Our reply will first deal with the specific comments in each of the 3 letters separately and then conclude with comments on more general issues.
Straus
MAMouradian
VE Impulsiveness in corporal punishment by mother's and child's behavior problems. Behav Sci Law. In press
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RE A review of the outcomes of parental use of nonabusive or customary physical punishment. Pediatrics. 1996;98824- 831
Straus
MAHill
KA Corporal punishment, child-to-parent bonding, and delinquency. Paper presented at: 5th International Family Violence Research Conference July 1, 1997 Durham, NH
Tsang
R Social Stress, Social Learning, and Anger as Risk Factors for Corporal Punishment. Durham, NH Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire1995;
Simons
RJohnson
CConger
R Harsh corporal punishment versus quality of parental involvement as an explanation of adolescent maladjustment. J Marriage Fam. 1994;56591- 607
Straus
MA Beating the Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment in American Families. San Francisco, Calif Jossey-Bass/Lexington Books1994;
Sears
RRMaccoby
ECLevin
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S The Antecedents of Self-Esteem. San Francisco, Calif WH Freeman & Co1967;
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G Sick individuals and sick populations. Int J Epidemiol. 1985;1432- 38
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R Meta-Analytic Procedures for Social Research. Newbury Park, Calif Sage1984;
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W The Relationship Between Child Abuse and Childhood Exposure to Family Violence as Mediated by Self-Esteem, Hostility, Marital Conflict, Social Isolation, and Stress [dissertation]. La Mirada, Calif Biola University1985;
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MLMariner
CL Toward a developmental-contextual model of the effects of parental spanking on children's aggression. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997;151768- 775
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JRBrooks-Gunn
J Correlates and consequences of harsh discipline for young children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1997;151777- 786
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TGChapieski
ML Childrearing and impulse control in toddlers: a naturalistic investigation. Dev Psychol. 1986;22271- 275
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CW Child abuse: an interdisciplinary analysis. Hetherington
Med.Review of Child Development Research. Chicago, Ill University of Chicago Press1975;5509- 590
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IMagnusson
D Corporal punishment in everyday life: an intergenerational perspective. McCord
Jed.Coercion and Punishment in Long-Term Perspectives. Cambridge, Mass Cambridge University Press1995;
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GWColeman
SMSchmidt
KL Why 3-year-old children get spanked: parent and child determinants as reported by college-educated mothers. Merrill-Palmer Q. 1995;41431- 452
Vissing
YMStraus
MAGelles
RJHarrop
JW Verbal aggression by parents and psychosocial problems of children. Child Abuse Negl. 1993;15223- 238
Strassberg
ZDodge
KAPettit
GSBates
JE Spanking in the home and children's subsequent aggression toward kindergarten peers. Dev Psychopathol. 1994;6445- 461
McCord
J Questioning the value of punishment. Soc Prob. 1991;38167- 179
Sampson
RJRaudenbush
SWEarls
F Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science. 1997;277918- 924
Larzelere
RE Empirically justified uses of spanking: toward a discriminating view of corporal punishment. J Psychol Theol. 1993;21142- 147
Polite
K The medium/the message: corporal punishment, an empirical critique. Pediatrics. 1996;98849- 852
Straus
MAMathur
A Social change and change in approval of corporal punishment by parents from 1968 to 1994. Frehsee
DHorn
WBussmann
K-Deds.Family Violence Against Children: A Challenge for Society. New York, NY Walter deGruyter1996;91- 105