Corporal Punishment in Immigrant Families: A Look From the Cultural Perspective

• In Event: 64.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 64.086-8 - Examining Educational Challenges and Opportunities Across International Contexts

Abstract

There have been arguments for several decades as to whether corporal punishment is a method of child discipline or a kind of physical abuse. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social, cultural and political aspects of using corporal punishment in immigrant families. My intention is not to argue if we should use corporal punishment, but rather to provide some cultural perspectives on how the parents got lost when they had chosen to abandon all discipline methods as a result of a misunderstanding “corporal punishment.” This paper raises a concern about the more significant losses immigrant families experience when the parents get lost in disciplining their children.

Author

• Xuan Nguyen, University of Windsor