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Research on corporal punishment in america
Corporal punishment as a form of discipline
Corporal punishment as a form of discipline
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According to Position Statement on Physical/Corporal Punishment, studies show that approximately 65% of adults in the United States approve of physical punishment and about 50% of families use physical punishment to discipline children. However, physical punishment is still not banned in the United States, but public approval has been gradually declining over the years.
Since the start of recorded history, caregivers have used physical punishment as a common discipline practice. Discipline has been one of the hardest and biggest problems all caregivers have to deal with. In other words many do not know how to approach the idea and simply use the methods they grew up with that their own parents’ used, like spanking, hitting, and etc. Caregivers’ that use physical punishment believe that children learn between what is wrong and what is right. Physical punishment is believed to be effective, and is shown by research that it works in short terms. For those who use physical punishments believe in the common saying is,
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Long term self-esteem issues can create problems like avoiding taking risks to experience new opportunities. Avoiding those opportunities can keep one from furthering in school, a future career or even close relationships. Relationships become hard to develop with peers and family members, due to isolating one’s self or acting out in aggression towards others. Victims of physical punishment often cannot distinguish between feelings of trust and mistrust towards others to form intimate or professional relationships. PhD Elizabeth T. Gershoff predicts that those who received physical punishment as a child are more likely to be abusive towards their own children or manifest in criminal behavior (qtd. in Position Statement on Physical/Corporal Punishment). Therefore the harm of physical punishment goes deeper than the tears and tender red skin that
The idea of physical punishment has been visible throughout our nation’s history. The 30’s, 40’, 50’s all encouraged the use of strong physical discipline towards children, it wasn’t until the 60’s and 70’s that this idea became taboo. “Many of us in the room had been smacked, whipped, or beaten as children...
Reading, Richard. "Speak softly - and forget the stick: corporal punishment and physical abuse." Child: care, health and development (2009): 286-287. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 April 2011.
When describing a physical altercation between two adults, the term is assault and battery. Assault on an individual has more than immediate effects; the effects can last a lifetime in severe cases. In all fifty states, it is a crime to hit, strike or use corporal punishment in any deliberate manner towards any person over the age of eighteen. However, this law does not apply to physical force being used on minors. Spanking, whipping, and paddling are among a few common references to this form of punishment. Physically disciplining children has had many names over the years. No matter which term is used, corporal punishment has a negative impact on every party involved. It is a widely used, socially accepted method of discipline. “Approximately 94% of three and four-year old children have been spanked in the past year (Slade & Winssow 1321). Although spanking is a widespread practice, it is becoming more controversial. The negative effects of spanking greatly outweigh the benefits. Spanking is a socially tolerated view promoting abusive patterns, and has a negative psychological impact in teaching children that pain, fear, and confusion promote conformability.
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).
Punishments, such as spanking, and shouting are the major forms of discipline frequently preferred by the parents. The main goal of this style is to teach the child to behave, survive, and thrive as an adult in the harsh society and preparing the child for negative responses such as anger and aggression that the child will face if their behaviour is inappropriate. It is often believed in this style that the shock of aggression from someone from the outside world will be less for a child as the child is accustomed to enduring both acute and chronic stress imposed by
Physical abuse is the intentional infliction of physical injury to a child. Legal definition of child abuse can very from state to state, but it is widely accepted that any intentional injury to a child that results in a need to seek out medical attention are considered to be physical abuse. Forms of physical abuse can range from small cuts and bruises to more severe cases of broken ones and internal injuries. Nonetheless, there have been complications in defining the line between punishment and physical abuse. Many states explicitly note that “spanking when administered in an reasonable manner” does not constitute abuse. Thus, physical punishment remains subject to interpretation in the context of it's
Straus, M. A. (1991). Discipline and Deviance: physical punishment of children and violence and other crime in adulthood. Social Problems, 38(2), 133-154.
Violence within families often reflects behaviours learned by children from their parents. A theory is that violent behaviour is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2). The majority of Americans are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime(Kandel, Pg. 4). Surveys suggested that almost all American parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regared as an appropriate child rearing technique. Another survey also suggested that some psychologists belive physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool(Kandel, Pg. 2). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment(Kandel, Pg. 1). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behaviour in children.
Because the beliefs, education and cultures of people vary so much, along with the age of the child, methods of child discipline vary widely. The topic of child discipline involves a wide range of fields such as parenting, behavioural analysis, developmental psychology, social work and various religious perspectives. Advances in the understanding of parenting have provided a background of theoretical understanding and practical understanding of the effectiveness of parenting methods.
This essay will discuss whether it is thought that punishment is effective and whether it is currently thought to work, additionally it will examine the best ways to change a child’s behaviour in terms of positive and negative reinforcements. The issue of child punishment has received considerable critical attention within many cultures. Punishment towards children can be argued to be a very controversial area. It is argued that many people have been brought up with distinctive beliefs about punishments toward a child. A child’s upbringing is argued by many researchers to be key to how they will go on to treat their own children in the future. This can surely be argued to be a negative effect of physical punishment. It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the effects of what severe punishment may have on a child. Later convictions of violence and the evidence of damaging effects on well-being, corporal punishment has on children is overwhelming. However, it is not ingrained that corporal punishment is definitely damaging. There is also sufficient evidence to corporal punishment being an effective form of discipline, if used appropriately. It is thought that corporal punishment helps parents retain control over their children’s behaviour. This essay will consider the various forms of punishment, such as physical punishments and whether they are considered to work. This is essay will also consider effective ways of changing a child’s behaviour including the use of classical and operant conditioning and studies that support the theories and how they can be applied to real life. Classical conditioning for example uses learning through association, memory prompts the person to associate an object/ sound to a certain behaviour. ...
...E. (2000). Child Outcomes of Nonabusive and Customary Physical Punishment by Parents: An Updated Literature Review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. doi:10.1023/A:1026473020315.
On a student’s cell phone, a teacher is caught hitting students with a thick stick. He continually hits everywhere from the students’ hips to the head harshly without a hesitation. This video is opened to the public by a student in the class posting it on the Internet. According to the other students, they were punished because they skipped class when the school inspectors came. All the people who looked at it on the Internet were surprised to see this kind of behavior. Recently, we’ve heard a lot on the media about punishment by teachers in school. Some people agree with the teacher’s power to punish, claiming that it is a part of education. However, contrary to this opinion, I disagree with corporal punishment because physical punishment brings only temporary effects in correcting children’s behavior. Also, it can humiliate a child by insulting his or her personality and have a poor affect on their self esteem. Besides, physical punishment can be abused because there aren’t any concrete standards to regulate how much punishment is proper in disciplining.
The first thing to look at is the immediate effect physical force has on the child. Seasoned child care provider, author, and host of the international hit television series Supernanny, Jo Frost points out in her latest book that “inflicting pain on a child shuts down the good-judgement part of the brain which then reverts to basic primitive processing, fight-or-flight.” Instead of the child processing what they did that was wrong and learning from the experience, the child’s instincts are instead frantically attempting to protect itself from pain. As many parents who implement corporal punishment will attest, the effect is an immediate halt of the unwanted behaviour. As Frost pointed out, the child, while compliant, is not having a positive learning experience. Without trust and learning, it is likely the child will try harder not to get caught which in turn, creates distance in the parent/ child relationship. While there are plenty of people quick to explain just how “fine” they turned out, there are plenty more who can testify how a swat on the bottom can intensify to a sore rear end, escalate to welts on the back, and in some cases become bruises and bloodied noses. Duke University professors Jennifer Lansford and Kenneth Dodge concluded from
gives in a buys the toy car. Now ask yourself who is in charge here,
First of all parents feel that the children are theirs, and they can spank them when they misbehave. There are many factors that lead to physical punishment: parents were to young and not ready for children, parents are going trough a divorce and need to take out their anger on something or someone, or parents do not know another way to punish their children. These children grow up to be aggressive and often abusive towards others. Although parents think this is the only way of educating their children there are many other alternatives.