The Relationship between Social Capital and Corporal Punishment in Schools: A Theoretical Inquiry

This article explores the relationship between the use of corporal punishment in the public schools and the amount of social capital (i.e., residents’ degree of involvement in community matters) in a state. Existing state-level data regarding social capital and incidents of corporal punishment were utilized. Results show a statistically significant inverse relationship between the amount of social capital and the legality and use of school corporal punishment. Social capital is also related to racial disproportionality in the use of corporal punishment in schools. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.