Child aggression before and after a national ban on corporal punishment: A longitudinal, cross-national study

Background Preventing violence against children is prioritized in Target 16.2 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals guiding international priorities to improve health and wellbeing globally through 2030. One way that countries have attempted to protect children from violence is by outlawing corporal punishment. What is lacking is evidence of how these legal bans of corporal punishment are related to children's behavior. Objective This study tested how outlawing corporal punishment is related to change in children's aggression from before to after a ban. Participants and setting Longitudinal data were from 1086 families in seven countries over nine years, extending from before to after corporal punishment was outlawed in Kenya. Corporal punishment was not outlawed over this period in the comparison countries (Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Philippines, Thailand, and United States). Methods Mothers reported on corporal punishment used by members of their household, and children reported on their own aggression annually at ages 8–16. Results Analyses demonstrated (1) a decrease in corporal punishment following national outlawing of corporal punishment in Kenya, compared to before the ban; (2) children's aggression significantly decreased in Kenya from before to after the legal ban, predicted by a decrease in corporal punishment; (3) children's aggression increased over this period in six comparison countries (Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Philippines, Thailand, United States) that did not outlaw corporal punishment over this time period. Conclusions National laws against corporal punishment serve the human rights function of protecting children from violence and can decrease parents' use of corporal punishment and children's aggression.