Promising intervention strategies to reduce parents' use of physical punishment.
Elizabeth T Gershoff, Shawna J Lee, Joan E Durrant
Author Information
Elizabeth T Gershoff: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton St., Stop A2702, Austin, TX, 78712, USA. Electronic address: lizgershoff@gmail.com.
Shawna J Lee: School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 South University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA. Electronic address: shawnal@umich.edu.
Joan E Durrant: Department of Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Science, University of Manitoba, 35 Chancellor's Circle, Fort Garry Campus, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2, Canada. Electronic address: Joan.Durrant@umanitoba.ca.
The strong and ever-growing evidence base demonstrating that physical punishment places children at risk for a range of negative outcomes, coupled with global recognition of children's inherent rights to protection and dignity, has led to the emergence of programs specifically designed to prevent physical punishment by parents. This paper describes promising programs and strategies designed for each of three levels of intervention - indicated, selective, and universal - and summarizes the existing evidence base of each. Areas for further program development and evaluation are identified.
