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Abstract
Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the relationship between a
childhood history of abuse that a parent may have experienced and the cultural
beliefs/factors that an individual may subscribe to with current parenting behaviors and
attitudes. It was hypothesized that cultural factors would be more predictive of parenting
behaviors and attitudes than ethnicity as a demographic label.
Method: Using a survey design, 150 parents of Hispanic, African American and
European American descent participated. Participants completed the Conflict Tactics
Scale, a Familism Scale, a Machismo Scale, a Valuing Children Scale, the Childhood
Trauma Questionnaire, and assigned seriousness ratings to vignettes depicting child
maltreatment.
Results: A history of childhood abuse was found to be predictive of the use of both
physical and verbal punishment by mothers, but not for fathers. Cultural factors/beliefs
were predictive of fathers’ parenting behaviors, but not mothers’. Ethnicity, as a
demographic variable, continued to be a significant predictor of parenting behaviors and
attitudes for all parents, controlling for cultural factors.
Discussion: The present study adds to our understanding of diverse parenting styles, of
definitions of child abuse and neglect, and of ethnicity. The findings indicate that
ethnicity is a complex factor, one demanding further examination with regard to its
components.
Résumé
Objectif: Le but de cette étude fut d’évaluer l’anamnèse de parents par rapport aux
mauvais traitements qu’ils auraient connus et leurs croyances et facteurs vis-à-vis leurs
comportements et leurs attitudes en tant que parents. L’hypothèse a voulu que les facteurs
culturels, plutôt que l’ethnie et les facteurs démographiques, prédisent les comportements
et les attitudes parentaux.
Résultats: Les mères, et non les pères, ayant subis des mauvais traitements dans leur
passé, ont recours à des punitions physiques et psychologiques tandis que les facteurs et
les croyances prédisent les mauvais traitements chez les pères, mais non chez les mères.
L’ethnie en tant que variable démographique demeure un facteur important prédisant les
comportements et les attitudes des pères et des mères, ayant contrôlé les facteurs
culturels.
Resumen
Objetivo: El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar la historia de maltrato que un
padre puede haber experimentado y las creencias o factores culturales que un individuo
puede suscribir con las conductas y actitudes parentales.
Resultados: Se observó que la historia de maltrato infantil era predictora del uso de
castigo físico y de castigo verbal en las madres, pero no en los padres. Las creencias y
factores culturales fueron predictoras de las conductas parentales de los padres, pero no
de las madres. La etnicidad, como variable demográfica, era un predictor significativo de
las actitudes y conductas parentales una vez controlados los factores culturales.
Article Outline
• Introduction
• Methods
• Participants
• Measures
• Machismo Scale
• Valuing Children Scale
• Familism Scale
• Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ)
• Nurturance Scale
• Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS)
• Vignettes depicting child maltreatment
• Procedures
• Results
• Correlations
• Ethnic differences
• Sex differences
• Predictors of physical punishment
• Predictors of verbal punishment
• Predictors of use of reasoning
• Predictors of nurturance
• Predictors of seriousness ratings
• Moderating effects
• Discussion
• Familism
• Machismo
• Valuing children
• Intergenerational transmission of abuse
• Ethnic differences and similarities
• Limitations
• Implications
• Acknowledgements
• References
Introduction
According to the third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-3)
completed in 1996 (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996), an estimated 1,553,800 children in the
United States were abused or neglected in 1993. According to data compiled by the
Children’s Defense Fund (1985), African American children are three times as likely as
White children to die from child abuse. Connelly and Straus (1992) also found that being
a minority child increased one’s risk for physical abuse; however, Zuravin and Greif
(1989) compared African Americans and Caucasians and found that African American
children were no more likely, and, in fact, were less likely, to be maltreated by their
mothers. In addition, the NIS-3 survey did not report ethnic differences in the incidence
of child maltreatment, although they did acknowledge that the public has the perception
that more children of color are abused and neglected.
Some research has indicated there may be ethnic differences in the prevalence and
severity of different types of abuse and neglect (Brenner, Fischer, & Mann-Gray, 1989;
Connelly and Jones; Vaughter, Jelley, Ferrari, & Bernstein, 1997). However,
disagreement exists as to whether ethnic differences, when found, are independent of
biases in reporting procedures. Mental health professionals, who are mandated reporters
of child abuse and neglect, may apply Anglo-American standards of “good” parenting to
judge the behaviors of parents of other cultural groups and label parents’ behaviors as
abusive or benign ( Zayas, 1992). In addition, it has been charged that large studies, such
as the NIS, often fail to include a sampling of family, friends, and neighbors, from whom
White children are more likely to be reported ( Ards, Chung, & Meyers, 1998). Other
research has found that the criteria that parents and the lay adult community apply to and
define as child maltreatment, as compared to child discipline or other child-rearing
practices, do vary with socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and occupational status (
Giovannoni and Rose).
Familism, a value characteristic in many Hispanic cultures, places great emphasis upon
one’s dependency and reliance upon others, as well as upon the “family unity, with a
sense of obligation among family members, reverence for the elderly, and responsibility
to care for all members, especially children” (Zayas, 1992, p. 302). Familism is a
commitment to provide an emotional support system for family members, and
emphasizes the importance of the family, as opposed to the importance of the individual (
Cuellar, Arnold, & Gonzalez, 1995). Familism is also a characteristic of African
American culture, where the importance of family has been well documented. African
Americans who live within close proximity to their families report greater life satisfaction
( Ellison, 1990), and family kinships play an important role in the care of young children
( Garcia and McAdoo), and in fostering children’s positive development ( Egeland &
Stroufe, 1981). Garcia Coll suggests that the presence of a grandmother in the home of
both African American and Hispanic families is associated with a more responsive and
less punitive parenting style. The present study investigated the possibility that parents,
regardless of ethnic identification or sex, who endorse the beliefs of familism, may be
less likely to use physical and verbal punishment, more likely to use reasoning and
nurturance, and more likely to rate vignettes of child maltreatment as serious.
Cross cultural literature suggests that child maltreatment is less likely in cultures where
children are valued for their economic utility, for perpetuating family lines and the
cultural heritage, and for sources of emotional pleasure and satisfaction (D’Antonio,
Darwish, & McLean, 1993). Bates and Pettit (1981) have suggested that individual
differences between parents, such as in the degree to which they like their children and
their beliefs about children moderate the effects of child behavior on parenting style.
Compared to non-abusive parents, abusive parents have been reported as being less
satisfied with their children, finding both childrearing ( Trickett & Susman, 1988), and
their children ( Susman, Trickett, Ianotti, Hollenbeck, & Zahn-Waxler, 1985) to be less
enjoyable. The present study investigated the possibility that parents who place a high
value upon children and are more tolerant of children’s misbehavior would be more likely
to use reasoning and nurturance, and less likely to use physical and verbal punishment to
discipline their children; and that such parents would judge parental maltreatment of a
child to be more serious.
Machismo has been defined as strong adherence to rigid sex roles, sex discrimination,
callous attitudes towards women, being aggressive, dominant, authoritarian, and
inhibiting nurturing tendencies (Deyoung & Zigler, 1994). Some believe that such a
definition is a stereotypical one and point out that machismo includes positive attributes
such as emphasis on self-respect and responsibility for protecting and providing for the
family ( Torres, 1998). Nonetheless, in families subscribing to machismo attitudes, the
father is an authoritarian, who may inflict punishment upon children ( Bird & Canino,
1982) and such punishment is accepted and seen as an instrumental way of assuring
children’s proper behavior ( Figueroa-Torres & Pearson, 1979). Although machismo has
traditionally been associated with Hispanic males, similar behavior and personality traits
can be found in females. Deyoung and Zigler (1994) found that machismo scores were
positively correlated with mothers’ and fathers’ use of controlling and punitive
disciplinary techniques. The present study investigated the possibility that parents who
held strong machismo attitudes would be more likely to use physical and verbal
punishment, less likely to use reasoning and nurturance, and less likely to define certain
parental behaviors as serious child maltreatment.
In summary, the present study had the following objectives: (1) to test for the
relationships between the independent (cultural) variables of abuse and neglect that the
parents’ experienced as a child, the parents’ endorsement of machismo ideals, the value
that parents held for children, and the parents’ attitudes of familism, with the dependent
(parenting) variables of parents’ severity ratings of vignettes of abuse and neglect, use of
verbal and/or physical punishment, and use of reasoning and nurturance in the parenting
of their own children; and (2) to test the hypothesis that the cultural variables of familism,
machismo, and valuing children would interact with the severity of the parents’ childhood
trauma to buffer or strengthen the dependent variables of use of physical and verbal
punishment, use of reasoning and nurturance, and severity ratings of vignettes describing
child maltreatment (Table 1). It was hypothesized that the parent’s cultural values would
be more predictive of his or her parenting behavior than would demographic variables,
such as ethnic group membership.
Participants
Measures
Machismo Scale
A 15-item scale designed by the author measured the value placed upon children by the
parent, that is, the valuing of children. This short Valuing Children (VAL) Scale asked
participants to indicate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with a number of
statements concerning the acceptance of children into the family and community, such as
acceptance of children in restaurants, airplane travel, and adult conversation. Response
choices range from a value of “0” corresponding to “strong disagreement” to a value of
“5,” corresponding to “strong agreement.” Higher scores indicated stronger valuing of
children, and scores could range from 0 to 75. Some sample items from the scale include:
“Young children should be able to sit through a 3-hour movie like the Titanic without
disturbing their parents;” and “Kid-friendly restaurants like “Friendlys” and “Ground
Round” are a bad idea because they encourage children to misbehave at dinnertime.” The
Cronbach alpha for the 15-item scale was .68 in the present study.
Familism Scale
Familism was measured with The Brief Familism Scale constructed by Buriel and Rivera
(1980) which consists of four items. Responses are made on a 6-point scale on which “0”
indicates “strong disagreement” and “5” indicates “strong agreement”; scores can range
from 0 to 20. Higher scores reflect endorsement of stronger familism attitudes. Sample
items include: “Relatives are more important than friends,” and “You should think of
what is important for your family more than you think of what is good for yourself
personally.” The internal consistency estimates based on Cronbach’s alpha were .74 for
Anglo-Americans and .82 for Mexican Americans ( Buriel & Rivera, 1980). Good
construct validity has also been documented ( Buriel & Rivera, 1980).
However, since the Familism Scale is very short, two items from the Familism subscale
of the Multiphasic Assessment of Cultural Constructs—Short Form (Macc-SF), by
Cuellar et al. (1995), which had the highest item-total correlation coefficients with their
total scale score, were added. With the added items, scores on the Familism Scale could
range from 0 to 36. In the present study, a Cronbach alpha of .76 was found for the 6-item
scale.
The parents’ childhood maltreatment was assessed with the Childhood Trauma
Questionnaire (CTQ) a retrospective instrument designed to assess the severity of
physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect and emotional neglect
(Bernstein, 1993). The CTQ is a 70-item self-report instrument that asks respondents to
evaluate their childhood experiences retrospectively. Each item on the questionnaire
begins with the phrase, “When I was growing up …” and the response is reported on a 5-
point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Never True) to 5 (Very Often True). For example:
“When I was growing up, my parents were too drunk or too high to take care of the
family” (from the Physical Neglect Scale). Higher scores indicate ratings of more severe
abuse and neglect; and the total scale scores can range from 70 to 350.
The CTQ has shown high levels of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=.80–.97) and
test-retest reliability (ICC=.80–.88) (Bernstein et al., 1994). The CTQ has also
demonstrated good convergent validity with a structured interview for childhood trauma
and with therapists’ ratings ( Bernstein, Ahluvalia, Pogge, & Handelsman, 1997;
Bernstein et al., 1994). The present study found the Cronbach alpha was .95.
Nurturance Scale
Parents’ support and warmth for their children was assessed with items from Block’s
(1981) Child-Rearing Practices Report. Rickel and Biasatti (1982) subjected Block’s
original 91-item scale to a factor analysis, and a two factor solution yielded two sub-
scales, a 22-item Restrictiveness Scale and an 18-item Nurturance Scale. Nurturance
items reflect an endorsement of flexible child-rearing attitudes and practices as well as
the parents’ willingness to listen to and share feelings and experiences with their children.
The response choices on the scale ranges from “0,” “not at all descriptive of me” to “5,”
“highly descriptive of me.” High scores indicate high levels of warmth and support, and
scores can range from 0 to 90. Sample items from the Nurturance Scale include: “My
child and I have warm intimate moments together,” and “I joke and play with my child.”
The Cronbach’s alphas reported for the Nurturance Scale were .84, .82, and .73 for
samples of male and female undergraduates, parents, and undergraduates, respectively
(Rickel & Biasatti, 1982). The Nurturance Scale has also demonstrated good construct
validity ( Dekovic, Janssens, & Gerris, 1991). When used with a Black sample in the
Barbados, a factor analysis revealed the same factor loadings that had been obtained by
Rickel and Biasatti’s (1982) North American sample ( Payne & Furnham, 1992). With the
present sample, the Nurturance Scale showed a Cronbach alpha of .92.
The reliability and validity of the CTS have been assessed over the 15-year period since
its development (Straus, 1990). Internal consistency reliabilities of the three subscales
parallel their lengths, with reasoning showing the lowest reliability (r=.42–.76), then
verbal aggression (r=.62–.88) and physical aggression showing the highest reliability
(r=.42–.96). The current study found the Cronbach alpha to be .50 on the reasoning
portion, .76 on the verbal punishment portion, and .65 on the physical punishment
portion.
The parents’ perceptions and definitions of abusive and neglectful behaviors were
measured with a variation of Giovannoni and Becerra’s (1979) vignette method. The
vignettes describe incidences of child maltreatment; and respondents rate the severity of
the maltreatment to the child by the parent portrayed in the story. The factor analysis of
the severity ratings of the behaviors of parents in the vignettes extracted nine factors, or
scales, of maltreatment behaviors: physical abuse, sexual abuse, fostering delinquency,
inadequate supervision, emotional mistreatment, use of drugs/alcohol, failure to provide,
educational neglect, and inappropriate parental sexual mores. Respondents rate the
seriousness of the parental treatment of the child using a 9-point scale, with “9”
corresponding to acts deemed most serious. The Sexual Abuse Scale, which contains the
lowest number of items, has scores which can range from 5 to 45, and the Failure to
Provide Scale, with the highest number of items, has scores which can range from 17 to
153. Giovannoni and Becerra (1979) tested all the vignettes for reliability using test-retest
and equivalent testing methods. Cronbach’s alpha varied from a low of .70 to a high of
.98. The present research utilized a 6-point response scale with “0” corresponding to “the
parent is not mistreating the child” and “5” corresponding to a rating of “extremely
serious.” The present study found the Cronbach alpha to be .81.
Procedures
Under group testing conditions, all participants received information about the purpose of
the study, the process, and the duration of their participation in the study from the
researcher and signed informed consents. The questionnaires were formatted into a
booklet and participants were able to write directly in the booklet to aid administration.
Participants were debriefed, at which point any questions regarding the research were
answered. Students were told that the goal of the research was to determine parental
values and characteristics that are associated with parenting styles and techniques. At
debriefing, all parents received a referral packet listing local clinics and therapists.
Results
In order to address the study’s first objective, that the independent variables of parents’
previous abuse, endorsement of machismo, familism, and value placed on the child were
predictive of the dependent variables of parents’ seriousness ratings of vignettes depicting
child maltreatment, use of verbal and physical punishment, use of nurturance and
reasoning, hierarchical regressions were performed for each dependent variable.
Hierarchical regression was chosen because it allows for the partitioning of the variance
of each variable. It also necessitates thoughtful consideration on the part of the researcher
to determine the order of entry of the variables.
In order to address the second objective, that the cultural variables of familism,
machismo and valuing children would interact with a history of childhood maltreatment,
moderating effects were examined. A hierarchical regression was performed to examine
the effect of the product term, that is, cultural variable×previous history of abuse (CTQ),
on each of the dependent variables. Interaction effects were examined by centering each
of the variables of interest around its mean and then multiplying the two centered
variables to create an interaction term.
Correlations
Table 3. Correlation matrix of predictor variables with the outcome variables of ratings of
definitions
Note: CTQ, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; MAC, Machismo Scale; FAM, Familism
Scale; VAL, Valuing Children Scale; Define, total scale score on definitional vignettes of
abuse and neglect; Drugs, parental drug usage; Del, promotion of delinquency of a child;
Edu-neg, educational neglect; Emo-mistreat, emotional mistreatment; Fail, failure to
provide; Phys-pun, physical punishment; Sa, sexual abuse; Sup, lack of supervision.
Drugs, Del, Edu-neg, Emo-mistreat, Fail, Phys-pun, Sa, Sup all refer to categories of
vignettes depicting child maltreatment.
Ethnic differences
ANOVA results showed that when rating vignettes which described situations where a
parent was promoting the delinquency of a child (Delinq), African American parents
rated this type of maltreatment to be more serious than did Hispanic parents (Table 4).
However, no other ethnic group differences were found in the ratings of vignettes.
African American parents scored higher than Hispanic parents on the Nurturance Scale
(NUR). African American parents also scored higher than European American parents did
in their actual use of verbal and physical punishment; and Hispanic parents reported
using more verbal punishment with their children than did European American parents.
Note: CTQ, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; MAC, Machismo Scale; FAM, Familism
Scale; VAL, Valuing Children Scale; NUR, Nurturance Scale; CTS, Conflict Tactics
Scale; Reasoning, use of reasoning; Verbal punish, use of verbal punishment; Phys.
punish, use of physical punishment; Define, total definitional vignettes of child abuse and
neglect; Delinq, promoting delinquency; Drugs, parental drug usage; Edu-neg,
educational neglect; Emo-mistreat, emotional mistreatment; Fail, failure to provide; Sa,
sexual abuse; Supervise, lack of supervision; Phys-pun, physical punishment. Reasoning,
verbal punish and physical punish are categories of the CTS. Delinq, Drugs, Edu-neg,
Emo-mistreat, Fail, Sa, Supervise, Phys-pun all refer to categories of Vignettes depicting
child maltreatment. The above means are scaled scores.
Sex differences
Sex differences were found in the severity ratings of vignettes; mothers tended to
evaluate incidents of child maltreatment in the areas of parental drug use, educational
neglect, emotional mistreatment, failure to provide, lack of supervision, and use of
physical punishment to be more severe maltreatment than did fathers (Table 5). Sex
differences were also found on the Machismo and Nurturance Scales where women
scored significantly lower than men on the measure of machismo; and women scored
significantly higher than men on measures of nurturance.
Note: CTQ, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire; MAC, Machismo Scale; FAM, Familism
Scale; VAL, Valuing Children Scale; NUR, Nurturance Scale; CTS, Conflict Tactics
Scale; Reasoning, use of reasoning; Verbal punish, use of verbal punishment; Phys.
punish, use of physical punishment; Define, total definitional vignettes of child abuse and
neglect; Delinq, promoting delinquency; Drugs, parental drug usage; Edu-neg,
educational neglect; Emo-mistreat, emotional mistreatment; Fail, failure to provide; Sa,
sexual abuse; Supervise, lack of supervision; Phys-pun, physical punishment. The above
means are scaled scores.
For mothers, but not fathers, ethnicity, being African American [t (6,68)=2.60, p<.05], or
Hispanic [t (6,68)=2.23, p<.05], and having a history of child maltreatment (CTQ) [t
(5,69)=2.20, p<.05], was found to be predictive of the use of verbal punishment. For
fathers, ethnicity, or being Hispanic [t (6,68)=3.38, p<.05] and valuing children [t
(5,69)=2.58, p<.05] predicted the use of verbal punishment. Being Hispanic accounted
for 26% of the variance in fathers (Table 7).
More serious childhood trauma (CTQ), t (6,68)=2.70, p<.05, and ethnicity (Hispanic), t
(6,68)=2.33, p<.05, were predictive of the use of reasoning by fathers (Table 8). Ethnicity
accounted for a significant 28% of the variance while CTQ scores accounted for another
significant 12%. Therefore, being Hispanic and experiencing childhood maltreatment
both independently predicted the use of reasoning as a discipline tool for fathers.
However, none of the variables were predictive of the use of reasoning by mothers.
Table 8. Summary of hierarchical multiple regression analysis for variables predicting use
of reasoning
Predictors of nurturance
Being Hispanic predicted the nurturing behaviors of fathers, t (6,68)=−4.34, p<.05, and
ethnicity accounted for 30% of the variance (Table 9). That is, Hispanic fathers reported
fewer nurturing behaviors than did African American or European American fathers.
CTQ scores also predicted nurturance [t (6,68)=3.05, p<.05]; and fathers with higher
CTQ scores were more nurturing to their own children than fathers who experienced less
maltreatment in childhood. Although none of the variables predicted nurturance in
mothers, being Hispanic and having a history of childhood abuse and neglect both made
independent contributions to the nurturing behaviors of fathers, controlling for the
variables of sex and ethnicity and for the cultural variables of valuing children, familism,
and machismo.
CTQ scores [t (6,68)=2.7, p<.05] and ethnicity or being Hispanic [t (6,68)=−3.10, p<.05]
predicted seriousness ratings for fathers and accounted for a significant 10 and 17% of
the variance, respectively (Table 10). Being Hispanic was predictive of less serious
ratings on vignettes, and having high CTQ scores was predictive of greater seriousness
ratings being assigned by fathers to vignettes depicting child maltreatment. None of the
predictor variables were significant for the mothers.
In order to check for moderating effects, ethnicity was entered first into the regression
equation, CTQ scores were entered second, then followed by one of the predictor cultural
variables (familism, machismo, or valuing children). The product term was entered last.
Results showed that none of the product terms reached significance, indicating that the
relationship between previous abuse and current parenting practices was not moderated
by the cultural values studied.
Discussion
Familism
Regardless of ethnic status, fathers who held familism in low regard were more likely to
use physical punishment to discipline their children than fathers who valued familism
more highly. The effect of familism was strong, accounting for 26% of the variance.
Ingoldsby (1995) recommended that familism replace machismo within Hispanic families
to prevent the patriarchal abuse related to machismo. However, it cannot be concluded
that the children in the present study, whose fathers were high in familism, are physically
punished less often; we can only conclude that these behaviors occur with less frequency
from their fathers. In fact, familism, for all parents, was associated with a lower
frequency of nurturing behaviors. Although such a finding appears counterintuitive, a
logical explanation is possible. Parents who value familism highly may be more likely to
live in households which include extended family members who help to care for children.
The care that extended family members provide may include both disciplining the child
as well as nurturing the child. Therefore, parents who are high in familism may be low in
both the use of physical punishment and in the frequency of nurturing behaviors because
they are not the only caretaker in the child’s life. A crucial factor, then, in deciding
whether familism is a strength for families depends upon who is providing the care in
place of, or in addition to, the parents. Many studies have found co-residence by a
grandmother to be beneficial ( Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, & Morgan, 1987) although co-
residence by an uncle, cousin, boyfriend/girlfriend or family friend may not be beneficial
to the child.
Machismo
Machismo predicted more use of physical punishment from fathers, but not for mothers
controlling for ethnicity. The effect of machismo upon the use of physical punishment
was strong, although not as strong as the effect of familism; machismo predicted the use
of physical punishment, while controlling for ethnicity, and accounted for a significant
8% of the variance. Similarly, Deyoung and Zigler (1994) found machismo scores in
Guyanese parents to be highly correlated with child physical punishment and scolding
and found that Guyanese parents used less nurturance in their child rearing styles. Similar
to Deyoung and Zigler, the present study found machismo to be negatively correlated
with the use of nurturance in all the Hispanic parents, but not for European American or
African American parents. Ingoldsby (1995) has concluded that machismo is responsible
for the lack of affection demonstrated by Latin fathers towards their sons.
Valuing children
For all parents, the value assigned to children was related to the seriousness ratings abuse
and neglect depicted in the vignettes. Correlations found that valuing children more was
associated with lower tolerance for mistreating behaviors. This was especially true for
vignettes depicting parental drug use, emotional mistreatment, physical abuse, and the
sexual abuse of a child. However, hierarchical regressions revealed that fathers who
valued children more, also used more verbal punishment than fathers who valued
children less. This finding does not coincide with the other results presented here and it is
difficult to know how to interpret it. It may be possible that fathers who value children
more perceive verbal punishment as innocuous, and therefore prefer it as a discipline
method over physical punishment. We do not know how fathers perceived verbal
punishment since the present study did not examine this factor. However, we do know
that fathers perceive emotional mistreatment of a child to be less serious than mothers do,
since fathers reported a significantly greater tolerance for a child’s emotional
mistreatment when assigning ratings to vignettes depicting abuse and neglect.
Unlike mothers, fathers who reported a history of abuse and neglect in their own
childhood were less likely to use physical punishment with their children. It is also
important to note that for fathers, previous abuse and/or neglect predicted greater use of
reasoning and greater use of nurturing. The data suggests that the intergenerational
transmission of abuse may hold for mothers, but not for fathers. Perhaps of issue here is
the type of abuse or neglect that the parents suffered, as well as the severity and duration
of the maltreatment. It may also be that fathers spend less time with their children than
mothers do, and therefore are less likely to use physical punishment than mothers.
Contrary to the findings of Giovannoni and Becerra (1979), the present study did not find
ethnic differences in seriousness ratings of child abuse and neglect, with the exception of
the category of promoting delinquency. It was found that African American parents rated
these vignettes as more serious than did Hispanic parents; Hispanic and European
American parents did not differ significantly from one another, and African American and
European American parents did not differ significantly from one another. In Giovannoni
and Becerra’s sample, African American and Hispanic parents did not differ from one
another, although European American parents differed significantly from Hispanic and
African American parents and were more tolerant of parental behaviors depicting abuse
and neglect. If ethnic groups do not differ in how child abuse and neglect is defined, then
increased rates, by people of color, of child abuse and neglect reports made to Child
Protection Services, cannot be attributed to society’s lack of a culturally specific
definition of child maltreatment, as proposed by Zayas (1992). Rather, the
overrepresentation of children of color in child welfare agencies may have more to do
with biases, which exist within professionals mandated to report child maltreatment and a
lack of a distinction between physical punishment and abuse.
However, ethnic groups did differ in parental nurturing behaviors. African American
parents were significantly more nurturing than Hispanic parents, although African
American parents and European American parents did not differ. African American
parents used more physical discipline than Hispanic and European American parents.
Ethnic differences also varied by gender, with African American mothers, not fathers,
using more physical and verbal punishment than any other mothers in the sample. These
findings supported previous research concluding that African American parents tend to be
authoritarian, a parenting style which promotes control with use of physical discipline
(Baumrind, 1995; Lamborn, Dornbusch, & Steinberg, 1996).
A recent study (Deater-Deckard, Dodge, Bates, & Pettit, 1996) found that “harsh”
physical discipline was more prevalent among African American families than in
European families, yet it did not cause the aggressive, externalizing behaviors in African
American children as it did in the European American children. The authors suggested
that perhaps African American children do not perceive their parent’s disciplinary
behavior as lacking in warmth, as do the European American children; and therefore, the
African American children do not experience the deleterious effects of the physical
punishment. Interestingly, the Deater-Deckard et al. (1996) research and other similar
research ( Lamborn et al., 1996) did not collect data on frequency of nurturing behaviors
in the African American home, although frequency of spanking, verbal demands and
other controlling type discipline was measured. Indeed, the present study indicates that
African American parents, although high in physical discipline, are also high in nurturing
behaviors. Therefore, it may not be the child’s perception of the parent’s behavior that
prevents the deleterious effects of physical punishment, but it is the actual pairing of
nurturance and physical punishment that is clearly expressed in African American
families that protects the child from its negative consequences. Similarly, Maton,
Hrabowski, and Greif (1998), in a longitudinal study of African American males, found
that the combined factors of parental-determined academic engagement, strict discipline,
and nurturance counteracted the negative influences that African American boys
encountered in school, with peers and in society, and lead to their personal success.
Although European American parents used less physical punishment than African
American parents, and less verbal punishment than Hispanic parents, European American
parents were not any less tolerant of child abuse and neglect behaviors than were African
American and Hispanic parents. Rather, all parents, regardless of ethnicity, similarly rated
certain parental behaviors as more serious. Therefore, we can conclude that differences in
parental behaviors of disciplining their children may not lead to the abuse of their child
since all parents, regardless of ethnicity, are knowledgeable regarding what behaviors
constitute abusive parenting. Rather, differences in parental behaviors of disciplining,
such as use of physical punishment, are as individualistic as parents themselves and
cannot be considered abusive or benign without close examination of the entire family
system, the child’s functioning, and other parental behaviors, such as use of reasoning
and nurturing behaviors which may serve to buffer the possible harmful effects of
physical punishment.
Limitations
The limitations of the present study can be found in the selection of the sample. Although
the sample consisted of non-traditional college students who were parents, they were
nonetheless college students. As predominately full time workers (83%), the sample may
have represented parents who wished to better their lives through education. Therefore,
the study may be threatened by selection. Another limitation includes the possibility that
variables not measured in the present study, such as acculturation, socioeconomic and/or
educational levels, affected the results.
Implications
The present research adds to our understanding of diverse parenting styles, of definitions
of child abuse and neglect, and of ethnicity. The findings indicated that both ethnicity and
gender are complex factors, which include social roles, gender roles, and norms, all of
which may exert direct influence upon parenting styles and definitions of child
maltreatment. The present study went beyond the label of the parents’ ethnic identity to
study the influences of the attitudes and beliefs that may be embedded within the ethnic
group’s identity. Future research should continue to discover the attitudinal and
behavioral components, the “ingredients” of ethnicity. The three cultural constructs
studied here may be an adequate start, but there is obviously more to these cultures than
the three components studied. For each dependent variable, ethnicity or ethnicity and
gender emerged as significant variables, even controlling for machismo, familism, and
degrees of valuing children. Therefore, there must be other constructs which account for
the remaining variance to which ethnicity contributed. Future research should also
address the factors that may buffer the effects of previous abuse and/or neglect for
fathers, and attempt to discover what factors can buffer the effect of childhood
maltreatment for mothers.
Acknowledgements
The author is very grateful to Reesa M. Vaughter, for her general support and for her
insightful comments on previous drafts of this paper.
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