Necessary Distinctions
Author(s): Diana Baumrind
Source: Psychological Inquiry, Vol. 8, No. 3 (1997), pp. 176-182
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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Psychological
Inquiry
1997,Vol. 8, No. 3, 176-229
1997by
Copyright
LawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc.
COMMENTARIES
Necessary
Distinctions
Diana Baumrind
Institute
ofHumanDevelopment
University
ofCalifornia,
Berkeley
variablesof
By takingintoaccountthemoderating
and Dodge add
cultureand context,Deater-Deckard
thepossibleeffects
depthto thedebateconcerning
of
harshphysicaldisciplineon children'saggressivebehavior.My commentary
focuseson theapplications
of
andDodge's firstthreehypotheses
to
Deater-Deckard
theeffects
on children
thecontroversy
of
surrounding
parents'use of disciplinary
spanking.I findless conthatthediscipline
effect
vincingtheirfourth
hypothesis
is maximizedin same-gender
parent-child
dyads.AcandWeisz (1994),forbothboys
cordingto Rothbaum
is moreclosely
andgirls,mothers'
qualityofcaregiving
withexternalizing
associatedthanfathers'
beproblem
havior.Furthermore,
usingdatafromZaslow's metaandWeisz (whomDeateranalysis(1989), Rothbaum
Deckardand Dodge citein anothercontext)reported
thatthemeaneffect
sizesofthecorrelations
ofmaternal
thanpaternal)
(rather
withexternalizing
caregiving
are
greater
forboysthanforgirls.
In an earliercontribution
to a conference
on the
hostedby the
consequencesof corporalpunishment,
AmericanAcademyofPediatrics,
I raisedthreeofthe
fourqualifying
hypotheses
putforth
byDeater-Deckard
andDodge (Baumrind,
1996)to argueagainsttheproposal advancedby Hyman(1990) and Straus(1994),
toproscribe
amongothers,
anyuse ofcorporalpunishI submitted,
mentbyparents.
as do Deater-Deckard
and
Dodge,that:
1. Associations
between
harshdiscipline
andchild
includea nonlinear
aggression
component.
2. Thereare important
culturalvariations
in the
on children
effects
ofcorporalpunishment.
3. Social contextswithin,
as well as beyond,the
themeaningto thechildof a
familyinfluence
disciplinary
tactic,thusvarying
itseffects.
Carefuldefinitions
ofsuchkeytermsas harshdiscipline,abuse,corporalpunishment,
spanking,
violence,
andchildhoodaggression
willfurther
advanceconsiderationof the issues raised by Deater-Deckard
and
Dodge.
Deater-Deckard
andDodge suggestthatthereis an
important
nonlinear
intherelation
component
ofphysical punishment
tochildaggressive
behaviordepending
on whether
theincrements
are at thehigh,middle,or
low ends of a harshphysicaldisciplinedimension.
"harshness"
Presumably
is definedbythemiddlelevel
and"abuse"bythehighendof a measureofphysical
discipline.However,it is not clear whetherDeaterDeckardandDodgeconceptualize
harshdisciplineas a
or a categoricalconstruct,
dimensional
becausesome
reports
of datafromtheirChildDevelopment
Project
treatharshdisciplineas occurring
alonga continuum,
withabuseatoneextreme
andharshness
atan intermediatelevel(e.g.,Weiss,Dodge,Bates,& Pettit,
1992),
whereasotherreports(e.g., Deater-Deckard,
Dodge,
Bates,& Pettit,1996) appearto treatabuseas a categoricalconstruct
identified
as suchbya socialservice
agencyor an interviewer.
In otheranalyses(DeaterDeckard,Dodge,Bates,& Pettit,
1995),bothharshness
andphysicalabusearefirst
treated
as dichotomous
risk
factors
in a multivariate
analysisof variance,andthen
as continuousvariablesin a hierarchical
regression
Foratleastsomeanalyses(Dodge,Pettit,
procedure.
&
Bates,1994),an interviewer's
ratingofabuse(whether
childhadbeenseverely
harmed)wasincludedtoderive
a continuous
harshness
ofdisciplinescore.Harshness
seemsto be operationalized
as pertaining
onlyor primarilyto physicalpunishment.
However,if harsh
meansunpleasant,
stern,
orcruel,thenthetermapplies
tootherthanphysical
discipline,
andphysical
discipline
is notnecessarily
harsh.
I agreewithDeater-Deckard
andDodgethatthereis
a strongnonlinear
component
in therelationof harsh
disciplineto childaggression.
ButI suggestthatthere
is a qualitative
inthepattern
difference
ofdistinguishing attributes
thatdefineabuse: Discontinuity
on a
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COMMENTARIES
innonlinearity
ofa funcsingleordinalscaleresulting
tionpointstoa qualitative
difference
butdoesnotdefine
one.Implicitina nonlinear
butnota categorical
model
istheassumption
thatatsomepredictable
point,a linear
leads to a discontinuous
changein a singleparameter
muchas increasesinspeedresult
changeinthesystem,
in qualitatively
different
gaitsin a horseas it moves
froma walk(slow,four-beat
gaitwithfeetstriking
the
groundin a specificorder)to a trot(legs move in
diagonalpairs)to a canteror gallop(three-beat
gait).
The different
gaitsare notreducibleto thesinglepaofspeed.
rameter
A complexqualitativedifference
is definedby a
thatdiffers
pattern
ofessentialdistinguishing
attributes
onseveralvariables.Thus,authoritaconfigurationally
tiveparentsare similarto authoritarian
parentsin that
and are
membersof both patternsmonitorstrictly
butauthoritarian
differ
from
highly
demanding,
parents
authoritative
parentsin thatthelatterare also highly
responsiveand communicative(Baumrind,1971,
1991b).The abusiveprofilediffers
qualitatively
from
otherchildrearing
patternswhereparentsalso have
recourseto harshdisciplineidentifiedby severity
and/or
ofuseofphysicalpunishment
frequency
(Baumrind,1995). Parentswho escalateto battering
from
use of corporalpunishment
intendedto
disciplinary
correct
arelikelytosharea complexofattributes
(Vasta,
1982).Abusiveparentsaremorelikelyto be hyperreactiveto negativestimuliandtohavean extreme
need
Theirpunishment
tocontroltheirchildren.
is lessconon thechild'sbehaviorthanon theirowninner
tingent
state.Ratherthanhavingflexiblerecourseto a wide
inducrangeof disciplinary
tactics,suchas time-out,
denialofprivileges,
anduseofreason,
tion,persuasion,
abusiveparentsrelymonolithically
on theirgreater
physicalpowerto intimidate
theirchildintocompliance.Theirangeris explosive,andtheyhitinresponse
totheirownfrustration
thantocorrect
rather
thechild.
One wouldexpecttherefore,
as Deater-Deckard
and
Dodge assert,thatchildoutcomesassociatedwitha
patternof physicalabuse are always detrimental,
whereasoutcomesassociatedwithpatterns
thatinclude
harshbutnotabusivepunishment
dependon cultural
andfamilycontextual
factors.
Termsusedinthearenaofphysical
discipline
should
be definednot onlyforconceptualclarity,but also
becauseproponents
ofbanning
in
corporalpunishment
the home as well as in the school have employed
rhetorical
devicesto advancetheircase on emotional
grounds.Thus,Straus'sbook(1994) on corporalpuninAmerican
ishment
familiesis titledBeatingtheDevil
OutofThem.Hyman(1978, 1990),andMaurer(1974),
as wellas Straus,employed
suchrhetorical
devices,and
muchoftheresearch
theycitedtosupport
theirunqualifiedconclusion
thatcorporalpunishment
placesa child
atriskformaladjustment
comesfrom
research
onphysicallyabusedchildren
andsuffers
fromothersuchserious methodological
limitations
as oversampling,
relianceonclinicpopulations,
sharedmethod
and
variance,
failure
tousecontrast
forthechild's
groupsortocontrol
tomisbehave(Larzelere,1996).
tendency
The Place ofPhysicalPunishmentin
theDisciplinaryEncounter
Abusivephysicalpunishment
consistsof beating,
kicking,punching,
scalding,and otherwiseinflicting
bodilyinjuryon a child;itfallsoutsidethenormative
rangeofsocialization
inmostcultures,
practices
as well
as in theUnitedStates.By contrast,
consists
spanking
ofstriking
thechildon thebuttocks
orextremities
with
an openhandwithout
inflicting
physicalinjuryand is
usedbymostparents
normatively
withyoungchildren.
Abuseis violent-thatis, physicalforceis exertedin
turbulent
or furiousactionso as to injurethechild.
Spankingis notviolent.
Disciplineplaysan important
role,butbyno means
themostimportant
role,inhowoptimalparenting
produces optimalchildoutcomes.In middle-class
European Americanfamilies,authoritative
parenting
appearstoproduceoptimaloutcomes(Baumrind,
1991a,
1993).Becausealmostall preschoolchildren
inBaumrind'slongitudinal
studywerespanked,includingall
butone familyclassifiedas authoritative
(Baumrind,
1973),to spankor notto spankwas irrelevant
to successfulchildoutcomesinthatstudy.
By notingwhatcharacteristics
of punishment
are
associatedwithbeneficialoutcomes,researchers
may
enableparentsto use aversivedisciplineeffectively.
Grusecand Goodnow(1994) offered
an in-depth
exploration
oftheimpactofparental
disciplinemethods,
includingspanking,on thechild's internalization
of
values.Spankingmaytradea briefperiodof intense
distressforlongertermguiltand anxietyassociated
withinternalization.
Spankingmaybe usedto control
theshort-term
behaviorof thechildand to reinforce
theauthority
oftheparent.How a spankingis administered,especiallywhetherit is used in conjunction
withreasoning,
largelydetermines
whether
theground
rulesor metarules
thattheparentsattempt
to enforce
areinternalized.
In his comprehensive
review,Larzelere (1996)
specifiedmanyof the conditionsthatmaximizethe
beneficial
effects
ofpunishment:
usedlessthanweekly
withyoungchildren,
and infrequently,
if at all, with
atnonabusive
adolescents;
levelsofseverity
byparents
177
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COMMENTARIES
whoarenotphysically
violentagainstfamily
members;
inconjunction
withreasoning
andatan interprivately
mediatelevelofchilddistress.
Theparenting
context
in
whichspankingwas associatedwithbeneficialchild
inthestudiesreviewed
outcomes
byLarzelerewaschild
rather
thanparent
marked
oriented
oriented,
bywarmth
and positive involvement,
with consistentfollowandunaccompanied
andmonitoring,
through
bynatteringorridicule.Larzelerereported
that,whenprudently
used, spankingwas associatedwithmorebeneficial
tactics:reaoutcomesthanthefollowingdisciplinary
without
reasoningwithout
punishment,
punishment
soning,love-withdrawal,
ignoringphysicalrestraint,
rather
thanparent-determined
and a child-determined
releasefromtime-out.
The Child's Perceptionofthe
LegitimacyofParentalAuthority
MediatestheChildEffectsofParent
Discipline
morelikelytomodelthemselves
onparents
wholegitimatetheirauthority
by usingreasonto justifytheir
decisionsanddemands(Elder,1963),especiallywhen
children
believethatparental
is motivated
authority
by
concernfortheirwelfarerather
thantheadult'sdesire
todominate
orexploitthem(Pikas,1961).Adolescents
are mostlikelyto internalize
theirparent'smessage
whentheybelievethattheirparenthas followeddue
processandtakentheirneeds,abilities,
andviewpoints
intoconsideration
(Grusec& Goodnow,1994). As
childrenmatureintoadolescence,theybecomemore
protective
of theirautonomyin areas theyregardas
personal,butcontinueto viewtheirparentsas having
therightto demandconformity
in theareaofmorality
andtoa lesserextent
ofsocialconvention
(Nucci,1981;
Smetana,1988).
The CulturalContextModeratesthe
Meaningto Parentsand Childrenof
PhysicalDiscipline
As Deater-Deckard
andDodge indicate,themeanParenting
behaviorsthatappearauthoritarian
in a
ingtothechildofphysicaldisciplineoftenmediatesits
EuropeanAmerican
samplemayincludeculturally
synon suchchildoutcomesas aggression.
effects
tonicfeatures
thatmoderatechildoutcomesin Asian
During
thefirst
6 years,whichDubinandDubin(1963)referred Americanor AfricanAmericanfamilies(Baumrind,
to as theauthority
inception
period,children'shetero1972).As Chao(1994) showed,thetraining
concepthas
in
and
their
unilateral
nomousbelief rules
respectfor
important
features,
beyondthe authoritarian
model,
adultsextendsto acceptanceof adultrulesand of the
whichcontribute
thandetract
to,rather
theschool
from,
reasonsparentsgive childrenforwhyand how they
success of Chinese children.Deater-Deckardand
enforcetheserules.Reasoning,used in conjunction Dodge reportthatthesmallassociationbetweenparwithpower-assertive
methodsof discipline,clarifies
ents'useofphysicaldiscipline
andchildren's
externalthebehavioralcontingencies
forthechild,specifying izingbehaviorproblemsis positiveandsignificant
for
whatis acceptableandunacceptable
behavior.
By genEuropeanAmerican
children
butnegative(nonsignifithe
eralizingfroma specificact to a rulegoverning
Americanchildren.
cant)forAfrican
largerclassofbehavior
expectedofthechild,reasoning
Two factors
thataffect
themeaningtothechildofa
broadensthecontextin whichcomplianceis expected,
parent'suse of physicalpunishment
help to explain
evenintheparent'sabsence.By explaining
theirdisciBlack-White
inassociatedchildoutcomes:
differences
plinaryobjectives,parentsnot onlysignalthatthey
(a) physicalpunishment
is morenormative
in Black
believetheyowe theirchildan explanationand are
thanWhitehomes,and (b) its use is associatedwith
doingwhattheythinkis rightforthechild,butalso
different
parentalattributes.
The normativeuse of
enabletheirchildtocontrol
punishment
bycontrolling physicaldisciplineinAfrican
American
homesis often
thebehavioron whichpunishment
is contingent.
justifiedby parentsas necessaryto protectchildren
behaviorapPhysicalaggressionand oppositional
fromphysicaland socialdanger,as wellas to enforce
withotherparent-per- respectforparentalauthority.
peartopeakaround30 months,
More important,
howceiveddisciplineproblems,
including
oppositional
beever,in explainingtheculturally
differentiated
child
haviorand emotionalinstability,
peakingsomewhat
outcomesofharshphysicalpunishment
is thecontrastlaterin thepreschoolyears(Larzelere,Amberson,
&
ing childrearing
contextsin whichit occurs.Deaterofusingreasontojustify Deckard and Dodge (1995) and Deater-Deckard,
Martin,
1992).Theimportance
directives
increaseswithage.Thecontrast- Dodge,Bates,and Pettit(1995) reported
caregivers'
thatAfrican
of authority
viewedas justified
ingeffects
rather
than
Americanmothersare more likelythan European
as illegitimate
becomeparticularly
apparent
at adolesAmericanmothersto view physicalpunishment
and
cence(Kandel& Lesser,1969;Perry& Perry,1983).
as equallyappropriate.
reasoning
ForAfrican
American
enterjuniorhighschool,theyare
By thetimechildren
mothers
whowerewarm,thecorrelation
betweenharsh
178
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COMMENTARIES
(notabusivelevelsof) disciplineandchildaggression
werelow,butforthosewhowerecold,thecorrelations
weresimilartothoseoftheEuropeanAmerican
sample.
However,becauseinthisanalysisthetwoethnicgroups
theapparentculturally
werenotequatedforwarmth,
a main effectof
effectmay represent
differentiated
withcultureas a
warmthratherthanan interaction
modifier.
tactic
If thefamilycontextin whicha disciplinary
thenwarmth
shouldalso moderate
operatesis primary,
andchildren's
therelationbetweenparents'harshness
behaviorforEuropeanAmericanfamiexternalizing
lies. Indeed,in previousreportsof the same study
(Pettit,Bates, & Dodge, 1993), parents'(lack of)
to laterchildaggression
overand
warmth
contributed
aboveharshdisciplineforthetotalsample.Similarly,
ina panelstudyofWhitefamilies(Simons,Johnson,
&
showedno
Conger,1994) harshcorporalpunishment
detrimental
delinimpactonadolescent
aggressiveness,
once theeffectofparentalinquency,anddysphoria,
volvement
had beenremoved.Emotionalneglectand
theabsenceofparental
havebeenfound
responsiveness
thancoercivedisciplinary
tobe moreimportant
stratebehaviors(Greengies intheetiologyofexternalizing
&
berg,Speltz,& DeKlyen,1993; Simons,Johnson,
thatacross
Conger,1994).Thus,thereis reasontothink
ofspanking
thechildeffects
aremediated
cultures,
by
and warmthand moderated
parentalinvolvement
by
differentiated
normative
culturally
expectations.
teacher-student
wereextremely
relationship,
effective
in shapingappropriate
socialandacademicbehaviors,
and were necessaryon an ongoingbasis to control
inappropriate
behaviorof hyperactive
students.
Positiveconsequences
didnotsuffice,
andimprudent
negativeconsequenceswerecounterproductive.
inthehome,usedprudently,
Disciplinary
spanking
can shapesociallyconstructive
behavior,
thereby
protectingchildrenfromthe naturaland morepainful
consequencesof misbehavioroccurringoutsidethe
nurturant
familysetting.Parentswho strongly
disapproveoftheuse ofphysicalpunishment
mayresortto
it imprudently-that
is, impulsivelyand explosively-ratherthandeliberately
to changea child's
behavior(Parke& Collmer,1975). Corporalpunishmentusedinstrumentally
is partofanentirely
different
personality
patternand differsin effect,as well as
intent,
fromcorporalpunishment
used expressively.
Thechaotic,poor,multiple
problemfamiliesthatPattersonand hiscolleaguesstudy(Patterson,
1982; Patterson& Chamberlain,1988; Snyder& Patterson,
1995)escalatetheirchildren'saggression
byresorting
to explosive,nonstrategic
displaysof powerand nattering(i.e., low-intensity
negativechatterconveying
dislikeanddisapproval),
byfailingtotrackandmonitortheirchildren'sbehavior,
andbyeventually
capitulating.
As Deater-Deckard
andDodgeclaim,therearenonlinear,including
curvilinear,
associationsbetweenfreof corporalpunishment
quencyor intensity
and child
aggression.
Whenno restraining
forcesexist,hostile
Between
NecessaryDistinctions
childbehaviors
aggressive
thataresuccessful
arelikely
Prudentand ImprudentUse of
toproducean intensification
ofchildaggressive
acts.It
Punishment
appearsthatthemostseverelypunishedchildrenare
amongthemostaggressive,
butpermissive
practices
Prudentnegativeconsequencesare consistent,
imthateschewanykindofpowerassertion
arealso assoand specific.Imprudent
mediate,calm,private,
negaciatedwithhigheraggression
(Gelles,1974).In further
tiveconsequences
arereprimands
delivered
late,inconsupportof thishypothesis,
Lefkowitzand colleagues
sistently,
explosively,publicly,and nonspecifically. (Lefkowitz,Eron, Walder, & Huesmann, 1977;
Physicalpunishment
is leastlikelytobedetrimental
and
Lefkowitz,
Heusmann,
& Eron,1978)foundthat,comin deterring
mostlikelyto be effective
unacceptable
paredtoveryharshorverypermissive
parents,
moderbehaviorwhenadministered
without
guilt;underconatelypunitiveparentsproducedthe least aggressive
ina measured
trolled
circumstances
fashion,
whereboth
boys.Physicalpunishment
increased
aggression
toward
andchildareawareofthereasonforitsuse;when
parent
peersonly in boys who did not identify
withtheir
in privateforwillfuldefiancerather
administered
than
fathers.
Sears (1961) also foundthatthechildrenof
for childishirresponsibility;
and not withchildren
moderate
usersof physicalpunishment
weretheleast
than18 months
orsubsequent
topuberty.
younger
aggressive.
In an excellentset of experimental
studiesin the
classroom,a teamof investigators
(Rosen,O'Leary,
Joyce,Conway,& Pfinner,
1984)documented
theimNecessaryDistinctions
Between
portanceof prudent
negativeconsequencesformainInstrumental
and HostileAggression
behaviorof hyperactive
tainingthe appropriate
students.Prudentnegativeconsequences(whichdid not
The emotional,nonstrategic
aspectsof aggression
includepaddling),withinthe contextof a positive
aremorelikelythantheinstrumental
aspectstoproduce
179
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COMMENTARIES
escalation(Berkowitz,1993). Pulkkinen
(1987) made
and defensive
a similardistinction
betweenoffensive
whoaggressoffenaggression.
She foundthatchildren
butthattheconverse
sivelyalso aggressdefensively,
to childrenwho at age 14
does nothold.In contrast
andthenat age 20 werecharacaggressedoffensively
andviolent
criminal
terized
byweakself-control
behavwhoat age 14 aggresseddefensively
ior,children
only
were notcharacterized
by an aggressivepersonality
pattern
and in factmanifested
and
good self-control
schooladjustment.
Although
highlevelsof narcissism,
especiallynarhavebeenfoundto be
cissisticpersonality
disorders,
associatedwithviolenceagainstfamily
members
(Dutton& Hart,1992),thereis no evidencethata healthy,
is associatedwithviolence.Therestableself-regard
shouldbe made betweenjustified
fore,a distinction
and egoisticdisregardforthelegitimate
self-esteem
thecriminal
rights
ofothers.
McCord(1988) compared
behaviorof men who had been raisedby punitive
parents(i.e.,thosewhousedcorporalpunishment,
but
werenototherwiseaggressive),parentswho did not
use corporalpunishment
butwhowereagnecessarily
gressive(in thattheyyelledor threwthingswhen
orengagedinconsiderable
frustrated,
spousalconflict),
andparentswhowereneither
punitivenoraggressive.
ofaggressive
McCordfoundthatadultchildren
parents
tendedto manifest
aggressiveantisocialbehavioras
adults,whereasmenrearedinhomesthatwerepunitive
but not aggressivewere "egoistic,"althoughnot as
antisocialas theformer
group.Egoismwas operationalized as expressing
prideand pleasurein theirown
a benefit
andaccepting
towhichthey
accomplishments
wereentitled($20 forcontributing
theirtimeto the
betweenhealthy
experiment).
By failingtodistinguish
andjustified
(normalandvirtuous)
highself-esteem
and
selfishegoism,McCordconcludedinappropriately
that
exposureto corporalpunishment
increasedegoism,
to thechildthemessagethat"egocentrism
conveying
is bothnormalandvirtuous"
(p. 21).
An EvolutionaryHypothesis
Is Superfluousto an Understanding
of
theDifferential
Effectsofa
NormativeVersusa Non-Normative
ChildrearingEnvironment
The explanationforthe observation
thatchildren
respondmorefavorably
totreatment
thattheyperceive
to be normative
fortheirculturecan be foundincommonsocial-psychological
processes,without
recourse
to an unprovable
hypothesized
evolutionary
determinant-thatthespecieshasevolvedtobecomeresistant
to"minor"environmental
irritants.
Theproximal
processessuggested
byDeater-Deckard
andDodge suffice.
Children
moreeasilyacceptpractices
as legitimate
that
theyrecognizeas commonintheirimmediate
communityand consonantwiththeirculturalvalues;parents
whosedisciplinary
practicesare extremely
aversive,
and non-normative
evenin theirowncommunity,
are
morelikelyto suffer
frompathology
in irraresulting
tionaloruncontrolled
behaviorthatisolatesthefamily
fromthelargercommunity
and directlyharmstheir
children.
Ifchildren
andtheirparents
believethatdisciplinary
spanking
loveandconcern,
signifies
theywillrespond
thaniftheybelievethatthepracticeis
morepositively
sociallyunacceptableor intendedto do themharm.
Applying
negative
socialsanctions
totheusebyparents
ofphysical
thepractice
punishment
renders
non-normative and delegitimizes
its use in the mindsof both
andchildren,
parents
theself-fulfillthereby
promoting
ing prophecythatspankingwill be associatedwith
familymaladjustment.
Abusivepunishment
is more
strongly
relatedthanmildorevenharshpunishment
to
childoutcomes,
maladaptive
notjustbecauseitis outsidethenormal
range,butbecauseabuseis intrinsically
cruel,andconveystothechildthatone's caregivers
are
tobe fearedandhated,rather
thantrusted
andloved.
RequestsforClarification
1. The correlations
betweenharshness
of parents'
with5-year-old
discipline
practices
children
andteachers' ratingsof externalizing
behaviorin Grades K
6 are all significant
through
butof smalleffectsize,
rangingfrom.17 to .26. Althoughharshness
is distinguishedfromabuseinsomereported
analyses,itis not
clearifabusiveparents
wereexcludedfrom
theseanalyses.Ifweagreethatabuseis qualitatively
different
from
harshness
onseveralparameters,
thencanwe agreethat
abusivecaregiversshouldhave been excludedfrom
theseanalyses?
2. Becausewarmth
andabusearelikelytobe negato a significant
tivelycorrelated
degree,thecomparativecorrelations
betweenharshdisciplineand child
aggressionforwarmBlack familiescomparedto the
correlations
betweenthesame variablesforthetotal
sampleof Whitefamiliesmusthave excludedmost
abusiveBlack families,but notmostabusiveWhite
families.Did parent-child
warmth
also moderatethe
relationbetweenharshdisciplineandchildaggression
forWhitefamilies?
3. For GradesK through
6, thesex-differentiated
correlations
betweenharshphysicaldisciplineandexternalizing
problembehaviorare reported
as ranging
180
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
COMMENTARIES
parent-child
between.18 and .28 formatched-gender
parpairs,and between.05 and .29 forcross-gender
ofthetwo
inmagnitude
pairs.Thedifferences
ent-child
seem small.Are theystatistically
setsof correlations
and,if so, largeenoughto be meaningful,
significant
presented
findings
especiallyin view of thecontrary
earlier?
In Summary
and Dodge and in
Studiescitedin Deater-Deckard
for
haveshownthattheconsequences
thiscommentary
fora
practicenormative
thechildof anydisciplinary
by the overallqualityof the
cultureare determined
in
pattern
andthedisciplinary
relationship
parent-child
whichthepracticeis embedded.Forreasonsgivenin
of
myreplyto Scarr(Baumrind,1993),theinfluence
factorswithinthe"averageexpectable
environmental
range"is farfromtrivial.Childoutcomesassociated
of parentalauthority
varyin
withcontrasting
patterns
the
normal
not
outside,
merely
within,
ways
important
Furthermore,
1991b).
1991a,
1971,
range(Baumrind,
childdevelopment
than"goodenough,"
rather
optimal,
rather
than
good enough,
is associatedwithoptimal,
childoutcomesassociated
styles.Thevarying
parenting
harshparenting
practicescan be exwithnonabusive,
explanarecourseto an evolutionary
plained(without
practices
tion)by thevaryingmeaningsof parenting
as harsh,based on culturalnorms,and the
identified
stylesinwhicha harshpractice
childrearing
differential
oftheconceptual
andoperaClarification
is embedded.
assignedto suchkeytermsas harshtionaldefinitions
and testsforthesignifiness,abuse,and aggression,
import
tohavetheoretical
thought
canceofdifferences
of theimportant
wouldfurther
advanceconsideration
toexplainthecomproposedbytheauthors
hypotheses
plex relationsbetweensuch disciplinepracticesas
as a
andsuchchildoutcomesas aggression,
spanking,
context.
ofcultureandchildrearing
function
Note
ofHumanDevelopment,
Diana Baumrind,
Institute
CA,
Berkeley,
of California,
TolmanHall, University
94708-1690.
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toEnvironmental
VariationinSusceptibility
Argument
AnEvolutionary
JayBelsky
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HumanDevelopment
StateUniversity
Pennsylvania
take-home
andindeedprincipal
The majorfinding,
and Dodge targetartimessageof theDeater-Decker
behavioron children's
ofparental
cle-that theeffects
of race,gender,
mayvaryas a function
development
parenting-isespeand severityof "dysfunctional"
oftheecologyof
fromtheperspective
ciallyimportant
child development.AlthoughDeater-Deckardand
Dodge are amongthe firstto documentdifferential
familiesare
on whether
depending
ofparenting
effects
Whiteor Black and whetherparentsare extremely
to suggestthatthekinds
coercive,theyarenotthefirst
mightbe expectedand
theyhavegenerated
offindings
pursued.Bronfenbrenner
thusshouldbe empirically
modelof
(1983) person-process-context
andCrouter's
addressestheprospectthat
specifically
development
in
mayoperatedifferently
processesof development
ecologicalniches,as well as the factthat
different
by
affected
individuals
maybe differentially
different
point,whichis
thislatter
experiences;
thesamerearing
onlywithrespectto raceand genderin the
considered
willbecentral
andDodgepresentation,
Deater-Deckard
advancedinthiscommentary.
to arguments
182
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