race (F[l,396] = 6.95, p = .0090), age level
(F[2,396] = 6.55, p = .0016), as well as a significant race by age of child
interaction (F[5,46], p = .0046).
Across all three age groups, blacks had significantly more favorable
attitudes toward spanking than whites. The overall mean for blacks was
11.1, compared with 9.0 for whites.
When examining the effect of race at each age group, the results reveal
no race effect for the youngest age level (p = .1731). However, blacks are
significantly more likely than whites to approve of spanking a 7- to 8-year-old
child (p = .0286) or an 11- to 12-year-old child (p = .0010).
When looking at whites only, the spanking attitudes at all three ages
are significantly different from each other (p = .0001). For blacks, attitudes
toward spanking a 3- to 4-year-old child are significantly different from
those toward the other two ages (p = .0179), but there are no differences
in attitudes between 7- and 8-year-olds and 11- and 12-year-olds.
To Spank or Not To Spank 31
32 Flynn

Effect of General Support of Spanking

The final analysis examines the relationship between general normative

support for spanking (favor vs. oppose) and more specific beliefs about the
situations and ages of children when spanking is appropriate. Those respon-
dents who strongly agreed or agreed with the statement "it is sometimes
necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking" are defined as
favoring spanking; those who disagreed or strongly disagreed will be defined
as opposing spanking. Table IV presents the percentage of respondents who
think spanking is appropriate in each scenario and age-level, as a function
of whether one favors or opposes spanking generally.
It is, of course, not surprising that those who endorse corporal pun-
ishment broadly are more likely to support its use in specific circumstances,
and that is what was found. For those who were opposed to spanking, less
than half thought it suitable to hit a child for any reason in either of the
younger age categories, and less than a third supported spanking an 11-
to 12-year-old, regardless of the situation.
Yet two-thirds (68.8%)of the respondents who opposed spanking
generally agreed with the appropriateness of spanking in at least one of the
scenarios for a 3- to 4-year-old child, and over half (56.2%) agreed with
spanking a 7- to 8-year-old in at least one of the six situations. This compared
with agreement of 98.6% and 95.7%, respectively, among those who favored
spanking. The greatest disparity existed in attitudes toward hitting an older
child. More than eight out of ten (82.7%) respondents supported physical
punishment for at least one of the misbehaviors for an 11- to 12-year-old
child, compared with only 35.9% of those opposed to spanking.
Examination of the correlations between general spanking attitude
and each of the three age subscales reveals a stronger relationship between
normative beliefs and attitudes toward hitting children in the younger age
groups. Those who agreed that disciplining a child with a good, hard spank-
ing was sometimes necessary were more likely to agree with spanking a 3-
to 4-year-old (r = .63), a 7- to 8-year-old (r = .60), and to a lesser extent,
an 11- to 12-year-old (r = .48).

DISCUSSION

The findings from this study revealed favorable attitudes toward the
physical punishment of children, but support for spanking varied depending
on the nature of the misbehavior and the age of the child. In general, col-
lege students believed spanking was more appropriate for serious violations,
such as stealing, talking back to parents, and hitting a playmate, and less
To Spank or Not To Spank 33

appropriate for ignoring a request to clean one's room. This supports

Ruane's (1993) conclusions that suggested a higher tolerance for parental
use of force against children for behaviors that are disrespectful and chal-
lenge authority, and low tolerance for use of physical punishment against
childish, or age-related misbehaviors.
Approval of physical punishment for a child who has hit a playmate
appears to include a confusing and contradictory message. If it is permis-
sible to hit children who hit others in order to teach them that hitting is
wrong, then perhaps children may learn a lesson exactly opposite from the
one intended — namely, that violence is acceptable. If these students carry
this attitude with them into parenthood, then it is likely that violence will
continue to be a routine part of American families.
Respondents were also more likely to support spanking younger or
middle children, as opposed to older children. It was interesting that re-
spondents often expressed greater approval of spanking a 7- to 8-year-old
child than a 3- to 4-year-old. Even though data show that incidence of
spanking declines after age 3 or 4, these results are not contradictory. First,
belief in the appropriateness of physical punishment is different from when
it may be employed. Second, the apparent willingness to hit 7- or 8-year-
olds may indicate that the respondents have greater expectations of
appropriate behavior from children who may be perceived as old enough
to "know better," yet young enough to still control physically.
Males report more favorable attitudes toward spanking than females at
every age level in every scenario. The effect of gender, while significant, was
not dramatic given the sample size. Such differences may be best described
in relation to the midpoint of each subscale, which was 9. All three of the
male subscale means were above the midpoint, while two of the three female
means fell just below it. Again, using Ruane's notion of ambivalence, the
data suggest that females may be more ambivalent about spanking than
males. This is not surprising, given that males are more likely to have been
spanked as children (Wauchope and Straus, 1990), and that receiving physical
punishment as a child, particularly for males, is related to favoring it as an
adult (Owens and Straus, 1975). Future studies should examine how the gen-
der of the child affects attitudes toward corporal punishment.
Several interesting differences emerged with regard to race. Black re-
spondents indicated a greater approval of physical punishment for virtually
every situation at every age. The race disparity is particularly apparent
when considering older children. Blacks were just as likely to favor spanking
an 11- to 12-year-old as a 7- to 8-year-old, whereas among whites, support
for spanking children in the oldest age group dropped significantly. In ad-
dition, black respondents were also more likely than whites to support
spanking for public misbehavior.
34 Flynn
To Spank or Not To Spank 35

These findings reinforce Alvy's (1987) notion that blacks may have less
ambivalence about spanking than whites, especially regarding children at
older ages. According to Lassiter (1987) a number of factors, including the
stress blacks experience in a white, hostile society, along with the legacy of
slavery and the experience of blacks in the rural south from 1865 to 1940,
have led to a greater acceptance of physical punishment among blacks. As
a result of these shared experiences, black parents believe it is critically im-
portant to instill obedience and respect for authority in their children, and
favor the use of physical punishment to accomplish these ends.
This may also explain why black respondents were more likely to favor
spanking a child, even an older child, who misbehaves in public. Perhaps
from their own experiences and socialization, blacks understand that a child
who misbehaves in public would be viewed not as just a bad child, but as
a bad "black" child. Consequently, blacks may feel greater pressure to se-
cure proper behavior in public from their children, and may favor using
corporal punishment to do so, regardless of the age of the child. However,
any conclusions regarding race differences should be made cautiously due
to the small number of black students in the sample.
As expected, general spanking attitudes generally predict more spe-
cific attitudes — those who favor spanking generally tend to report
dramatically greater support for physical punishment in all contexts and
for all ages. Yet once again, some attitudinal ambivalence is revealed. Even
a majority of those who were against spanking generally were able to find
at least one situation where spanking a 3- to 4-year-old or a 7- to 8-year-old
was seen as appropriate. These tended to be more serious examples of
misbehavior — either disrespectful actions (stealing, hitting a playmate, or
talking back to a parent) or dangerous ones (running into the street without
looking).
Given that spanking not only is accepted, but expected of parents, it
is not surprising that even parents who oppose physical punishment are
able to identify certain circumstances in which they would approve its use.
Similarly, even those who favor spanking generally tend to support its use
primarily with children in the younger age groups. Thus, when studies using
a general or normative statement to measure attitudes toward spanking
report strong approval, perhaps this approval is more specifically directed
at preschool or young school age children who have engaged in fairly severe
misbehaviors.
The generalizability of the current findings is limited by the nature
of the sample. These subjects were overwhelmingly southern and Protestant
(and most likely conservative Protestant), two social characteristics that
have been found to be positively related to both the use (Giles-Sims et al.,
1995) and approval (Ellison and Sherkat, 1993; Flynn, 1994; Wiehe, 1990)
36 Flynn

of corporal punishment. Studies conducted using respondents in other re-

gions and/or with more diverse characteristics may yield different results.
In addition, since these were traditional college students — young, single,
and childless — their attitudes toward physical punishment may change
once they become older, marry, and have children. And even if their beliefs
remain relatively constant, that does not necessarily ensure that their use
of spanking will be consistent with their attitudes.
Nevertheless, it is important to understand the normative support for
spanking in populations such as this one. Many of these students are not
far from becoming parents themselves, and they will soon face decisions
about whether and when to use physical punishment. Despite some mis-
givings by some groups and in certain circumstances, it appears that
spanking will continue to enjoy strong normative endorsement among the
next generation of parents.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was funded in part by a grant from the Teaching and
Productive Scholarship Committee at the University of South Carolina
Spartanburg. The author wishes to thank Judith Penny for providing the
statistical analyses.

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