New Zealand’s smacking acceptance fell from 50% to 30% within three years of repeal.

Evidence

The New Zealand experience mirrors Sweden’s on a shorter timescale. The repeal of section 59 in 2007 — which removed the “reasonable force” defense for parental physical punishment — was preceded by a contentious public debate that lasted approximately six years. Anna Stewart at the University of Waikato, who has studied New Zealand’s post-repeal attitudinal change, documented that the proportion of New Zealand adults agreeing that smacking is necessary to maintain discipline declined from approximately 50% before the repeal debate to approximately 30% within three years of the law’s passage. — , The Rod and the Child, 8671

Categorization

• XREF: Corroborates the Swedish pattern on a shorter timescale — a comparative case for the debate-as-denormalization-engine claim. — connects to: New Zealand’s smacking law changed norms despite discretion-led non-prosecution — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 7398

Related

• New Zealand’s smacking law changed norms despite discretion-led non-prosecution (similarity 0.90)
• Parental smacking prevalence halved within twelve years of New Zealand’s 2007 prohibition (similarity 0.86)
• No New Zealand parent was prosecuted for a minor smack after the repeal. (similarity 0.86)
• New Zealand’s post-repeal data shows the strongest prohibition effects in Anglosphere law (similarity 0.83)