Beating the devil out of them: effects of corporal punishment on school children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Muhammad Saeed; Iqbal Ahmad; Muhammad Israr

doi:10.47264/idea.lassij/7.2.3

Authors

Muhammad Saeed Department of Global Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8439-3830
Iqbal Ahmad Department of Education, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Dir Lower, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4109-5013
Muhammad Israr Department of Sociology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal Dir Upper, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9469-4573

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47264/idea.lassij/7.2.3

Keywords:

School students, Madrassa students, Aggression, Juvenile delinquency, Emotional adjustment, Religious madrassa, Pakistani children, Peshawar district

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of corporal punishment on school students in Pakistan. The data was collected through a survey from N=250 students (96 females and 154 males) from government schools (n=109) and madrassas (n=141) in District Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study found that corporal punishment is rampant (83%) in schools and madrassas. The study reveals male students receiving more punishment and exhibiting higher levels of emotional adjustment, delinquency, and aggression with mean differences with t-value of 248= 4.92, p < .001; 0.87, p < .05; 3.67, p < .000 and 7.89, p < .001 than female students. Schools use more corporal punishment than madrassas, causing higher emotional adjustment for students, indicated by significant mean differences with a t-value of 248= 1.20, p < .003, and 3.18, p < .001. Madrassa students exhibited higher juvenile delinquency and aggression with mean differences with a t-value of 248=1.67, p < .095, and 9.90, p < .000 than school students. The predictor variables showed a positive correlation with the outcome variable (? = .034, t = .530, p < .01) and emotional adjustment (? = .388, t = 6.63, p < .001) for students.

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