Transforming parents' beliefs about physical punishment through 'positive discipline in everyday parenting.' Implementing 'positive discipline in everyday parenting' among ethnic minorities and in brothel areas of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, 74% of children are physically punished at home; 40% are beaten or slapped regularly (UNICEF, 2009). Save the Children Bangladesh is committed to ending this punitive violence. One of our tools in this effort... [ view full abstract ]

In Bangladesh, 74% of children are physically punished at home; 40% are beaten or slapped regularly (UNICEF, 2009). Save the Children Bangladesh is committed to ending this punitive violence. One of our tools in this effort is Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (PDEP). But as one of the world’s poorest countries, Bangladesh presents challenges to the implementation of parenting programs. It is one of the most densely populated countries on earth and 43% of the population earn less than $1.25 US per day. With an adult literacy rate of 58%, delivery methods must be flexible and program facilitators must be highly skilled. This paper describes the delivery of PDEP to 94 parents of two ethnic minority groups living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and in brothel areas in Faridpur and Rajbari. Program delivery was adapted to meet the needs of these low-literacy populations. Questionnaires constructed for parents with low literacy levels were administered at the beginning and end of the program to assess changes in parents’ attitudes toward physical punishment and their perceived parenting competence. Of the sample, 82 parents completed both questionnaires: 59.3% were mothers; 63.0% were over the age of 30; 80.3% had three or fewer children; 69% had not completed elementary school. The proportion of parents who believed: 1) that spanking is fine if the parent is not angry declined from 24.4% to 3.6% (p<.001); 2) that parents should have the right to use physical punishment declined from 58.5% to 34.6% (p<.01); 3) that they have the skills to be good parents increased from 74.0% to 92.7% (p<.01); and 4) that as parents they often feel like they don’t know what to do declined from 80.2% to 64.2% (p<.02). PDEP has potential to shift attitudes and perceived parenting competence in challenging contexts.