Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children When Used in the Home

Most parents have debates in whether "to spank or not spank' when it comes to their children discipline. However, the first and the most common response of many parents are to spank, then probable trouble back in their mind and ask themselves, did my response was okay? Many parents do not even bother to stop and think through their actions. Commonly corporal punishment comes out of hands; it is not disciplined anymore it becomes abuse. All parents have their tradition of discipline and probably believe is the correct one, because they were taught that way, some are okay, but others are “NOT” correct. Although some of the parents blame their own child, themselves or whatever is happening around them. The parents need to discipline their child in a way that is not

Markham believes that “corporal punishment was linked with . . . increased rates of aggression, delinquency, mental health problems, and problems in relationships with their parents. . . .As adults, they are more likely to hit their spouses.” Markham’s statements, however, can easily be disproven. Markham based her facts on an “analysis of 88 corporal punishment studies over six decades. . . .” While initially these studies may seem trustworthy, it is impossible for them to be believable. Six decades ago, if a child was receiving a punishment, he was told to grab a switch from outside and bring it to his parent so the child could be spanked with it. When that child became a parent a couple decades later, he used the same form of punishment on his children because it worked on him when he was a child and the cycle then repeats. These studies cannot accurately show that spanking in childhood has caused issues in adulthood because throughout generations parents continue to use the same punishment on their children even if the parents did not agree with the punishment when they were

Child discipline is an important part of parenthood. It is challenging for adults to manage children’s behaviors and find the correct lessons that will benefit their children. According to the research performed by Flynn (1998), most parents in the United States agree that "it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking" (p.26). Socolar et al. performed research which agreed that “corporal punishment of children persists—roughly fifty percent of the parents of toddlers in the United States use corporal punishment as a regular method of disciplining their children.” (as cited in Gershoff, 2010, p.32). That is not to say that physical punishment is the solution as it can stop a behavior immediately but the results

There are different outlooks on spanking. Sheree L. Toth, author of the CNN article “When does spanking become abuse?”(CNN) discusses her negative point of view on corporal punishment. In her article, she discusses how corporal punishment can have long-lasting effects on the mental state of the child and shift parental relationships with their children, all caused by the use physical discipline. “Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects,” Toth states. She recognizes the effects that corporal punishment may have on individuals, and she disagrees with the uses of it. Toth also understands what the outcomes

According to Parenting Article by Dr. Phil, “Long-term consequences of spanking can include increased aggressiveness, antisocial behavior, and delinquency.” According to Elizabeth Landau article from CNN, “A new study of more than 2,500 toddlers from low income families found that spanking may have detrimental effects on behavior and mental development.” According to the American Psychological Association, written by Brendan Smith, Many studies show that physical punishment in a child, consist of spanking, lashing and causing pain escalates anti-social behavior, hostility, and mental health problem s for

They claim that spanking only teaches the child to fear their parents instead of respecting them. It can be dangerous because children will grow up thinking it's okay to hit other people to get their way, which is what parents do. Spanking can lead to violent behaviors later in their lives. "Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects," American Academy of Pediatrics has said in a policy statement. In a 2002 study, published in the Psychology Bulletin, said that even though corporal punishment can make a child obey their parents in the short run, it can also be the link to long-term problems such as mental disorders and behavioral

Consistent use of corporal punishment has been an indicator of less effective parenting and is commonly linked to socialization out comes such as delinquency, low self-esteem, and social incompetence (Day 81).

Corporal punishment is defined as the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offense, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behavior deemed unacceptable (Wikipedia 2014). The line between spanking and abuse is not always clear and is decided on a case by case basis by the state prosecutors and judges and whether the line has been crossed. If asked parents use the word spanking as not just a slap on the buttocks, but a form of corporal punishment that is not severe enough to be classified as abuse. Corporal punishment has been repeatedly associated with child abuse, moral internalization, aggression, delinquent and antisocial behavior, decreased quality of the parent-child relationship, increased behavioral symptoms, later criminal behavior, worse mental health, and perpetration of spouse and child abuse (Gershoff, 2002; Zolotor et al., 2008).

Apart from corporal punishment, there are many tactics can be used to discipline children, such as reasoning. Spanking is not the only choice. In fact, spanking might to be good choice. Sarah Landy, child psychologist with Toronto's Hincks Institute who leads parenting courses for parents having children who are hard to be disciplined, reported that most parents told her that spanking was useless (qtd. in Bennett). Holly Bennett, Freelance editor, writer and researcher, gave a reasonable explanation, “Spanking tends to divert the child’s attention away from the original issue (his own behaviour) because it provokes such strong emotions -- fear, resentment, hostility.” As a result, through corporal punishment, parents might not be able to teach children anything, but leave their children painful

Spanking can make a child become more open to violent and depression behavioral, leading to them failing in the future. Jim Sims-Giles author of the “Child, maternal, and family characteristics associated with spanking” stated that spanking can have a long term and short term side effect. “ Having been spanked as a child and/or adolescent is related to later psychological problems including an increased chance of being depressed and thinking about suicide (Straus, in press), becoming violent and delinquent (Straus, 1991), and experiencing alienation and lower economic achievement.” Physical discipline can have an emotional effect on a child opening them up to become depress or turn to violence for relief. Spanking also can have a long term effect on a child’s memory. The article “Child, maternal, and family characteristics associated with spanking” stat that many adults can remember a time they

The main problem with spanking is that it may increase the child's belief that violence is a good way to solve problems and/or the spanking will instill the child with feelings of defiance and anger towards the administering person. (Duncan, 2007) I believe that effectual spanking would include proper education with love before and after the spanking for the purpose of clarifying the intent of the person who is spanking and the cooperation of the spanked child. The understanding of the context and reasoning of the parent is crucial for the child to grasp before an effective physical discipline session can be carried out.

Many studies have come out with negative effects that can come about from using many forms of corporal punishment. As parents we need to ask ourselves are we able to control ourselves when we are upset at our kids? Are we able to be fair to our kids? Can the things we do to our children come back and turn out to be used against us and others? “Corporal punishment

The world has changed in many different ways, but there are still things that need to be changed for the better. Corporal punishment is one of those things. All around the world, corporal punishment is affecting children in many ways. It is described as a form of discipline that hurts a child in a way and is used both in homes and schools. It has been going on for years upon years and very few people try to stop it. People believe corporal punishment is good for children, but there have been so many negative outcomes that other people argue against it. Although some people believe that corporal punishment helps improve a child’s behavior, corporal punishment should not be used because it could be used excessively and it is ineffective.

Discipline is one of the basic things a child learns from his parents before he or she faces the outside world to learn more about life as a whole. Teaching this trait can depend on how the parent shows it to their child and how they explain the importance of having this trait both in and out of their homes. Misbehaving children cannot be avoided as they are curious little beings and they have a tendency to explore. But there are some parents, even teachers, who do not tolerate misbehaving and they resort to corporal punishments such as spanking to make sure the child never forgets how painful it is to misbehave as they will remember the punishment entailed to it and become more disciplined. However, not all children would understand the

Aside from the long-term effects corporal punishment has on children there are some short-term ones as well, although they may go away when the child grows up they can be prevented if parents reduce the use of spanking and hitting their children. Children raised in a strict household have the tendency to see aggression as a way of dealing with problems, if their parents hit them to get them to “behave” they go and do that to other kids, some children hit other children in school or even family members because children learn what they see their parents model and they go and do it to other people. If a parent uses spanking their child as a way to get them to behave the child sees this as being right, they ultimately become bullies to other children. They hit other children because they don’t know how to distinguish the difference between aggression towards misbehaviour and just aggression in general. Studies have shown that children raised with physical aggression use physical aggression upon others ”research, as well as public discussion, has centered on the influence of physical discipline leading to aggressive behavior problems via social learning” (Rodriguez 810), it’s just what they know to do, a child raised with parents who don’t use corporal punishment don’t have it in their system that hitting others is right. “Monkey see monkey do,” that is the case for these children, they see their parents use harsh discipline so they go around doing the same, if parents were to