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ABSTRACT
Research on generational transmission of violence suggests that parental corporal punishment in Western countries often leads to violent behavior among children. Violence begets violence, to most Western childrearing scholars. However, the socio-cultural context within which corporal punishment is administrated matters and often produces unexpected consequences. Utilizing a sample (N = 2,075) from six middle schools in central China, we employed a series of conditional process analysis to assess the mediating effect of self-control and moderating effect of parenting style in the relations of corporal punishment and physical bullying. Our findings show that parental corporal punishment was not always associated with physical bullying in school. Its impact on physical bullying was moderated by the parenting style within which it is applied. Authoritative parenting would protect children from elevated physical bullying perpetration even when they were physically punished. Self-control mediated the relations of corporal punishment and physical bullying only among boys raised by rejecting parenting and girls raised by indulgent and rejecting parenting. These findings suggest that cultural and parental contexts need to be considered in the exploration of impacts of corporal punishment on child development. Implications for practice and directions of future research are discussed.
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Weidi Liu
Weidi Liu PhD, is an assistant professor in School of Social Science at Soochow University. His research focuses on social work, child development, and crime and victimization.
Geping Qiu
Geping Qiu PhD, is a professor in College of Criminal Law at East China University of Political Science and Law. Her research interests include organized crime and criminal justice in China.
Sheldon X. Zhang
Sheldon X. Zhang PhD, is a professor in School of Criminology and Justice Studies at University of Massachusetts Lowell. His research centers on global crime and trafficking in persons.
Qi Fan
Qi Fan PhD, is an assistant professor in Institute of Mental Health at Nanjing Xiaozhuang University. His research focuses on developmental psychology and clinical psychology.