Motivation for change in the discipline of children : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
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Date
2009
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Massey University
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Abstract
Since becoming the first English speaking country to legislate against the physical
discipline of children in 2007, there has been much debate in New Zealand for and
against the parental practice of smacking. For some it has meant a welcome
amendment to legislation that protects the human rights of children, for others it
raises fears that parents can be criminalised for smacking their children and that the
rights of parents to discipline their child, as they see fit, are being eroded. Working for
an organisation that fully supports the Amendment to Section 59 of the Crimes Act,
1961 and that promotes the human rights of children; the motivating factors that
encourage a parent to stop the practice of physically disciplining their child became of
interest to the researcher for this thesis. Ten participants, who had used physical
discipline and who had made a decision to stop the practice, were recruited to take
part in a qualitative study. The data collected was analysed through a thematic analysis
process using five motivational contexts found in previous research on the topic. The
five contexts were experiential, relational, biographical, regulatory and ideological
(Davis, 1999). The findings of the research for this thesis concur with the previous
research and add further information about the motivating factors. The findings also
identify the strategies that parents have found useful to achieve success in their
endeavour to change their disciplinary practice. Furthermore the importance of and
the distinction between the human rights of the child and parental rights have been
highlighted.
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Keywords
Corporal punishment, Physical discipline, Smacking, Child discipline, Social change, New Zealand