Corporal punishment in cross-cultural perspective:: Directions for a research agenda

This article discusses major issues in corporal punishment research and identifies directions for improvement of current knowledge about this disciplinary practice. Conceptual and methodological problems in existing corporal punishment research are discussed. The authors also highlight research challenges that lie ahead. These include the need for (a) an explicit and consistently used definition of physical punishment, (b) the development of an assessment procedure that includes the full range of variables important in understanding corporal punishment and its effects, (c) the evaluation of children's own perception of punishment, (d) the assessment of third variables, and (e) the evaluation of nonlinear relations between corporal punishment and child outcomes. The authors present parental acceptance-rejection theory's (PARTheory's) research agenda that attempts to address all these issues.