IRELANDIRELANDA government-commissioned survey involving 1353 adults aged 21-69, all parents of children aged under 18, found that only 34% of parents believe that “smacking” should remain legal, while 42% believe it should become illegal. In addition, 24% thought that “smacking” should be illegal for children of certain ages. 64.5% of parents agreed that “smacking is not necessary to bring up a well-behaved child” and 30% agreed that “smacking is wrong and should never be used”. 43% of parents agreed that smacking can damage the relationship between parents and children. The majority of parents (80%) reported feeling guilty or sorry after the last time they had smacked their child. Only 5.5% of parents said they felt “better” after smacking. Three quarters of the parents who took part in the survey indicated that they had not used any physical punishment in the past year. Non-aggressive discipline strategies were used by parents much more frequently than physically or psychologically aggressive strategies. “Discussing the issue calmly” was the most frequently adopted strategy; 80% of parents did this often, and 99% had done it at some point during the past year. However, a quarter of parents had used some form of physical punishment in the past year. 15.8% of parents reported that they had smacked their child on the bottom at some point during the past year, with 7.4% having done so “often” or “occasionally”. 7.3% had shaken, grabbed or pushed their child; 2.7% had done so often or occasionally. Parents of younger children were significantly more likely to report using physical punishment than parents of older children, with 37% of parents of 2-4 year olds sometimes using physical punishment.
(Halpenny, A. M., Nixon, E. & Watson, D., 2010, Parenting Styles and Discipline: Parents’ Perspectives on Parenting Styles and Disciplining Children. Dublin: The Stationery Office/Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs
omc.gov.ie/documents/publications/Parents_Perspectives_on_parenting_styles.pdf)
The report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, established in 2000 to investigate abuse of children in industrial and reform schools between 1914 and 2000, was published in 2009. Industrial schools were for children who were poor, neglected or orphaned, while reform schools were for children guilty of offences. The Commission also examined children’s homes (for children without parental care, generally smaller than industrial schools), foster homes, hospitals, facilities attended by disabled children and other forms of residential care. The Commission uncovered the routine use of severe and arbitrary corporal punishment. Punishments reported by witnesses included being beaten with wooden sticks and other implements, having their heads submerged underwater, being force fed, being lifted by the ears and hair, isolation and being burned. They reported being punished for no reason at all, as well as for “offences” such as running away, bed-wetting, not knowing lessons, having torn or worn clothes, talking, speech and writing difficulties, being left-handed and disclosing sexual abuse. They described an environment of pervasive fear of physical punishment.
(Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, 2009, Commission Report, www.childabusecommission.com/rpt)