Violent disciplinary practices towards children among caregivers in Vietnam: a cross-sectional survey

Journal of Social Research & Policy, Volume: 5, Issue: 1, pp. 67-75

Date: July 2014

ISSN: 2067-2640 (print), 2068-9861 (electronic)

Abstract: Violence against children within the family is one of the most common forms of child maltreatment. We used data from the 2011 Vietnam MICS to examine association between the violent disciplinary practices and socio-demographic factors among Vietnamese mothers/primary care givers. The prevalence of violent disciplinary practices among mothers/primary caregivers was 72.9%. Older women (AOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9), having higher education (AOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.6-0.9), belonging to richest quintile (AOR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9) were less likely to have violent disciplinary practices. Other factors were likely associated with higher violent disciplinary practices included having 2 or 3 or more children, and negative attitudes towards partner violence. Importantly, women who had negative attitudes towards violent discipline were more than three times more likely to have violent disciplinary practices. Developing strategies that include the above interventions could play a crucial role in achieving the decrease violent disciplinary practices in Vietnamese caregivers.

Keywords: Child maltreatment; Violent disciplinary practices; Children; Caregiver; Vietnam.