Prevalence and Predictors of Parental Violence Against Children and Juveniles in an International Perspective

• In Event: The Cycle of Violence Through an International Lens: Insights from the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD3)

Abstract

Physical punishment by parents and parental maltreatment are known to be important predictors of delinquency and problem behavior in later life. In a growing number of countries, starting in Sweden in 1979 and spreading over Europe and beyond, the use of corporal punishment by parents is banned by law. Based on data of the third international self-report delinquency study (ISRD3) conducted in larger cities of 27 countries American, Asian, and European countries (n = 62,360) parental violence as experienced by 12 to 16 year old students will be compared between nations and cultures. A special focus will be the question whether parental violence experienced by students differs as to the legal protection of children from physical punishment and how additional macro level predictors (individualism, Human Development Index) and individual level differences (deprivation, minority status) are able to explain differences in the prevalence of parental violence.

Authors

• Dirk Enzmann, Hamburg University, Germany

• Ineke Haen Marshall, Northeastern University

• Majone Steketee, Verwey-Jonker Institute and Erasmus University