تنبیه بدنی در خانواده های روستایی کلمبیایی: شیوع، ساختار خانواده و متغیرهای اجتماعی و جمعیت شناختی

Objective: To reveal the prevalence of corporal punishment in a rural area of Colombia and its correlates to family structure and other socio-demographic variables. Method: A survey about childrearing and childcare was developed for this study, including a specific question about corporal punishment that was developed based on the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS). Family structure was categorized as follows, based on previous literature: ‘nuclear family,’ ‘single parent’ family, ‘extended family,’ ‘simultaneous family’ and ‘composed family.’ Results: Forty-one percent of the parents surveyed admitted they had used corporal punishment of their children as a disciplinary strategy. The type of family structure, the number of children living at home, the age of the children, the gender of the parent who answered the survey, and the age and gender of the partner were significant predictors of corporal punishment. Conclusion: Family structure is an important variable in the understanding of corporal punishment, especially in regard to nuclear families that have a large number of children and parents who started their parental role early in life.

The use of corporal punishment as a method to correct a child's misbehavior is a controversial issue within the public debate. Corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force with the intention of causing physical pain, but not injury, for purposes of correction or control of a child's behavior (Straus, 2010). Many families (Gracia & Herrero, 2008a) and professionals (Schenck et al., 2000 and Straus et al., 1994) from different countries and cultural contexts (see the work by Gracia & Herrero, 2008b) strongly support the use of corporal punishment, although many of the reasons to perform it, such as its effectiveness or harmlessness, have been shown to be myths (Gámez-Guadix et al., 2010 and Gershoff et al., 2010). Despite public support for corporal punishment, and even when corporal punishment has shown to improve immediate compliance (Larzelere & Kuhn, 2005), the existing literature indicates that non-abusive physical punishment is related to social and psychological problems not only during childhood but also later in life. The relationship between parental spanking and antisocial traits and behaviors in children has been demonstrated over the past 50 years (see the seminal work by Sears, Maccoby, & Levin, 1957) by longitudinal studies (for example, see Straus, Sugarman, & Giles-Sims, 1997) and recent publications (Grogan-Kaylor, 2004 and Grogan-Kaylor, 2005) from various countries (Gershoff et al., 2010), regardless of whether there is positive parenting or psychological aggression related to punishment (Gámez-Guadix et al., 2010). Corporal punishment has also been related to emotional and behavioral problems (Aucoin et al., 2006, Gershoff et al., 2010 and Mulvaney and Mebert, 2007), the restricted development of cognitive ability (Straus & Paschall, 2009), detrimental effects on brain development (Sheu et al., 2010 and Tomoda et al., 2009), and other psychosocial problems for both the individual child and the society as a whole (see Straus, 2000). For a review of the harmful effects of corporal punishment, the meta-analysis by Gershoff (2002) revealed 93% agreement on these effects from over 300 studies included. Another meta-analysis by Paolucci and Violato (2004) suggested a small negative relationship between exposure to corporal punishment and affective, cognitive, and behavioral functioning. There are a number of specific characteristics that have been reported to be associated with families who tend to use corporal punishment, such as the male gender of the child (Abolfotouh et al., 2009, Malhi and Ray, 2004 and Straus and Stewart, 1999); the personalities of the child and the mother (Latzman et al., 2009 and Towe-Goodman and Teti, 2008); a young parental age (Combs-Orme and Cain, 2008, Dietz, 2000 and Giles-Sims et al., 1995), especially related to the chronicity of corporal punishment (Straus & Stewart, 1999); the religion of the family (Flynn, 1994), with Catholics presenting a lower use of spanking (Giles-Sims et al., 1995); a low educational level among parents (Abolfotouh et al., 2009, Dietz, 2000, Flynn, 1994 and Malhi and Ray, 2004); low family income (Abolfotouh et al., 2009, Dietz, 2000, Flynn, 1994, Giles-Sims et al., 1995, Hahleg et al., 2008 and Straus and Stewart, 1999); a large number of children in the family (Abolfotouh et al., 2009 and Flynn, 1994); the rural origin of parents (Abolfotouh et al., 2009 and Giles-Sims et al., 1995); poor inter-parental relationships, including spousal violence and separated or divorced parents (Abolfotouh et al., 2009 and Xu et al., 2000); unmarried mothers (Giles-Sims et al., 1995); stress, mental health and substance abuse among parents (Cabrera et al., 2012 and Lee et al., 2011); and especially having been exposed to corporal punishment or physical abuse and verbal hostility as children (Abolfotouh et al., 2009, Chung et al., 2009 and Gagné et al., 2007). Although research has shown higher rates of violent childrearing for several types of children and families (Straus & Stewart, 1999), only a few studies have related corporal punishment to family structure (Cain and Combs-Orme, 2005, Mitchel, 2008 and Nobes and Smith, 2002). Family structure can be defined as the internal composition of the family, the number of people who comprise the family, the relationships that exist between family members, the parents’ marital status and the responsibility of the parents in raising children (Del Ángel-Castillo & Torres, 2008). It is recognized that understanding family structure allows the understanding of the composition and the course of family life and the relationship between family structure and the psychological well-being of its members (Acosta, 2003 and Zeiders et al., 2011) in order to guide policymaking. In this sense, the emergence of new family models in Latin America has become a reality as a result of economic and political adjustments and social changes that have occurred worldwide (Ariza and De Oliveira, 2006 and Del Ángel-Castillo and Torres, 2008). Demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural changes that have occurred in Latin American societies have affected the structure, organization and internal dynamics of families (Ariza & De Oliveira, 2004). For example, in the last decade, there has been a decrease in the prevalence of nuclear families in Latin America (Sunkel, 2006) and a reduction in the average size of the family. Quiroz (2001) suggested that early motherhood and marital breakdowns have been increasing. Because culture has shown to make a difference in determining attitudes about corporal punishment (Douglas, 2006), additional research is needed to explain the differences in corporal punishment according to child, maternal, and family characteristics in Latin American countries such as Colombia. There is only one study that has analyzed the prevalence of corporal punishment in Colombian families, from the city of Medellín, with more than half of the families interviewed reporting mild corporal punishment (included spanking, hitting, or slapping with a bare hand; hitting or slapping on the hand, arm, or leg; shaking; or hitting with an object) (Lansford et al., 2010). However, the sample was too restricted to generalize the results to other areas of the country. The National Demographic and Health Survey (2000) from Colombia suggests that mothers tend to punish their children more often than fathers do. For mothers, 47% of them spank and 36% slap their children. For fathers and stepfathers, 42% of them spank and 27% slap their children and/or stepchildren. However, no scientific studies have been published that link the use of corporal punishment to the family structures of Colombian families. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to expand the limited results found on corporal punishment in Colombia, providing details about the actual occurrence of corporal punishment in a rural area and its relation to family structure and other socio-demographic variables, such as parental age, the number of children in the family, parental education, parental occupation, marital status, and child age and gender, thus contributing to a broader understanding of the subject in Latin America.

As a result of this study, we may conclude that it is necessary to work on the development of public policies aimed at the protection of children and at parental education. Accordingly, it is important to develop educational programs for parents with children in their early childhood and childhood stages to promote positive parenting practices. Because family structure is predictive of the use of corporal punishment, it is important to educate parents and caregivers while taking into account the composition or structure of the family in order to create interventions tailored to their specific needs. In this study, the nuclear family is the structure with the highest prevalence of corporal punishment, meaning that the development of interventions that seek to support parents in child-rearing practices both as a couple and as individuals is required. However, it is important that these programs do not leave other family structures, such as the mono-parental and extended family structures, unaddressed, because corporal punishment is also prevalent in these types of families. Finally, family structure is an important variable in the understanding of corporal punishment, especially in regard to nuclear families that have a large number of children and parents who have started their paternal roles early in life. The results of this study should not be assumed as a negative effect of the nuclear family structure, but as a way of understanding the complexity of parental interactions that derive from it. In addition, these results should be a starting point in the process of developing educational programs for families, especially those with a nuclear family structure, which are not only prevalent in Colombia but also in other Latin American nations. Given the widespread use of corporal punishment and the existing generalized acceptance of it, educational programs should focus on altering the belief that corporal punishment is necessary to raise a child. These programs, if targeted at parents with young children, may adopt a preventive approach in order to reduce parental stress and encourage the use of positive parenting practices (Cabrera et al., 2012 and Daro and Dodge, 2009). The challenge, then, will be to teach parents and caregivers alternative strategies to control their children's behavior in order to avoid having to resort to the use of corporal punishment (Lansford & Bornstein, 2007). Over the last few decades, several countries have banned corporal punishment, starting with Sweden in 1979, which became the first country to make spanking by parents illegal (see Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2011). The research studies that have been published since its prohibition have shown promising results related to the declining support for and practice of corporal punishment (for example, Bussmann, 2004, Bussman et al., 2009, Durrant, 1999 and Durrant and Janson, 2005). Most Latin American societies, however, still lack norms and legislations that respect the dignity and human rights of children and youth in relation to corporal punishment by their parents. Uruguay, Venezuela and Costa Rica became the first and only Latin American countries to prohibit this violent childrearing practice, passing legislation in 2007 and 2008 (Zolotor & Puzia, 2010). In spite of the declaration by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment 8 that clarified ‘the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment’ (2006), banning corporal punishment remains a particular challenge in Colombia, where it continues to be used with great frequency. There are some laws that refer to violence against underage minors or maltreatment in Colombia, but none of these laws refers specifically to corporal punishment. Because individual, familial and societal variables have shown to be related to the use of corporal punishment (Straus, 2010), we hope that this article provides some useful knowledge and tools for undertaking this important challenge.