A Debate on Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment is a very complex and controversial topic. It's hard to decide what is right and what is wrong when discussing how to discipline children. There are some people who are unfamiliar with the term corporal punishment and for you, I have provided a definition. It is the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child's behavior. I have had the opportunity to read several definitions for this type of punishment; however, I believe that Murray Straus summed it up the best with that definition. Corporal punishment is sometimes called spanking. The more common types of corporal punishment are spanking, grabbing or shoving, and hitting a child with objects such as a hair brush, belt, or paddle (Straus, 4-5). In the following paper, such things as who uses corporal punishment, the short term and long term effects of using this type of punishment, and possible solution or alternative methods will be discussed.

There are three forms of corporal punishmet that are commonly used, (1) corporal punishment in school, (2) judicial corporal punishment, and (3) domestic corporal punishment. Legal corporal punishment of school students for misbehavior involves hitting the student on their bottom or the palm of the hand with an inanimate object specially kept for that purpose such as a paddle, or with the open hand. This is not to be confused with cases where a teacher lashes out/loses control and physically assaults a student. Corporal punishment used to be prevalent in schools in many parts of the world, but in recent years it has been outlawed almost everywhere.
After reading different information I found that some countries use judicial corporal punishment, including a number of former British territories such as Botswana, Malaysia, Singapore and Tanzania. In Malaysia and Singapore, for certain specified offences, males are routinely sentenced to caning in addition to a prison term. The Singaporean practice of caning became much discussed around the world in 1994 when American teenager Michael P. Fay was caned for vandalism. The main type of corporal punishment domestic corporal punishment of children, by their parents, is usually referred to as "spanking," or "whipping," In an increasing number of countries it has been outlawed. In some other countries, corporal punishment is legal, but restricted (e.g. blows to the head are outlawed and implements may not be used, and/or only children within a certain age range may be spanked). Corporal punishment is not only used in the homes, but in some school systems as well. To my surprise many people do in fact use corporal punishment in the home. Many people believe that when their child’s behavior becomes uncontrollable that the only way to regain order is to paddle the ones that are causing problems. In the Gallup Monthly Poll of 1000 randomly selected American parents, "Over half of the parents supported corporal punishment. Not realizing that corporal punishment is not a good way to discipline children many parents use it. It’s in the best interest of the child for the parent to find another way to discipline them because corporal punishment has many short and long term effects on the child. Corporal punishment increases the development of shame, guilt, and the feeling of helplessness in children. The many ways corporal punishment affects the child is the use aggressive behavior, dealing adult problems, physical damage, promotes the use of violence, and it instills fear in the child. The child shows aggressive behavior by being rebellious, resistant, and revengeful. They child would even have show aggression towards siblings, other children, and in their adult life their spouses and children. Some adult problems that is linked to corporal punishment is high levels of depression, psychological problems, and addictions. Some injuries that come from physical damage include brain damage, muscle injury, concussion, and even death of the child. The use of violence is promoted because hitting a child is letting them think that it’s ok for someone to hit a person that has less strength then they do. Corporal punishment instills fear because a child feels that they do something that their does not approve of that he/she will be spanked.

Many parents are using corporal punishment to discipline their children, without realizing that they using the wrong way of discipline. Child’s misbehavior is making a parent angry, especially when parent can not get child’s attention. Corporal punishment means using force and physical pain when parent get frustrated by child’s problem behavior. Parents beware of corporal punishment because is has a negative long-lasting effect on children’s emotional state and leads to physical aggression. Instead, parents should find a positive way to discipline their children. Spanking, slapping, kicking, grabbing, shaking and hitting with objects are popular forms of getting child’s attention, those can be harsh. This situation can cause a child to experience or feel a strong emotional reaction of humiliation. Corporal punishment does not work in all situation and only needs to be used in moderation.
Random Excerpts from essay
In "Issue Of Corporal Punishment: re-examined" author states "The child is a recipient of an act of physical force under conditions which allowed no opportunity for self defense and which produced a physical pain. "(Andero ??) Also, using the corporal punishment parent loses trust with the child. Corporal punishment is harmful to children. Corporal punishment stimulates in many children the development of shame, guilt, feeling of helpnessness. Parents are usually people to whom child looks up to, and if parents showing their child that his bad behavior is forcing them to hirt him, the child may develop negative beliefs of himself that are associated with the use of punishment such as "I'm a bad person. It does not have a long-lasting effect on behavior, although it creates different kinds of side-effects. When the other way of discipline fails many parents use a physical punishment as a way to discipline, to teach child a lesson, but they don't realize that this kind of lesson has negative effect on children's life. Brazelton) Corporal punishment is also leading the child to unsuccessful relationship with others. It could lead to emotional problems. If Corporal Punishment used as a discipline, child will develop a negative beliefs of himself. Child will not learn to take responsibility for what he did wrong.
The case against spanking:
There are many arguments against spanking:
|[p|It is ineffective: Spanking a child will stop the child from misbehaving for the moment, but studies have shown that the |
|ic|child's compliance will only last for a short time; corporal punishment actually increases the child's non-compliant |
|] |behavior in the future. Psychologist H. Stephen Glenn said "Corporal punishment is the least effective method [of |
| |discipline]. Punishment reinforces a failure identity. It reinforces rebellion, resistance, revenge and resentment. And, |
| |what people who spank children will learn is that it teaches more about you than it does about them that the whole goal is |
| |to crush the child. It's not dignified, and it's not respectful." 1 |
|[p|It may trigger criminal, anti-social, violent, aggressive behavior later in life: A longitudinal study of 442 boys born in |
|ic|1972, found that one out of every three boys -- those who have a specific version of a gene -- who was maltreated during |
|] |childhood will be almost certain to exhibit anti-social or criminal behavior as an adult. Maltreatment was defined as |
| |including physical abuse. If this is true for boys subjected to physical abuse, one wonders if the violence associated with |
| |conventional levels of corporal punishment could also trigger violent or aggressive behavior later in life? Unfortunately, |
| |the study is recent, and researchers do not yet know what level of violence is needed to trigger the negative adult |
| |behavior. It can be argued that, in the absence of precise data, parents should err on the side of caution and avoid |
| |spanking at all costs. More details |
|[p|It has been linked to many adult problems. Corporal punishment studies have linked spanking during childhood to higher |
|ic|levels of adult depression, psychiatric problems, and addictions. Another study shows that children who were spanked have a |
|] |lower IQ when compared to children whose parents used other methods of discipline and control. |
|[p|It can escalate to abuse: Because a spanking works for a while, the parent often repeats the spanking whenever the child |
|ic|misbehaves. Corporal punishment may then become a standard response to any misbehavior. This can lead to increasingly |
|] |frequent and harsher spanking which can exceed the "reasonable force" threshold and become abuse. According to the |
| |Institute for the Prevention of Child Abuse, "85% of all cases of physical abuse result from some form of over-discipline |
| |through the use of corporal punishment". Each year about 44 Canadian children are known to have been killed by family |
| |members; 35 of them by parents. The figures for the United States are probably about 10 times higher. |
|[p|It can unintentionally cause serious physical damage: |
|ic|[pic] |
|] |Boxing on the ear can burst an eardrum. |
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| |Shaking can cause a concussion, whiplash, blindness, serious brain damage, or even death. |
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| |[pic] |
| |Spanking can injure muscles, the sciatic nerve, pelvis, coccyx (tail bone), genitals or spine. |
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| |[pic] |
| |Hitting a child's hands can injure bones, blood vessels, joints and ligaments; it can induce premature osteoarthritis. |
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| |A child who is hit can accidentally fall and seriously injure themselves. |
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|[p|It trains a child to use violence: Spanking can teach children that it is acceptable for the strong to use force against the|
|ic|weak -- the concept "Might makes right" is regularly reinforced. They have an increased likelihood of becoming more |
|] |aggressive towards their siblings, their fellow students, and (later in life) against their spouses and their own children. |
| |Violence as a way of behaving is a learned response. |
|[p|Slapping or any other type of force used on the buttocks is a sexual violation: The buttocks are an erogenous zone of the |
|ic|human body. Their nerve system is connected to the body's sexual nerve centers. Slapping them can involuntarily trigger |
|] |feelings of sexual pleasure which become mixed with the pain. This can lead to confusion in the child's mind which |
| |influences the way in which they express their sexuality as adults. |
|[p|Spanking lowers a child's IQ: A study at the University of New Hampshire, released in 1998-JUL, found that spanking children|
|ic|apparently slows down their intellectual development. 3 A study of 960 children found an average 4 point reduction in IQ |
|] |among students, from and average IQ of 102 (above average) for children who are not spanked, to an average IQ 98 (below |
| |average) for who are. A reduction of 4 points is enough to have a significant negative functional effect on the students. |
| |More information |
|[p|Spanking creates fear in the child: "The message a toddler gets from a slap or spanking is that a parent or other loved and |
|ic|trusted adult is prepared to induce pain and even do physical harm to force unquestioning obedience. That's terrifying to a |
|] |little kid...However well-intentioned, a slap registers as the shattering of the whole deal between parent and child. Young |
| |children are left awash in feelings of fear, shame, rage, hostility, self-destructiveness and betrayal that they can't yet |
| |resolve or manage." 2 |