A study carried out in 2008 examined the prevalence of corporal punishment and attitudes towards it through interviews with 1,054 Austrian young people aged 12-18, 1,049 Austrian parents and 614 immigrant parents (from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe) living in Austria. Compared to a similar study in 1991, which involved 380 parents of children aged under 6, the study found that the prevalence of corporal punishment had fallen: in 2008, 31.4% of Austrian mothers of children aged under 6 never used corporal punishment, compared to 8.5% in 1991, and 4.1% used “light” corporal punishment such as slapping and spanking “often”, compared to 30.5% in 1991. A large majority of all the groups interviewed agreed that “a non-violent upbringing is ideal”: 88.3% of young people, 86.2% of Austrian parents and 81.1% of immigrant parents. Ninety-six per cent of young people believed that they had legally defined rights, 78.1% of boys and 84.6% of girls were “sure” that they had a right to an upbringing without violence and 41.2% of boys and 42.1% of girls were aware of the law prohibiting corporal punishment. Of those who were aware of the law, 62.4% of young people had heard about it at school or other facilities for children, and 70.8% of Austrian and 66.7% of immigrant parents had heard about it in the media (TV, newspapers, radio and cinema).
(Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Familie und Jugend (2009) Familie - kein Platz für Gewalt!(?): 20 Jahre gesetzliches Gewaltverbot in Österreich, Vienna: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Familie und Jugend)
A study carried out in 2007 examined five European countries: Sweden, Austria, Germany, France and Spain. Five thousand parents (1,000 in each nation) were interviewed about their use of and attitude towards corporal punishment, their own experiences of violence and their knowledge and beliefs about the law. 50% of Austrian parents said they had “mildly” slapped their child on the face and 62% had slapped their child on the bottom. 18% had given their child a “resounding” slap on the face and 4.4% had beaten their child with an object. 30% of Austrian parents never used corporal punishment. 89% agreed that “one should try to use as little corporal punishment as possible” and 86% agreed that “non-violent child-rearing is the ideal”.
(Bussmann, K. D., 2009, The Effect of Banning Corporal Punishment in Europe: A Five-Nation Comparison, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg)