CONSERVATIVE PROTESTANTISM AND THE CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF CHILDREN - CLARIFYING THE ISSUES

This article explores the relationships between Conservative Protestantism, corporal punishment, and the physical abuse of children. Although recent studies demonstrate that Conservative Protestant parents endorse corporal punishment more strongly and use it more frequently than other parents, it remains unclear whether this form of religious conservatism is linked with child abuse (as that term is conventionally understood). The article examines widespread arguments that corporal punishment per se is harmful to children, with attention to an array of conceptual and empirical ambiguities in the social and behavioral science literature on this topic. The differing presuppositions about families, children, and child rearing that often separate the opponents and defenders of corporal punishment are also discussed. The remainder of the paper outlines several promising avenues for further research aimed at gauging the potential danger (if any) posed by the advocacy and use of corporal punishment by Conservative Protestants and other parents, concluding with a call for civility as well as analytical specificity. © Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1996.