Abstract

This study explores the topic of corporal punishment and examines the degree to which young adults have been subjected to corporal punishment, their attitudes about corporal punishment, the likelihood of them using corporal punishment on their children, and their propensity towards violence. Among African American participants, I also examine the correlation between their attitudes toward corporal punishment and their levels of acculturation toward the dominant culture. I predict that African Americans will have been subject to Corporal Punishment more than White Americans. I hypothesized that participants who have been subjected to corporal punishment will have a higher propensity towards violence and will continue to use corporal punishment on their children. I also hypothesized that African Americans who are relatively highly acculturated will be less likely to use Corporal punishment. Participants were asked to fill out a series of scales that tested for all of the research questions. Results for this study did support the hypothesis that African Americans did report receiving more Corporal Punishment than White Americans. Results did show that there is a negative correlation between levels of acculturation and likelihood to use Corporal Punishment for African Americans. However, the direction of the correlation was consistent with the hypothesis, in that higher acculturation scores correlating with less desire to use corporal punishment on children. The results also did not support the hypothesis of a positive correlation between being subjected to Corporal Punishment and propensity towards violence. Finally the results did not support the hypothesis of a positive correlation between being subjected to Corporal Punishment and the likely to use Corporal Punishment on their own children.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2012

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Negy, Charles

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Degree Program

Psychology

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences; Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

Format

PDF

Identifier

CFH0004135

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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Psychology Commons

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