Society today, through education has increased our awareness and understanding on how our brain functions. This effect is having a phenomenal impact on issues such as behaviour in children. Scientific studies are building an evidence-based platform for the fundamental attributes which supports the whys and the hows. Child behaviour is an ever-growing area to explore as the increases of problematic behaviour is continuously rising. In the following literature review, I will examine the following question, Is punishment an effective behaviour modification technique in children? I will address the both the positive and negative effects of corporal punishment. Furthermore, this literature review will look at other parental techniques that are used when a behaviour change is required and the impact it has on both educational and home environments. Corporal punishment is a technique that has been embedded and passed down from each generation. In the past, it was almost seen as an invisible concern to society and the retributions of the effects it may have on the upbringing of a child is only now, a current rising area of concern. (Straus, 1994). A survey that was conducted in Toronto presented that 75% of the subjects supported corporal punishment in their homes when disciplining their children. (Straus, 1994). Burns (1993) investigated the effectiveness of corporal punishment and found that there was no supporting evidence to prove that corporal punishment enhanced the
“Physical punishment of children: Can we continue to accept the status quo?” by Kim Oates is a scholarly source found in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. The author of this journal argues that discipline with physical punishment is not only inefficient, but it also causes problems in the emotional and behavioral development of children. He follows by providing practical forms of disciplining such as: removing privileges, teaching by example, having constant supervision, setting appropriate rules, and being consistent. Kim Oates states that those parents who use physical punishment to discipline their children, likely experienced it during their childhood and are usually unaware of these other methods of discipline. Oates included
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
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.
This article is credible due to several reasons. One of these reasons is that the article is still recent dating back about 5 years ago. Also, the article is written by a professor at the University of Texas who specializes in corporal punishment and and children making the author very credible. Finally, the article is supported by numerous sources and contains more than just three paragraphs.
While effective in the schools, children who were corporally punished had a high tendency to become more aggressive after school Corporal punishment in a school was a teaching method that originated from european countries (5) The result of a cross-culture on 186 cultural groups was that the higher the amount of corporal punishment is used, the child will be more aggressive and prone to interpersonal violence The study also showed that the more frequent corporal punishment was, the more violent the person would be as an adult Over 90% of Canadian parents have admitted to using corporal punishment at least once A reason why corporal punishment is controversial is because the line between punishment and abuse is vague Another reason is because even if the punishment is not abusive it still has bad future effects
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
Thomas Eddlem is a longtime freelance writer and high school history teacher. His credentials as related to the topic of corporal punishment is that he is a parent to three children as well as a blogger. His stake in this issue is appropriately used corporal punishment is both effective and beneficial. Additionally, He discloses no noteable financial backing for his opinions. He aims this article at a universal/ friendly audience. His purpose is to persuade the audience to believe that corporal punishment, when used on toddlers, is the most effective means of discipline. He claims a ban
Living in the twenty-first century you rarely ever see someone spank their child or hear the word spank come out of a parent’s mouth. I see too many parents today that are too self-righteous to “spank” their children, because many people see spanking as form of abuse. Many parents in today’s world use more reasonable punishments for their misbehaving children. Some parents put their children in time-outs, deny them of their freedom, take toys away and ground them. I have seen parents use these methods because there are more reasonable ways of punishing their child for being disobedient. However, not everybody in today’s world uses these methods for punishing children; some parents use the act of spanking for punishment. Spanking was a popular punishment back in the 1900s, but is a very debatable topic in today’s society.
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).
As the saying goes, “if people are good only because they fear punishment [then] we are a sorry lot indeed” (Albert Einstein). The question is whether corporal punishment is necessary with so many other methods of discipline available. Is it effective? This is a much-debated issue between childcare specialists and parents alike. Corporal punishment, like spanking, should not be the preferred method of discipline as it does more harm than good.
Child discipline has been a heated topic of debate in recent years. Many older people in past generations support more severe child discipline, citing that it teaches kids proper behavior better than more modern teaching styles. However, younger parents and experts are saying that severe child discipline can have long lasting negative effects. The issue of child abuse has been brought up many times in these arguments. There is a fine line between an acceptable spanking and child abuse. Corporal punishment may be thought of as, “the good old days,” by many adults, but kids today measure up, and might even surpass what kids used to be like.
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
It is a common enough scene, something you have probably experienced with your own children countless times. They are being loud, fighting, or just generally doing something they are not supposed to be doing. So you spank them. Maybe even yell. You’re frustrated, at your whit’s end. You just want them to stop, want them to learn and make better choices. Only, after spanking them, their behavior worsens. The effect you thought spanking them would have is not working. They act out more, get more aggressive. A debate has risen, as scenarios such as this become more talked about. Some say corporal punishment is damaging psychologically and negatively impacts childhood development. So the question has to be asked: “Is spanking bad?”