The use of corporal punishment to discipline children remains a perennial focus of controversy. Several studies published in the 1990s linked support for, and use of, corporal punishment with religious factors, particularly core doctrines of conservative (i.e., evangelical and fundamentalist) Protestantism. This study reexamines the relationships…

Data from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households indicate that parents with conservative scriptural beliefs used corporal punishment to discipline their children more frequently than did parents with less conservative theological views. This link persisted when numerous parent, child, and household characteristics were controlled.…