.....Hmmmmm......like trying to legislate when rain falls...........


Psychological Aggression Toward Children Almost Universal in American Families
Libraries
Life News (Social and Behavioral Sciences) Keywords
FAMILIES CHILDREN PSYCHOLOGICAL AGGRESSION RESEARCH AMERICAN
Contact Information

Available for logged-in reporters only
Description

Psychological aggression toward children of all ages is so prevalent in
American family life that it was found in almost all the families studied in
new research.


Psychological aggression toward children of all ages is so prevalent in
American family life that it was found in almost all the families studied in
new research by Murray Straus, Professor of Sociology and co-Director of the
Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire; and Carolyn
Field, sociology researcher at Elizabethtown College.

For their article, “Psychological Aggression by American Parents: National
Data on Prevalence, Chronicity, and Severity,� in the November issue of
Journal of Marriage and Family, researchers Straus and Field studied 991
American parents. Almost all of the parents reported yelling, screaming, or
shouting as a method of correction or to control the behavior of the child.
“This means,� states Straus, “that nearly all parents, regardless of
other demographic characteristics, used at least some psychological aggression
as a disciplinary tactic.�

In their article, Straus and Field note that parents and authorities are
reluctant to label this type of aggression as abuse. One reason for the
reluctance may be the widespread belief that such a label would require
criminal justice or child-welfare intervention. “Not true,� states Straus.
“Many less extreme steps to end psychological aggression are possible,
starting with public service television spots to sensitize parents to the
problem.� The researchers also disagree with another widespread belief that
the resilient child is not harmed by the occasional instance of psychological
aggression. “There is no empirical evidence,� Straus stated, “to indicate
occasional psychological abuse, such as the frustrated parent ‘blowing off
steam,’ is harmless.�

Two other common arguments are given for the lack of recognition of
psychological aggression as abuse. The first argument is that even the most
loving parents will occasionally “lose it.� Straus and Field comment that
this is an explanation for some types of psychological aggression, rather than
a justification for this behavior. And, second, there’s the difficult issue
of when to draw the line between psychological aggression and abuse. “Is it
the 10th time or the 25th time?� ask the authors. Straus’s own opinion is
that, “Any psychological aggression is abuse the moment it is done.�

“Throughout his career,� states Greer Litton Fox, Professor of Child and
Family Studies at the University of Tennessee, “Murray Straus has opened our
collective eyes to the negative side of family life and forced the American
public to come to grips with issues that we might prefer to ignore. Taken all
together these data suggest that nearly every child in this country with some
regularity has experienced many withering outbursts from parents who were angry
or upset, or in response to a child’s misbehavior.�

When asked where should this research go next, Fox replies, “Two directions
would seem especially useful. First would be the relationships between parental
verbal behaviors and the circumstances that elicit them. If we knew how they
were related, perhaps we could help to reduce the amount of verbal aggression
parents direct toward children. Second is the effect of parental verbal
behaviors on child outcomes. We need to know in what ways, if any, the kinds of
behaviors identified in this article as parental psychological aggression
affect children. If we know the effects, we are in a better position to
counteract them.�

Straus and Field agree with Fox’s assessment of future directions. But
although Straus concludes that researchers need to define levels of aggression
and the extent they are tied to unfavorable outcomes for the child, he
stresses, “I am confident we will find that, because of its negative
consequences, psychological aggression is unacceptable at any level.�



The Journal of Marriage and Family is a quarterly publication of the National
Council on Family Relations, 3989 Central Avenue NE, Suite 550, Minneapolis, MN
55421.

Go to http://www.ncfr.org/about_us/j_press_releases.asp for the full article.