Authors

• Sariola, Heikki (Central Union for Child Welfare)

Keywords

child abuse, child protection, child safety, children, corporal punishment, domestic violence, parent attitude, parental role, parents

Abstract

The data are part of Central Union for Child Welfare study that investigates the use of corporal punishment in upbringing and attitudes towards it in Finland. Face-to-face interviews were carried out in the summer of 2006 as part of an Omnibus study monthly conducted by Taloustutkimus.

The respondents were asked whether they thought corporal punishment was acceptable, at least in exceptional circumstances. The respondents who were planning to have children were asked whether they thought they would use corporal punishment in raising them. The respondents who had children under 18 in the household were asked whether they had used different forms of corporal punishment (pulling hair, slapping, pinching etc.). The respondents' views on actions that count as corporal punishment or assault or neither were investigated. Other questions focused on whether the respondents had been physically punished by their parents as children, how the respondents would act if they noticed someone in their social network using corporal punishment against children, and whether they had noticed any news about or campaigns against corporal punishment of children in the media.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, municipality of residence, employment status, marital status, household composition, level of education, number of inhabitants in the municipality of residence, municipality type, Internet use, and number and ages of children living in the household.