ing out children from harm.
             Straus (1994) defines corporal punishment as "the use of physical force with the intention of causing the child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purposes of correction or control of the child's behavior" (p.4). From this definition it appears that the only distinction between corporal punishment and physical abuse is the intention of injury. Intended or otherwise, it has been show that corporal punishment can have both long and short-term physical and psychological effects on the child. Due to the very fine line between socially and legally sanctioned physical punishment and physical abuse, parents who use corporal punishment to discipline their children run a higher risk of crossing this line, and physically abusing their children (Parke, 1982). One such example when corporal punishment could unintentionally graduate to physical abuse is when the punishment is ineffective in controlling behavior, and due to frustration parents resort to increased physical severity, injuring the child (Marion, 1982). It has been reported that sixty percent of childhood physical abuse is as a result of a punishment attempt (Zigler & Hall, 2000). As a result of statistics such as these, numerous researchers have concluded that reducing corporal punishment is necessary in protecting children from physical abuse (Gelles & Straus, 1988; Straus, Gelles & Steinmetz, 1980; Williams, 1983)
             Corporal punishment has also been found to adversely affect the psychological wellbeing of children. Straus (1994) revealed that increased levels of corporal punishment during childhood and especially during adolescence, led to an increased likelihood of depression in adulthood. Females were found to have higher levels of depression than males, though this is perhaps more of a reflection of the actual population and the way males and females deal independently with stress, rather than corporal punishment itself. Geven (1991) conclu...