Parents' Aggression Toward Children and Children's Own Aggression

Parents' Aggression Toward Children and Children's Own Aggression

JE Lansford - Parenting Across Cultures, 2014 - Springer

The topic of parenting and aggression can be approached from two main perspectives. The first involves understanding parents’ aggression toward children. The second involves understanding how parenting is related to children’s own aggression. Parents’ aggression toward children can take physical (corporal punishment, physical abuse) or nonphysical forms (derogatory verbal comments, psychological control). Aggression toward children is associated with negative child outcomes and is a violation of children’s right to protection. Children’s own aggression is predicted by harsh, coercive forms of parenting and by a lack of warmth, acceptance, and positive responsiveness. Cultural contexts shape parents’ and children’s aggression, in large part by providing a context in which aggression is condoned or condemned.