Violence against children: beat in 98% of dysfunctional and 50% of well-off families in Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Domestic violence remains one of the main problems of Russian society. Sociological research in Omsk showed that 58% of parents allow physical punishment of children. In 98% of dysfunctional and 50% of successful families, children are beaten from time to time.

At the same time, 25% of adolescents agree that physical punishment is the most optimal way of upbringing. Physically punished adolescents are irritable and affective, unable to integrate into society. As adults, they imitate the behavior of their abusive parents.

In 2011-12, at the Faculty of Psychology, Omsk State University named after I. FM Dostoevsky launched a project of cooperation with the Ombudsman for the Rights of the Child under the Governor of the Omsk Region, the main goal of which is to study the factors of family trouble. The results of the study were presented in the article "The use of physical punishment in the family as a factor in the manifestation of aggressiveness and accentuations of the character of a teenager" ("Bulletin of Omsk University. Psychology", No. 2, 2013). We provide short excerpts from it.

58% of parents admit the use of violence against children

Under the leadership of the sociologist L. I. Dementiy, a study was carried out aimed at studying the ideas of parents about the possibility of using violence against a child and its perception by children. It showed that 58% of parents, regardless of gender, are characterized by an orientation toward the use of physical (belting, spanking, slaps), as well as psychological (threats, isolation, public insult of a child) violence towards their children. These forms of abuse are perceived by parents as typical and effective ways of dealing with disobedience, poor academic performance and demonstration of excessive independence by the child. At the same time, 25% of the total number of respondents indicate that punishment is the most optimal way of upbringing.

Violence in dysfunctional families

Were also studied two groups of adolescents. The study sample consisted of 240 adolescents - students of general education schools, gymnasiums and lyceums of Omsk at the age from 12 to 15 years. Experimental group - 120 teenagers. 80 of them are brought up in dysfunctional families, 40 are undergoing rehabilitation at the "Social and Rehabilitation Center for Minors" due to family problems.

In 70% of cases, they note that in case of disobedience, parents quite often slap them in the face, slap them on the head, kick them, use their hands or a belt. At the same time, manifestations of physical violence are almost always accompanied by psychological violence: shouts, insults, threats of more intense and terrible punishment, the desire to drive the teenager out of the house. Quite often, the punishment of adolescents is a consequence of the alcohol and drug intoxication of the parents.

28% of adolescents from disadvantaged families believe that physical violence in their family is rare, since they spend most of their time outside the home (among their peers, wandering, trying to return home when their parents are already asleep). However, when answering the question in what cases they are faced with physical punishment in the family, adolescents point to the state of alcoholic intoxication of their parents or aggression associated with a lack of alcohol.

Only 2% of adolescents undergoing rehabilitation indicate that there is no punishment in their family. Perhaps this result is explained by their fear of telling the truth about family relationships, fear of even greater punishment from their parents, and a sense of shame.

In adolescents from dysfunctional families, the most pronounced types of accentuations are epileptoid and hysterical. This indicates that they are prone to states of anger-melancholy mood, on the basis of which irritation and affectivity are formed. Such adolescents are often extremely emotional when communicating, easily lose control of themselves, and act impulsively. The predominance of these types also indicates that such adolescents are very vindictive in relation to the offenses inflicted on them.

Prosperous families

In the group of teenagers from prosperous families, 7% quite often face physical punishment. Children believe that the reasons for this are their own behavioral strategies, poor academic performance, failure to meet the expectations of parents, and lack of parental love for them. However, all adolescents note that in most cases, in the place of their parents, they would have done the same, since the absence of these punishments would stimulate them to even more reckless behavior. Thus, adolescents, despite the pain and resentment they experience when their parents use physical punishment, consider them fair and perceived as normal. About half of the adolescents in this group believe that when raising their own children, they will also use such punishments, since only with their help, from the point of view of the respondents, it is possible to achieve the desired behavior from the child.

43% of adolescents in this group rarely encounter physical punishment in their families. According to adolescents, this happens "in exceptional cases, when nothing helps." They say that the main reasons for punishment are poor academic performance, coming home at the wrong time, smoking in the company of peers. Most adolescents point out that mainly parent-child conflicts in their family are accompanied by screams, threats of limiting money for small expenses and contacts with friends or working with a computer. Parents use physical punishment only when they "have brought them". At the same time, half of the adolescents in this group consider punishments to be effective forms of upbringing, while the other half do not see their meaning and expediency in them.

About 50% of adolescents in the control group consider punishment to be an ineffective way of education and indicate that their parents never use physical pressure on them. The respondents note that when conflict situations arise, parents talk to them, explain the negative consequences of their actions. The most common forms of punishment in their family are restrictions on going to the cinema and cafes, meeting friends, and working on the computer. Adolescents find such parenting measures more effective than physical punishment because they do not humiliate them or cause pain. The respondents in this group indicate that when raising their own children, they will tend to avoid physical punishment.

Thus, the model of behavior of parents in the family when raising their own children forms in them the prototype of the future parent and educational strategies. Consequently, the less a child is faced with the manifestation of domestic violence, the more likely he will not demonstrate it in his own behavior.

conclusions

1. Adolescents undergoing physical punishment in a dysfunctional family are irritable and affective, have a pronounced desire for isolation from others. They do not know how to establish long-term and strong social ties, are inflexible in relation to new situations, do not know how to empathize, express emotions and feelings constructively, and tend to form depressive states. All these factors often lead to the formation of deviant behavior, do not allow him to effectively adapt in society.

2. Adolescents from prosperous families are focused on expanding and establishing new social contacts, implementing leadership and communicative qualities, have a more developed social flexibility and mobility.