Observing Parental Violence: Distribution and Effects

Using data from a national probability sample of 910 men and 1, 092 women, this research describes the distribution of reported parental hitting and tests whether it affects attitudes about women's roles and the use of violence against women. Parental hitting, reported by 17 percent of the sample, failed to affect attitudes about women's roles, but it did affect attitudes concerning the use of violence against women. Men are more likely to approve of violence against women if they observed their fathers hitting their mothers.