Child discipline Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys- MICS3 Analysis and Report Writing Workshop Panama City, July 12-20, 2006

Rationale Aims to measure prevalence of violence at home against children Very small empirical evidence and analysis to develop policies, programs and interventions Uses as framework the CRC and the protective environment framework approach Uses a conflict tactic scale by which parents or adults in general teach children the right behaviour or address a behaviour problem MICS3 selected 11 of these tactics to estimate prevalence of violence among children 2-14 years old

Indicators 1.Percentage of children 2-14 years of age with physical and psychological discipline during the month before the survey 2.Percentage of parents/caretakers of children, 2-14 years of age, that believe that in order to bring up (raise, educate) their children properly, they need to physically punish them

Goals World Fit for Children (WFFC) Protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence and under general protection to –Encourage all countries to adopt and enforce laws, and improve the implementation of policies and programmes to protect children from all forms of violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation, whether at home, in school or other institutions, in the workplace or in their community Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) The MD declaration calls for the protection of children against abuse, exploitation and violence but no goal, target or indicator is included

Why to measure child discipline? Reasons: Identify the prevalence of discipline methods that are violent in nature and against the integrity of children as well as their characteristics Evaluate impact of programs and interventions based on trends

Data sources/methods Population census Household surveys

Which is the approach in MICS3? Estimation of indicator based on household survey data Present obtained results by background variables to localize the problem Promote the design and implementation of further analysis of the main determinants of this practice to help the design of policies and the development of programs and interventions

Violence from discipline(1) Numerator: Number of children aged 2-14 years that experience, (1) psychological aggression as punishment, or (2) experience minor physical punishment, or (3) experience severe physical punishment Denominator: All children 2-14 years of age

Violence from discipline(2) Numerator: Number of parents/caretakers of children, 2-14 years of age, that believe that in order to bring up (raise, educate) their children properly, they need to physically punish them Denominator: Number of parents/caretakers of children, 2-14 years of age

Which countries included the child discipline module in MICS3? 6 out of 7 Belize, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago Cuba did not Mongolia?

SPSS Program Generates basic table: CP.4 Specifically, it generate –distribution of children 2-14 years of age by type of discipline they receive during the month before the survey –the percentage of children 2-14 years old that have received physical or psychological discipline during the month before the survey –Percentage of parents/caretakers of children, 2-14 years of age, that believe that in order to bring up (raise, educate) their children properly, they need to physically punish them

Methodological issues Needs proper adaptation to the conditions and language of country The indicator provides the prevalence of: –non-violent discipline –Psychological discipline/aggression –Minor physical discipline/aggression –Severe physical discipline/aggression Since the period of reference is the month before the survey, we may end up with a small number of children 2-14 years who experience either minor physical punishment and/or severe physical punishment Sample size should be reviewed when analyzing data

Thank you!