Article Review of 'Corporal Punishment and Child Behavioral and Cognitive Outcomes through 5 Years of Age'

Spanking is subjective in the least. Most parents suggest that using spankings as a form of discipline is essential to the development of a compliant child. For most Americans, this truth is one of the core foundations of the American model home. “70% of mothers indicated they had spanked their child at least once by the time he or she was 2-years-old” (Lee, Altschul and Gershoff, 2015.) There are numerous amounts of evidence that point to the certainty that spanking is linked to child aggression. In,

Spanking is a fiercely debated social issue in many countries, such as the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, and Germany. There are questions over what intensity of pain is suitable until it crosses the threshold into abuse. Up until the mid-20th century it was perfectly okay in most communities for a spanking to cause a child to cry in pain throughout and have difficulty sitting down afterward, even resulting in stripes or bruises for days. Nowadays several think even mere redness of the skin abusive, while others would call it effective discipline. This causes questions as to whether children should be spanked. In addition, whether spanking is an effective method of discipline and at what point does it constitutes child abuse.

A recent study shows 70 percent of parents believe it is right to discipline a child through physical means. Most commonly, parents will spank their children but being hit with things like belts or other objects happens as well. Parenting methods haven’t changed much with time and discipline in similar no matter the country. With more studies out to find the most effective method of parenting and discipline it’s coming to attention whether or not physical harm is the best way to teach children. Parents want what is best for their children, so it is important to constantly bring up and question methods commonly accepted in the past. One method that is becoming more controversial is spanking children. Though it is still considered normal to do, it is gaining more traction and more studies are being done to find the problems it causes. Checking on parenting methods can be difficult as everyone is raised differently. It is also difficult to test which forms of punishment lead to certain outcomes. However, there is a trend of negative effects from hitting. Gershoff acknowledges, “several national professional organizations have called on parents to abandon spanking as a child rearing practice and for professionals to recommend disciplinary alternatives to spanking.” Spanking children is a terrible discipline method as it has negative effects.

In the last two decades new analysis of research shows that physical punishment has long-term effect on children. The research concluding that physical punishment (spanking) actually has havoc on the child’s long term memory according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Neuroimaging evidence shows that physical punishment may alter parts of the brain involved in performance on IQ tests and up the likelihood of substance abuse. Also early data shows that spanking could affect areas of the brain involved in emotion and stress

The common misconception that spanking is a form of child abuse affects the proper discipline of today's youth. Some parents are actually afraid to discipline their own children using the same method of belief from their own upbringing. Who is correct in the notion of right and wrong discipline? Is there such a thing as a correct way to spank your child? In my opinion, there is. So, my goal is to show that if the

Lansford et al. (2012) examined the differences in externalizing behavior for children who had never been spanked (no spanking), children who had been spanked with a hand only less than once a week (mild spanking), and children who had been spanked with an object or spanked with a hand more frequently (harsh spanking). The

15% of children are spanked before their first birthday, also 19 states in the U.S. allow spanking in schools. Spanking can cause aggression, mental disorders, and drug/alcohol abuse during adulthood (Online Psychology). Does spanking effect kids or effect how they act, does spanking effect later discipline techniques? Is it considered child abuse? Multiple questions on whether spanking should even be aloud.

Jordan Riak, leader of Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education, once said, “Spanking does for a child's development what wife-beating does for a marriage.” Spanking has become a highly accepted form of child abuse in today’s society. Spanking can lead to psychological and mental struggles, behavioral and violence issues, lower cerebral capacities, and less remorse for wrongdoings as an adult. So why are we still choosing to hit our children? It is impossible for children to learn from their mistakes from spanking. The reasoning and understanding portion of their brain shuts down due to fear. However, when approached about their behavior verbally and when the issue is worked through reasonably with

Editors remarked that in, “Spanking Your Children: Good or Bad”, the CED studied how spanking may be effective short term, but there may be consequences later in life. The more children are spanked, the less they are likely to be mannerly, and well- behaved in the future. They continued on by stating, “Spanking does not teach children why their behavior was wrong or what they should do instead; it teaches children that the only reason to behave appropriately is to avoid being punished.” (2017). This research has proven that there is not only a physical negative reaction, but a mental one too.

‘Spanking children: the controversies, finding, and new directions” by Corina Benjet and Alan E. Kazdan is about spanking used as a method of discipline, and its impact on child development. According to the authors, the purpose of the article is to “propose that both methodological limitations of the research to date as well as the limited focus of the research questions have prevented a better understanding of the impact of parental spanking on child development” (Benjet & Kazdin, 2003).

When the choice is made to use spanking as a disciplinary method, children are often left with more negative psychological results than parents intend. Parental behavior is the supposed to be an example to children of what love looks

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Children don’t come home from the hospital with an instruction manual and only so much information can be acquired from parenting books at the local bookstore. Discipline can especially be a hard subject for new parents, considering that there is no real “right” way to punish your children for bad behaviors. Spanking is a commonly used strategy to combat childhood wrongdoing. Spanking has been used as a disciplinary tool in reportedly 90% of American families (Wolraich et al.). Spanking and corporal punishment has a high prevalence in American society. Although spanking is seen as acceptable by the majority, this does not mean that spanking is good for the child. Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, a developmental psychologist, asserts, “There is little research evidence that physical punishment improves in the long term. In contrast, there is substantial research evidence that physical punishment puts children at risk for negative

Child abuse is a complex, surreptitious social problem that has been around for as long as humanity itself. The collective consequences of childhood abuse and spanking can be detrimental and are reflected in addictive behaviors, dysfunctional family dynamics and mental health problems in general. Can the commonly used practice of corporal punishment and spanking be justified as an appropriate method to discipline children?

The variety in angles allowed me to delve into several aspects associated with our topic. In particular, I appreciated getting to know the beliefs of scholars and parents on opposite sides of the spectrum regarding their opinions on spanking. Those who are pro-CP believe that this punishment “teaches respect for authority and is essential for maintaining control over a child” (Frechette et al., 2015, p. 135). However, this statement is often not set concretely as it lacks empirical evidence. For this reason, I wanted to dig up data that made clear arguments, I found that the anti-CP view had an overwhelming amount to

The theory of discipline has been debated for decades. Arguments over how it should be carried out and how harsh it should be has been discussed. One aspect of discipline has been shoved into the dark, the effect on the child. No matter how much it is spoken of children remember what happened to them in their childhood. Whether they were pleasant or not can lead to problems later in life. One debate that shall soon be settled deals with the spanking of children.