This study examined the complex process of paternal disciplinary practices and identified the factors related to paternal disciplinary practices in an examination of the effects of cumulative risk factors on the ineffective disciplinary practices of fathers. The subjects for this study consisted of 200 fathers of six-year-old children attending childcare centers in Los Angeles. Self-report questionnaires were used to collect data for the following variables: 1) family background characteristics; 2) child temperament; 3) marital & job satisfaction; 4) quality of life; 5) social support; 6) intergenerational transmission of parenting; and 7) paternal disciplinary practices. Descriptive analysis, zeroorder correlations, multiple regression analyses, and chisquare analyses were used for data description and analysis. This study indicates that the characteristics of the child, father, and contextual factors contribute to paternal disciplinary practices.