Corporal Punishment Myth Scale

Description of the Corporal Punishment Myth Scale (CPMS)

Despite increasing evidence of its harms, corporal punishment is still a commonly used disciplinary strategy for children. In countries such as Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, reported prevalence rates for the use of physical punishment are high. In 2011, 85% of Australian parents admitted to smacking their child and 41.5% of parents in the UK admitted to smacking their child. In 2014 in the United States, 67% of parents admitted to smacking their child. 

The Corporal Punishment Myth Scale (CPMS) is a 10 item self-administered survey tool that measures the extent to which individuals believe or accept a set of myths proposed to perpetuate corporal punishment use. The survey may also be used as a precursor for predicting parents’ intentions to use smacking and other similar practices on their children.  

The measurement approach has been empirically validated and supports the identification of two myths that favour the use of corporal punishment and make it more likely that the individual will use it as a disciplinary method – 1) harmless myths, and 2) effective or necessary myths. Harmless myths may be defined as “fictitious beliefs suggesting corporal punishment to be harmless to children, causing no damage”; and effective or necessary beliefs may be defined as “teach children how to respect others or how, if not used can lead to children becoming even more misbehaved”.