Ministry of Justice, New Zealand

4.1 Introduction

The third section of the survey asked people about which age groups of children they found acceptable to physically punish. The respondent was asked 'Are there any age groups that

people should not be allowed to punish physically? Please give your answer for each of these.' Before each question the respondent was asked 'Do you think it is acceptable or unacceptable to physically punish a child aged . . .?' Respondents were also given the choice to say they don't know or prefer not to answer.

This set of questions aimed to find out public attitudes towards physically punishing children from different age groups. There is some existing research on attitudes to and the practice of physical discipline towards children of different ages, and these survey results will be compared with New Zealand and international studies in the conclusion.

4.2 Findings

The results showed that the physical discipline of children is more accepted for the 2-5 (62%) and 6-10 year olds (72%) followed by the 11-14 year olds (43%). The physical discipline of 15-17 year olds was the least accepted (16%), which suggests the majority of people think that this age group is too old for physical discipline. Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents thought it was acceptable to physically discipline children aged under two years old.

The total percentages of people who agreed with each statement are shown in Figure 4.1. It should be noted that for all these questions on ages of children, less than 1.5% of the respondents chose the don't know or prefer not to answer options.

Gender

Women thought it more acceptable[39] than men to physically punish a child under two years of age. Conversely men were more likely[40] than women to find it acceptable to physically punish 6-10 and 11-14 year olds.

Ethnicity

Under two years

In regards to ethnicity, those in the NZ European/Other ethnic grouping were approximately twice as likely[41] as Maori and Pacific peoples to indicate that it is acceptable to physically discipline children under two years old.

Two to five years

NZ European/Other respondents were much more likely[42] than Maori and Pacific peoples to find it acceptable to physically punish children aged 2-5 years. The results showed that persons in the NZ European/Other category were more than twice as likely as Pacific peoples to view this as acceptable.

Six to ten years

The NZ European/Other ethnic grouping were also more likely[43] to view it as acceptable to physically discipline 6-10 year olds than Maori or Pacific peoples.

Eleven to fourteen years

There were minimal differences among ethnic groups with regard to the acceptability of physically disciplining 11-14 year olds.

Fifteen to seventeen years

The previous response pattern with regard to children aged 10 and under is reversed for children aged 15-17 years old. Pacific peoples (30%) were twice as likely[44] to find this acceptable as those in the NZ European/Other ethnic grouping (14%).

The results suggest that there are different perceptions among ethnic groups about the ages it is appropriate to physically discipline children.

Parental status

In terms of parental status, current parents (26%) are more likely to find physical discipline of children under two acceptable than previous parents (19%) or those that have never parented (17%). Analyses of the responses regarding the other age groups showed that there were no significant differences.

Analysis of age of child by age of respondents

Under two years

The results showed some differentiation between the age group of respondents. Those respondents in the 40-49 year old group had the highest percentage (31%) of respondents who agreed. They were much more likely[45] to find this acceptable in comparison to the 18-29 year olds and 50-59 year olds; and were more likely to agree than those who are 60+ years.

The youngest age group (18-29 years) had the lowest percentage (17%) of respondents who agreed. They were less likely than the 30-39 year olds and 40-49 year olds[46] to agree physical punishment of under two year olds was acceptable.

Two to five years

In regards to the 2-5 year olds the 18-29 year old respondents were less likely[47] to find physical punishment acceptable than those in the age groups 30-59 years. They were also significantly less likely to agree than those aged 60 plus years.

Six to ten and eleven to fourteen years

There were no significant differences in responses by age group when asked the acceptability of physically disciplining children in the 6-10 and 11-14 age groups.

Fifteen to seventeen years

The 40-49 year olds had the highest acceptance (21%) of the physical punishment of 15-17 year olds. This was significant[48] compared with the 60 plus age group who had the lowest percentage (12%) of respondents who viewed this as acceptable. Figure 4.5 below compares the responses by the age groups of respondents.

NZSEI occupational categories

Under two years

People in Elementary occupations were less likely to think that it was acceptable to physically punish under two year olds than persons in households whose main income earner was in the Plant and Machinery Operators, and Agriculture and Fishery workers categories.

Two to five years

Those in the Agriculture and Fishery workers category had the highest percentage (73%) of respondents who thought it was acceptable to physically punish children aged 2-5 years. This was significant when compared to Service and Sale workers[49] (51%) and Professionals category (60%) and Trades workers (59%).

Furthermore, those in the Sales and Service workers category had the lowest percentage of respondents who agreed. This group were less likely to find physical discipline of children acceptable than those in Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers category (65%) and Legislators, Administrators and Managers (65%). Interestingly, the Professionals and Elementary Occupations category had the same response (60%).

Six to ten years

Persons in Agriculture and Fishery workers were significantly more likely to find it acceptable to physically discipline 6-10 year olds than Professionals and Service and Sale workers categories[50] and Technicians and Associate Professionals. Sales and Service workers are also less likely[51] to agree than Legislators, Administrators and Managers.

Eleven to fourteen years

Those respondents in the Trades category (51%) were more likely to find the physical discipline of 11-14 years olds acceptable than Professionals (37%) and Technicians and Associate Professionals (38%).

Fifteen to seventeen years

There were no significant differences among the NZSEI occupational categories for this age group.

These findings, including the similarity in response to some of the questions from those in the Professional and Elementary occupations, suggests there is no discernible difference in attitudes between those that could be classified in terms of higher and lower socio-economic groupings.

4.3 Summary

This section examined public attitudes towards the physical disciplining of children of different age groups. The analysis found that on the whole the public does not perceive it as acceptable to physically discipline older children aged 15-17 years, nor was there majority support for disciplining 11-14 year olds. Only a quarter of respondents thought it acceptable to physically discipline children under two years of age. However, nearly three-quarters of the respondents thought it acceptable to physically punish 6-10 year old children. This was followed by children aged 2-5 years, where over half the sample thought this was acceptable.

The demographic analysis showed that:

• Women were more likely[52] than men to view physical discipline of children under two as acceptable. Conversely men thought it more acceptable[53] than women did to physically discipline 6-10 and 11-14 year olds.

• Those in the NZ European/Other ethnic grouping thought it more acceptable[54] than Maori or Pacific peoples to physically discipline children aged 0-10 years.

• Pacific peoples were more likely[55] to view it as acceptable to discipline older children aged 15-17 years than NZ European/Other.

• There were no significant differences between Maori and Pacific peoples responses.

• Current parents are more likely to find physical discipline of children under two as acceptable than previous parents or those that have never parented.

• There is no consistent pattern in attitudes by age group of respondents.

• The 18-29 year olds had a significantly lower acceptance of physical discipline of children aged under two and 2-5 year years old.

• The 40-49 year olds had a significantly higher acceptance of physical discipline of children aged under two and those aged fifteen to seventeen.

• The results for occupational categories showed that there are no significant patterns to differentiate respondents with occupations from higher NZSEI scores from those with lower scores.

Footnotes

39 (p<0.01)

40 (p<0.01)

41 (p<0.01)

42 (p<0.01)

43 (p<0.01)

44 (p<0.01)

45 (p<0.01)

46 (p<0.01)

47 (p<0.01) significant for both the 30-39 year olds (26% agreed) and 40-49 year olds (31% agreed)

48 (p<0.01)

49 (p<0.01)

50 (p<0.01)

51 (p<0.01)

52 (p<0.01)

53 (p<0.01)

54 (p<0.01)

55 (p<0.01)