Abstract:
Through the years, corporal punishment has always been treated as a controversial
issue because of the clashing ideas and perceptions among parents, professionals and
children alike regarding its propriety and morality as a method of child discipline. Being the
subject of unending debates, is spanking a form of physical discipline, or is it a violation of
the rights of a child? This study sought to examine the moral dilemma involved in the
concept of spanking as practiced by Filipino parents. Specifically, it aimed to determine the
prevalence and risk factors of spanking a child as well as parents’ cognitions, attitudes and
engagements with spanking. A transdisciplinary, mixed methods approach was utilized in
this study. A total of one hundred fifty-six parents from different institutions and
communities in Metro Manila participated in the survey, with 8 of them selected for the
indepth interviews. The findings showed that out of the 156 respondents, 53 percent claimed
to have ever spanked their children. The common reasons for spanking were disobedience,
repeated offence, untoward behavior, stubbornness and disrespect. The logistic regression
analysis indicated that the significant predictors of spanking were parents’ age, use of
alcohol, experience of living with an alcohol and/or drug user, childhood experience of
spanking and physical abuse, and attitudes toward spanking.
In general, parents had different views and attitudes on spanking. The diversity and
contradiction in their perceptions and engagement with spanking are evidences that parents
experienced a moral dilemma on the use of spanking. The dilemma may be attributed to the
opposing views of child rights advocates which may be incongruent with the Filipino
cultural belief that spanking is a normative component of parental discipline that has been
traditionally passed on from generation to generation. Recommendations for the enforcement
of proper parenting programs and seminars, as well as future research was made.
