Journal of Family Violence, Vol. 1, No.

1, 1986

Moderate Spanking: Model or Deterrent of

Children's Aggression in the Family?
R o b e r t E. Larzelere 1

Received July 19, 1985

Previous research has rarely distinguished among the effects of minimal,

moderate, and severe physical punishment on children's antisocial aggres-
sion. Using a nationally representative sample, this study compared the ef-
fects o f different frequencies o f physical punishment on children's reported
physical aggression against other family members. In addition, the interac-
tion o f parental reasoning with physical punishment was examined. All
analyses were repeated f o r preschoolers, preadolescents, and adolescents. The
results generally indicated a linear positive association between physical
punishment and child aggression. For preadolescent and adolescent aggres-
sion toward the parent, however, this association depended upon parental
use of reasoning, such that spanking had a minimal effect on aggression f o r
frequent reasoners. The combination o f infrequent reasoning and frequent
spanking was associated with dramatically increased aggression. The con-
clusion emphasizes additional unresolved issues about the effects o f spank-
ing, particularly the ambiguous direction o f causal influence between parent
and child.
KEY WORDS: aggression; corporal punishment; induction; parent-child conflict.

INTRODUCTION

It is well established that people who are physically aggressive are

especially likely to have experienced severe physical punishment as children.
Studies have found this to be true for child abusers (e.g., Gil, 1971; Parke

~Rosemead School of Psychology, Biola University, La Mirada, California 90639.

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088547482/86/0300-0027505.00/0 9 1986 Plenum Publishing Corporation