THREATS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AS VERBAL AGGRESSION - A NATURALISTIC STUDY

This study examined firsthand observations of adults (N = 70) making p ublic verbal threats to physically punish or hurt children. While many adults threatened the child with a ''spanking,'' most used a variety of other terms, some euphemistic and some menacing, to label the threa tened event. Angry shouting seemed rare, and swearing was almost nonex istent. Many threatening adults, however, also hit the child. In the c ourse of threatening their children, adults typically attributed unsha red responsibility for group problems to the child. They also normaliz ed their own aggression by acting as though nothing unusual had happen ed. Perhaps for tactical reasons, most children also reacted as though there were nothing unusual about the threat. No one inside or outside the group intervened. It is argued that a complete understanding of v erbal aggression against children requires an appreciation of the ongo ing interaction in which episodes are embedded, and of the immediate s ocial context in which episodes develop. Public places may be an impor tant facilitative context because of the expectations associated with a parent's public persona.