Caregivers and professional staff (N=223) in two institutions for severely mentally retarded individuals of all ages were administered the Critical Behavioral Incidents Questionnaire. They rated 44 common misbehaviors that occur in institutional settings in the following areas: (1) how often the misbehavior occurred; (2) perceived seriousness by respondent; (3) perceived seriousness by the institution; (4) how severely the misbehavior should be punished. Punishment was defined in broad, generic terms as acts or omissions which the caregiver considers must be used to control misbehaviors. A demographic information questionnaire was also administered, based on research which related certain demographic variables to attitudes toward the use of physical force in institutional settings, as well as research on modeling theory. The punishment score was used as the criterion variable and the demographic information as predictor variables in a stepwise multiple regression. Results suggested that the individual's experience with punishment as a child, specifically the frequency of punishment experienced within the home, influenced attitudes toward its use in adulthood. Effects of modeling were considered to be a useful framework for understanding punitive attitudes of caregivers and professionals in institutional settings. (Seventeen references and four tables are provided.) (JW)