The present study reconstructs the origins of Domestic Corporal Punishment of Children and Adolescents (PCD) in Brazil by analyzing of manuals on family education. In the second half of the twentieth century this manuals become known in the publications market; it further shows that there are authors who take a favorable position toward corporal punishment. Some of these pronouncements are discussed within a critical theory of family violence against children and adolescents.
Early childhood education; Parent child relations; Punishment; Family therapy