The differences get even more nuanced the more you slice it. In a recent study surveying 200,000 kindergartners and their parents, it was found that black parents were most likely to use spanking as discipline (89%), and Asian parents were the least likely to discipline in this way (73%). White (79%) and Hispanic parents (80%) were in-between. Statistically, they are all pretty close, but incase you're inclined to try and explain this ethnicity-tied behavior, a further word of caution. Just because some Asian parents are less likely to use corporal punishment, and some black parents are more likely to agree that spanking is necessary, it doesn't mean there aren't other forms of discipline in play. The study didn't ask about socioemotional discipline (We are disappointed in you. We can't look other parents in the eyes, you embarrass us), which is believed to be a more commonly used form of discipline among Asian parents, especially from those who come from a very community driven country of origin. It also doesn't mean that these acts of discipline are all in response to the same behaviors (for example, spanking for everyday whining versus rarely, and only for cardinal sins), at the same frequency, or defined or expressed in the same way. Just had to throw that in there, since parents get all judgey of other parents sometimes.
It appears education and sex also matters: in 2012, it was found college educated dads were 13% less likely to spank as a form of discipline (at 70%) compared to high school educated dads. Moms on the other hand, were only 3% less likely than high school educated parents (63%) to spank. Women have consistently been less likely to resort to spanking than men--even though the vast majority of women still spank their children. (Not reported, but I'd be curious if stress and number of hours spent working affect the number of spankings kid get. Oh, and the most common age for spankings.)
This societal perception of acceptability is particularly interesting when applied to the current Adrian Peterson case; as a dad, a college educated man, and a black man, he is statistically more likely to see spanking as an acceptable form of discipline. Furthermore, he was born in 1985--the highest recorded year of parents saying they saw corporal punishment as acceptable (a whopping 84% of dads and 82% of moms agreed, which stayed quite high until 1991). Clearly, this does not justify his behavior, as he took his action of discipline beyond spanking and into severe child abuse, but it may at least shed some light onto the factors that influenced him thinking cutting a switch on a 4 year old was acceptable behavior in the first place, especially if you're a believer of people being the product of nurture more than nature.
It's interesting to note the age of the parent doesn't really effect feelings about spanking, rather, parents of every age seem to follow the same general sentiment.
Child Trends Report , Sociological Images
