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RESEARCH AND CHILDREN:Costa Rica
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National Survey of Children and Adolescents on Physical Punishment
As part of the project "Prevention of Violence from the Family and Adolescence", implemented by the Paniamor Foundation with the support of Save the Children Sweden, the "National Survey of Children and Adolescents on Physical Punishment" was carried out between September and October 2003 in order to learn what children and adolescents in Costa Rica think about the use of physical punishment in bringing up and educating children. A total of 1,034 children and adolescents (48.9% boys, 51.1% girls) aged 9-16, of Costa Rican and Nicaraguan nationalities and from a range of social economic backgrounds were surveyed in 13 cantons in the country's seven provinces. They were asked about different aspects of physical punishment, in particular their opinion regarding its necessity and legitimacy.
What is physical punishment?
Of those who responded to this question, 81.5% said that physical punishment is when they are beaten or mistreated; 14.8% said it was to mistreat another person; 2% related it to abuse; 1.7% related it to sexual harassment. Just over one in twenty (5.8%) did not answer the question. Children from the rural border and the rural coastal areas strongly identified physical punishment with beating or mistreatment (93.4% and 93.5% respectively). Children from the urban coastal region presented the lowest percentage defining physical punishment as beating (66.7%) and the highest in terms of "mistreatment of another person"(29.3%). There were no significant differences between the Nicaraguan and the Costa Rican children.
"It is when they hit us or throw us against the wall"
Opinions on corporal punishment
Most children said that corporal punishment is very bad (38.3%), and 29.9% said that people should not be punished in this manner. However, just over one in ten (11%) gave positive responses such as "it is good because they must be corrected," "it is very good," "it is their right." Children of Nicaraguan nationality showed a greater tendency to justify physical punishment, although they were still a minority compared to those opposed such punishment. The category "it is good because they must be corrected," had the support of 12.3% (30 cases) of Nicaraguans compared with 7.8% (62 cases) of Costa Ricans.
"It is not fair because we were born to be loved and happy, not to be hurt."
Opinions on frequency of corporal punishment
Almost half of the children (47.3%) surveyed believed that corporal punishment should never take place; a similar number (49.6%) felt that it should be used sometimes; 2.3% felt it should always be used, all of whom were from low status socioeconomic backgrounds. Boys were more likely to opt for "sometimes" (52%) than girls (47%).
The reasons given by those surveyed for why punishment should be meted out were for the most part: so that we learn (25.4%), to correct us (14.5%), because we are bad (5.8%).
"Sometimes we are bad"
Opinions on the type of punishment
Participants were given a list of the most common types of physical and emotional punishment, asking which they considered acceptable.
Whipping was considered acceptable by 40% of the children. More children aged 9-12 years found this type of punishment acceptable than older children (43% compared with 29%). Those from high socioeconomic backgrounds were less accepting than those from middle and low socioeconomic backgrounds (24%, 42% and 40% respectively). Whipping was found to be more acceptable among children in rural than metropolitan areas.
Spanking was considered acceptable by 37.6%, with a higher level of acceptance by those below the age of 13 years (39%) than those aged 13-16 years (33%). This punishment was almost found to be more acceptable among Costa Rican children (41%) than among Nicaraguan children (28%). Regionally, the highest level of acceptance was in the rural coast (47.3%), the lowest the Greater Rural Metropolitan Area (29%).
Levels of acceptance for other forms of physical punishment included: being locked up (16.9%), ear pulling (15.8%), pinching (13.1%), being put in the shower (10.9%), hitting on the body (10.7%), being pushed (10.5%), water in the face (7.7%), hair pulling (6.6%), washing mouth out with soap (3.6%), slap on the face (3.5%), hitting with stick (3.2%), being left without food (3%), punching (2.3%), burning hand (0.8%)
Feelings when punished
The feelings reported by children when they are punished showed no significant differences in relation to gender, nationality or region. They were:
Sadness (79.2%)
Pain (56.8%)
Fear (42.6%)
Blame (39.8%)
Loneliness (37.1%)
Hate (28.3%)
Awareness (24.2%)
Indifference (14.2%)
Laughter (11.6%)
Relief (8.6%)
Opinion on who has the right to punish
The survey included two lists regarding people who, according to the children and adolescents, had the right to punish and who punishes more. Regarding the first list, those surveyed named the mother for the most part (80.3%) and the father (74.7%), followed by grandparents (29.7%), uncles (20.5%) and older brothers (14.3%). Only 14.5% opted for "no-one".
Paniamor Foundation/Save the Children Sweden, 2003, "National Survey of Children and Adolescents on Physical Punishment", part of project "Prevencion de la Violencia desde la Familia y la Adolescencia", San José, Costa Rica, presented at Costa Rica, March 2004