Social Acceptancement Of Corporal Punishment In The United States

To spank or not to spank? The topic of corporal punishment is a controversial and sensitive matter in our society. No matter what day in age we live in it will continue to be a social problem. Corporal punishment, also referred to as spanking is deliberately inflicting pain on a person due to an inappropriate behavior or act they have done. This involves hitting, pinching, using switch cords, smacking, and etcetera. Those who are in favor of corporal punishment and believes that it should not be illegal, uses scriptures from the bible as justification. Supporters of corporal punishment feels as if spanking is an effective way to manage behavior. Those who are against spanking points out the negative, psychological issues, and mental

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.

Did you know that Corporal Punishment is legal in 21 states in the united states, but not in the other 29 states, and it’s only used in 13 of those 21 states. I believe that Corporal Punishment should be allowed in every state in the united states because, it helps kids learn better, it takes stress of teachers, and it teaches kids discipline.

Among Vietnamese families is to tie a misbehaving child 's ear to a doorknob as punishment.in some other culture a child could be beaten/whip and physical injury inflicted as a means of discipline. To them their action is normal based on their cultural believe. (Mclntyre et al 1992) The American middle-class culture is one of the few that uses positive reinforcement procedures while limiting punishment when deemed necessary, a mild, spanking may be administered, although a more frequent practice is to isolate the misbehaving child, withdrawing love and affection for a period of time (Mclntyre et al 1992). These majority culture parents perceive their methods as being more humane than those that incorporate physical punishment. However, other cultural/ethnic groups often view the dominant culture style as being crueler. (Mclntyre et al 1992). While some culturally diverse guardians may use quickly administered physical punishment, they would never hint at an emotional separation from their progeny that might create feelings of rejection in the child. (Mclntyre et al 1992)

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.

The poll asked if a child less than one year old should be spanked. As a result, 81 percent of the mothers disagreed with spanking a child less than a year of age, and 19 percent believe a child under a year of age should be spanked (Jet 16). Then when asked if a child of 1-3 years old should be spanked, 26 percent disagreed with spanking at that age and an astounding 74 percent agreed with spanking a child of this age(Jet 16). When asked about the harshness of the spanking, 92 percent said they do not leave visible marks of damage while only eight percent say they do leave a mark upon the child (Jet 16). The results of both polls show consistent finding with the research of sociologist Richard J. Gelles, PhD, and director of the Family Violence Research Program at the University of Rhode Island. He Believes ?Hitting children is so taken for granted in out society that almost all parent view spanking as an inevitable part of raising children?(Working Mother 48). He believes this ideology will remain apart of our culture because it is infused within each of us since birth (Working Mother 48).

In the United States alone there are around 2.3 million inmates incarcerated. Many taxpayers declare that the government should use corporal punishment to get rid of at least half of the prisoners and reduce the risk of having more people behind a jail cell. However, would corporal punishment really decrease the number of inmates in the future? Personally, I believe that corporal punishment wouldn't make a difference in the use of reducing the amount of crime that happens in the United States. If the government were to allow the use of such tortures to those who have allegedly committed crimes, violence would have to be forced in. Violence has been proven to be an unnecessary form of action to achieve goals. When the goal is to reduce crime, offenses that pertain violence, there must be another form or solution to obtain that goal.

‘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).

The next argument that is firstly recognized is the basic human rights to all Australians. However, within the communities of where traditional laws are abided punishment that involves harm to the offender is inhumane and is completely unacceptable. Some punishments that fall under the customary laws contain “death (either directly inflicted or by sorcery or incantation). Spearing (of greater or less severity) or other forms of corporal punishment (e.g., burning the hair from the wrongdoer‘s body), individual duelling‘with spears, boomerangs or fighting sticks, collective duelling, Shaming or public ridicule and exclusion from the community." This shows that many different techniques different from the standard practices of the Australian

The term corporal punishment means the intentional infliction of pain on the body for purposes of punishment and includes slapping, hitting with objects, pinching, shaking and forcing to stand for long periods of time (Epoch 1). Family researchers define corporal punishment as " the use of physical force aimed at causing children to experience pain but not injury, for the purposes of correction and control of youthful behavior" (Day 83). Spanking is one form of physical or corporal punishment (Epoch 1).

For many years, discipline was and still is a grey line. By 2000, Studies were showing major associations between physical punishment and mental health, physical injury, parent-child relationships and family violence in adulthood. This led many countries to take action against violent punishments. Therefore, countries banned domestic violence after they decided that gentle discipline is the best method to raise a kid. On the other hand, many parents are reluctant to leave their physical ways of discipline. These techniques come from cultural, and religious beliefs that have been rooted in the parents. The parents continue to use violence as a way to discipline their kids, claiming that it is more efficient than gentle and soft methods of discipline.

Corporal punishment has been a subject of controversy discussed in the criminal justice system for many years. It is defined as the infliction of punishment on the body. Graeme Newman defends the idea that corporal punishment is an effective means of discipline. He strictly argues that this form of punishment is “the most humane punishment we have”. In his book Just and Painful: A Case for the Corporal Punishment of Criminals, Newman has two arguments that support his position: that the punishment must be painful and that it must cast back the nature of the crime itself.

Much controversy surrounds the topic of corporal punishment with children. Arguments against the use of physical punishment usually revolve around the perception that it is abuse and that healthier methods of disciplining children effectively accomplish adjusting behavior. Those who support spanking usually employ religious arguments, citing religious values, or cultural arguments, citing social context and how parents themselves were raised. Religious beliefs, culture, and perceptions of abuse produce different approaches to parenting. Diana Baumrind identified three styles of parenting, authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative (Berger, 2014, pp. 287-288). These methods of parenting will support or oppose corporal punishment to varying

Brendan Smith (2012), focused on the harm and the negative impacts of parents spanking their children. Internationally it is viewed as a violation of children’s rights, and has even been banned in 30 different countries (Smith, 2012). Elizabeth Gershoff, a researcher on physical punishment suggests that physical punishment does not work because you have to make it stronger and harder every time in order to have the kids comply (Smith, 2012). It has been found that children who were physically punished are more likely to believe

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?