Violence by Children Against Mothers in Relation to Violence Between Parents and Corporal Punishment by Parents

This article examines violence by children against parents, with particular emphasis on violence against mothers. The data are from interviews with parents of a nationally representative sample of American children age 3 through 17 (N=l,023). Analyses of rates for the previous 12 months found that: (1) The younger the child, the higher the rate of child-to-parent violence (CPV). (2) At all ages, more children were violent to mothers than to fathers. (3) Both boys and girls hit mothers more than fathers. (4) At all ages, slightly more boys than girls hit parents. Tests of the theory that CPV reflects violence by the parents found that CPV was associated with violence by parents, regardless of whether the violence was husband- to-wife, wife-to-husband, corporal punishment, or physical abuse. In the absence of parent-to- child violence, CPV is rare. Because corporal punishment had the strongest relation to CPV, the findings suggest that steps to end violence against women cannot be limited to efforts to eliminate wife-beating, but should also include steps to end corporal punishment. Primary prevention is needed in the form of helping parents set an example of non-violence by not using corporal punishment.