Objective: To determine whether child maltreatment is associated with obesity in preschool children. Methods: Data were obtained from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a birth cohort study of 4898 children born between 1998 and 2000 in 20 large US cities. At 3 years of age, 2412 of these children had their height and weight measured,…

Women's postnatal depressive symptoms have been associated with many adverse outcomes for children. The current study examined the frequency association with relative risk between postnatal depressive symptoms and mothers' use of preventative infant health practices. The study used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Parental…

There is a recurrent conflict concerning law and judgment in the Catholic tradition. The tension between the manner in which just punitive judgments are to be rendered and the possibility of judging justly, if at all, is found frequently in Scripture and in Church history. This paper will give an overview of the dynamics of this tension in…

Objective: To examine the relationship between physical abuse of adolescents and parenting by mothers and fathers and whether the association differs by gender. Methods: Subjects were adolescents, 51 girls and 45 boys, documented by Child Protective Services (CPS) as physically abused during adolescence. Comparison subjects were non-abused…

This digest explores some of the reasons for spanking, examines its effectiveness, and suggests alternative discipline methods. Many parents believe that spanking will teach children not to do things that are forbidden, stop them quickly when they are being irritating, and encourage them to do what they should. Others believe nonphysical forms of…

The current status of discipline in Arizona public schools is assessed and alternative forms of discipline are reviewed in this report on classroom discipline. Methodology involved a literature review, an informal survey of 330 Arizona schools, and an attitudinal survey of 300 educators and non-educators. Overall findings indicate that most…

Parental discipline appears to play a major role in the development of delinquent and aggressive behavior. The belt theory predicts that parents who have used corporal punishment are likely to produce children who exhibit delinquent behavior. A striking factor is that all delinquent youths see corporal punishment as necessary in child rearing and…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter examines the historical validity of two popular beliefs concerning the "crisis of discipline" in schools. One is that it is something special to this turbulent age, and the other is that school violence and crime have increased because we have relaxed our…

Article investigated punishment as the condition of crime and the criminal as the true victim of crime. (Author/RK)

In a survey of 129 parents of military dependents, 51% supported the use of corporal punishment in schools and 37% disagreed. Analysis of the responses displayed a relationship between parental attitudes on the use of corporal punishment and opinion of the positive effects of physical punishment on children's behavior. (Author/CL)

Reviews research on overcorrection, a behavior reduction procedure, and considers its applications to special education in terms of punishment aspects and effects on generalization and maintenance. Advantages (including its effectiveness) as well as disadvantages (such as the length of time it requires) are pointed out. (CL)

Examines the deterrent effects of imposing juvenile versus adult status on youth offenders. Sugqests that, because the adult law enforcement system may be reluctant to handle younger delinquents as harshly as older youth, adult status can serve as a deterrent to juvenile crime only for youth aged 17 or older. (Author/MJL)

Discusses use of reward and punishment as reinforcers, then considers when reward-punishment model does not seem to elicit predictable results. Discusses need to go beyond simple explanation of reward and punishment and to consider other, more subtle forms of motivation. Specifically addresses issues of identity and conformity. (NB)

Used data from 1988 General Social Survey for 978 adults to analyze regional differences in attitudes toward corporal punishment. Results revealed that most respondents in each of four regions favored spanking children; support varied among regions. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, northeast respondents had significantly less…

Investigates the effect of disciplinary reasoning on subsequent misbehavior with 2 and 3 year olds. The largest increase in disruptive behavior by age 4 occurred when parents used reasoning frequently without backing it up with punishment. The largest decrease occurred when parents used reasoning frequently but backed it up with punishment when…