Castigo físico adotado por pais acompanhantes no disciplinamento de crian？as e adolescentes

objective: to identify disciplinary measures used by parents of children and teenagers who were in-patients in a pediatric unit. methods: a qualitative design within the philosophical orientation of constructivism was used to conduct this study. data were collected thorough focus group with parents (25 women and 4 men). data were analyzed with content analysis. results: seven categories emerged (i.e., it is difficult to educate, dominate, and guide children towards a bright future; parents have little parenting resources; what type of physical punishment is appropriate). conclusion: the findings suggest that parent's use of physical punishment to discipline their children is a torturous and ambiguous parenting conduit and does not change children and teenagers' behaviors. in addition, physical punishment has the potential to cause physical and emotional harm to both children and parents due to lack of parenting control and conflicting feelings.