Preliminary communication
Frequency and association of different forms of parental punishment with feelings and reactions of children
Vesna Bilić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2306-5803
Petra Bilić
Abstract
In order to discipline and control a child and change their behavior which they perceive as undesirable and increase the chances for desirable behavior and obedience in the future, parents use various forms of punishment. With the goal to examine the frequency and association of non-physical and physical forms of punishment and feelings and reactions of children and examine differences by gender, a research was conducted, and has involved 275 students (45,8% M and 54,2% F) of higher grades of elementary schools, with their average age being 12,8. The results have shown that the respondents most often experience mild forms of physical punishment, then the non-physical ones, while the smallest number of them suffers serious physical punishment. Tested students have responded that after being punished, they often feel hurt and sorrow, injustice, rage and anger, fear and disappointment in their parents, and it has also been found that there is a statistically significant correlation between all forms of punishment and negative feelings of children. Although compared to girls, boys more often have their privileges taken away are more often hit with hard objects and have their hair and ears pulled, no significant differences have been found when it comes to their feelings and reaction to parental punishment. The conclusion suggests that punishment can cause multiple, negative emotional reactions of children, which makes parents’ warnings, internalization of forms and behavior that they want to achieve with such „educational methods“, very hard to accomplish.
Keywords
non-physical punishment; physical punishment; negative emotions; reactions to punishment
Hrčak ID:
106393
URI
Publication date:
19.7.2013.
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