The Meanings Jamaicans Associate with Corporal Punishment

Taniesha Burke and Olga Sutherland

Psychology and Developing Societies, 2014, vol. 26, issue 1, 59-89

Abstract: This study examined the meanings Jamaicans associate with corporal punishment and its perceived effects on children, caregivers’/parents’ relationship with children and in a broader sense, Jamaican culture. A total of 183 readers’ comments on 13 articles that focused on corporal punishment—published in a prominent Jamaican online newspaper—were qualitatively analysed. The results indicated that not all Jamaicans engage in or embrace the use of corporal punishment. There is a clear divide between Jamaican individuals who practise corporal punishment and those who believe it is socially unacceptable. Those in favour of it reported that it was religiously justified and effective as a method of discipline. Opponents of this view highlighted the negative physical and mental effects of corporal punishment on children and provided alternative discipline methods that were less punitive and more responsive to the needs of children and the parent–child relationship. Implications of the results are discussed.

Keywords: Jamaica; corporal punishment; online media; discipline; socialisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0971333613516229 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:psydev:v:26:y:2014:i:1:p:59-89

DOI: 10.1177/0971333613516229

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Psychology and Developing Societies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().