Citation

Dobbs T. Soc. Policy J. N. Zeal. 2007; 2007(30): 145-162.

Affiliation

Children's Issues Centre, University of Otago, New Zealand

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, New Zealand Ministry of Social Development)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper discusses children's views of family discipline and possible implications for policymakers. In 2004, 80 New Zealand children, between five and 14 years of age, took part in research eliciting their views on family discipline. In response to questions on family discipline children spontaneously revealed concerning levels of the frequency and severity of physical punishment, some of which would be identified as child abuse using any threshold. Children's reports of the context in which physical punishment was delivered by parents was also of concern. Many children reported high levels of confusion when trying to link their own views of physical punishment with the actions of their parents.