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Welcome to HARSH!

HARSH (September 2025–August 2030) investigates the cultural, institutional, and economic determinants of harsh parenting, defined as the use of corporal or emotional punishment to discipline children. Despite well-documented adverse effects on children’s physical and psychological outcomes over the life course, harsh parenting remains widespread and persistent, and its underlying causes are not well understood. HARSH advances knowledge on the roots of these practices with the aim of informing effective policy responses to this critical public health issue.