Corporal punishment is effective in the short-term, but other alternatives, based more on learning theory, are more effective in long-term behavioural modification. The media, such as Time magazine, discusses the issue of corporal punishment using emotive language and vague claims, as opposed to empirical evidence and references to surveys. Therefore, this essay seeks to discuss the effectiveness of corporal punishment, and learning theory alternatives, through analysing research studies and credited analyses.
Corporal punishment can be defined as administering mild to moderate physical punishment, which causes mild pain or discomfort, in order to modify an undesirable behaviour (Straus, 1994). Corporal punishment encourages passive learning of desired behaviours, and may therefore be considered, in part, classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is part of the behavioural theory, and it involves learning a new behaviour, through association. Stimuli are displayed together, in order to create a new, learned response. Operant conditioning changes behaviour by using reinforcement and punishment, in order to encourage, or discourage, certain behaviours (Lilienfeld et. al., 2012).
While punishment, reinforcement and corporal punishment all seek to modify behaviour, corporal punishment differs from reinforcement. Positive reinforcement refers to adding something pleasant to the child’s environment in order to encourage a behaviour, while negative reinforcement refers to removing an unpleasant stimulus in order to discourage a behaviour. Negative punishment differs in that it refers to the removal of a positive stimulus. Corporal punishment is a type of positive punishment, which refers to adding an unpleasant stimulus to the chil...
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...from their children. This shows that parenting without corporal punishment has the potential to promote mental health. However, contamination of control groups, lack of direct cause and effect (unaware of other factors) and other factors make certain aspects of this study questionable, but it is still soundly conducted and its results are valid (Stewart-Brown et. al, 2004).
From this, it can be concluded that learning theory based alternatives, such as rewarding desirable behaviour, removal of privileges and verbal reprimands, are effective in modifying children’s behaviour. Corporal punishment, while effective in the short-term, is not an effective long-term method, and can have negative effects on the future discipline of children. Therefore, parents should embrace the alternative methods of discipline, in order to raise healthy, well-adjusted members of society.
There is a point raised by the author on the article “Spanking children isn’t abusing them” that children in residential schools had horrible and often fatal beatings (2015). Furthermore, while reading “Corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review” Gershoff asserts, “Behaviors that do not result in significant physical injury (e.g., spank, slap) are considered corporal punishment, whereas behav- iors that risk injury (e.g., punching, kicking, burning) are consid- ered physical abuse. ” (2002) As it was stated on the previous point, reasonable force has its limits, and limits the parent and care givers to discipline the child without degrading them or causing physical or psychological harm.
Spanking is the most effective form of discipline when a child knows doing something is wrong, but the child does it anyway. A child who is properly disciplined through spanking is being taught how to control her or his impulses and how to deal with all types of authorities in future environments. Parents can control their child’s future
Finally, we need to know more about the personal resources of parents that can lessen the incidence of spanking. It is found that spanking sharply decreases as the parent ages. Despite ideological motivations, parents can and should be trained to understand alternative strategies of discipline (Day 93).
Nonetheless, considers spanking an outcome with dysfunctional mental and physical health issues that roots from often harsh spankings (Kazdin and Benjet, 2003). If parents were set to believe corporal punishment leads to the development of mental issues or physical aggression with peers solving conflicts (Taylor et al.,2016). If the world knew what corporal punishment actually does parents would seek a different approach. Most parents think the views of their children is a reflection of how they are being raised, which supports why this article argument is stronger. Another reason this article is stronger argument is because of how severe the logical fallacies are with in “Spanking and Children’s Externalizing Behavior Across the First Decade of Life:” Even so, the article did provide some strong points as well by recognizing the limitations the studies bring with parents by relying on their responses to general questions about spanking.
Often this approach to disciplining has resulted in two consequences, one is where the child becomes more generous and is able to obey what he or she has been told, or the other which more often results in children developing a sense of suffering and wish to change. I believe that sometimes parents are caught in a situation when children are annoyed by all boundaries of discipline and spanking is the only actual answer. Therefore, it is essential to do spanking for child discipline since it is the important element of successful parenting. Parents often come through situations where young children often disrupt their parents by ignoring the realism of the verdict they create. In this case, some parents may choose to physically punish their children and show their frustration.
There are 2 different types of reinforcement and punishment in the operant conditioning. Positive reinforcement is a type, where an additional reward is added in order to increase behavior, whereas negative reinforcement is when the reward is taken away to increase the behavior. Basically, reinforcement is the act of increasing behavior, while punishment is the act of decreasing behavior. Positive punishment is when additional punishment is required to decrease behavior, while negative punishment works vice versa. However, for it to be successfully effective, it has to be relevant to the organism and shall be equal to crime or transgression.
As we grow a foundation of rules are applied to us to help guide our behavior in the choices we make as we age. A certain modification is exerted, and we learn what we want by having our consequences corrected due to this behavior. A choice to spank a child, slap, pinch, hit with an object nearby, or make them eat unpleasant substances to curb their behavior are types of physical punishment. Surveys have documented majority of parents whom were physically punished growing up to punished their own children as they were. Research also indicates short-term consequences within a child from being physically punished which may cause the child to begin bullying other children, aggressiveness is shown, behavioral problems, enduring low self-esteem, becoming petrified of their own parents, and believing it is okay to lay a hand on another. The abuse of physical punishment can get a person arrested with a jail sentence, loss of custody, and in extreme cases horrifying injuries cause death to an individual (“Physical Punishment”, 2012). Two-thirds of Americans still approve of spanking their children, even after studies have shown this type of physical punishment can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children (Smith,
Since the mid-1950s, parents and psychologists have been battling over the topic concerning corporal punishment. The parents were raised in homes where corporal punishment was used, and they feel that it was a successful technique that raised them well. Psychologists, on the other hand, conducted research; a lot of which was biased and false, telling parents that corporal punishment was bad for their children. After years of researching and studying the effects of corporal punishment, the most popular theories stating that it is a harmful technique, were proven wrong. Corporal punishment is found to be a good technique in the right situations, with the right motives, and using the correct tools.
Negative reinforcement is removing something that is not enjoyable as the result of the behavior that is acceptable example is in Skinners box experiment, a loud noise continuously rang until the rat did what Skinner wanted the rat to do (Cervone, Pervin, Cervone, & Professor of Psychology Lawrence A Pervin, 2013). Positive punishment is used to eliminate a certain behavior and is giving something unenjoyable after the behavior. Negative punishment is used to eliminate a behavior and eliminating something you enjoy after the
...orce the good behaviour with rewards and decrease the likelihood of negative behaviour being repeated. The structured discipline of both parents and teachers help the child to appreciate that good behaviour is much more beneficial than bad behaviour but without this structure in one or both of these settings, could lead to the child not understanding, leading to it being much more difficult to correct behaviour that isn't wanted without resorting to drastic measures of physical or psychological punishment that would do more harm than good. Further research into helping the children in these sort of circumstances would be much more beneficial to the topic of child behaviour and punishment.
Turner, H and Muller, P (2004) ‘long term effects of child corporal punishment on depressive symptoms in young adults: potential moderators and mediators’, Journal of Family Issues, vol.25, no.6, p.761-782
"Summary of Research on the Effects of Corporal Punishment." End Corporal Punishment. EndCorporalPunishment.org, Apr. 2013. Web. 12 May 2014. .
Corporal punishment is the physical disciplinary method used by parents, teachers, and school administrators in an effort to correct a child’s undesirable behaviors. The use of physical force is one that is often times controversial and usually evokes very strong reactions. These feelings surface, and opposing views clash, when scandals surrounding corporal punishment hit the media and heated arguments in the comments section of articles emerge. While corporal punishment occasionally makes its way into the limelight, it is a decision all parents are faced with eventually and often times daily. For example, when a toddler is sprawled out on the grocery store floor kicking, hitting, and flinging
“Punishment is one of the most used, but least understood and badly administered, aspects of learning” (Luthans, 1977, pp.300). As mentioned earlier, punishment is anything which weakens behaviour and tends to decrease it in subsequent frequency. Positive punishment is the method of administering negative consequences upon the occurrence of an action whereas Negative punishment involves the termination of positive consequences. In order to work, either case must weaken and decrease the behaviour which preceded the application or withdrawal of the stimuli. Skinner (1953) stipulated that we must defy the urge to label a form of stimuli as “desired” or “undesired” as a whole but rather to identify them by their effect on the observed subject.
Corporal punishment means to educate by implement of physical pain on learners in order to enhance their ability of studying. As we know, students will often follow the instructions which given by their instructor. However, if they don’t, many instructors are likely to introduce the corporal punishment such as hitting, slapping, spanking and kicking rather than promotes the oral education method to force their students to have a better performance. Gradually, corporal punishment have become a widely known phenomenon all over the world. According to the Department of Education’s 2006 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), it clearly showed that a total of 223,190 students without disabilities received corporal punishment in that year around the