Final Research Paper
Is corporal punishment needed to discipline children? PSY 101 Introductions to Psychology
Lenai Carraway
December 17, 2012

Corporal punishment seems to be the most popular way in which people had chosen to punish their children in the past. Many parents were raised in homes that used spanking as the main form of discipline and can readily recount each time he, or she received a spanking for an offense, and even remember what kind of instrument was used to inflict the punishment. Today corporal punishment is a controversial subject, which leaves one wondering if corporal punishment is needed to discipline children. It is my belief that corporal punishment is not necessarily the best possible way to discipline children in this ever changing society we live in.
Throughout this research paper, I will discuss some side effects that can occur in children from corporal punishment when administered either at home or school and some theories behind it. “Corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force causing pain, but not wounds as a means of discipline.” (Educate, don’t punish, 1999) Now, it has becomes difficult to draw the line between abuse and corporal punishment. Corporal punishment can range from a simple spanking to a tapping of the hand. While some parents do go to the extreme in punishing their children, I do not believe it is the majority of parents who abuse their children. In my mind, a swat on the butt or a tap on the hands does not constitute corporal punishment. Some children respond to time out or taking away things they value most, while others don’t. “Child abuse is doing something or failing to do something that results in harm to a child or puts a child at risk of harm. Child abuse can be physical, sexual or emotional. Neglect, or not providing for a child's needs, is also a form of abuse. Most abused children suffer greater emotional than physical damage. An abused child may become depressed. He or she may withdraw, think of suicide or become violent. An older child may use drugs or alcohol, try to run away or abuse others.” (Advocates for Victims of Violence, Inc., 2012)
In today’s society, people are associating corporal punishment with physical abuse, which is a thin line between the two. Corporal punishment can leave a lasting impression, and could be borderline child abuse, dependent upon the object of choice that was used to administer the punishment. Some parents used a belt, a switch, a hand, a paddle or any object that was within reach, without thinking of the consequences that might result from hitting the child with the object. As a child growing up, I was spanked but I cannot say I have any permanent side effects from such corporal punishment, because my parents did not go overboard with their punishment causing intent to harm.
There are two factors that must be taken into account when disciplining and how to distinguish between corporal punishment and abuse and they are “intensity and intention. Intensity: the extent to which injuries have resulted from the use of violence. Intention: the extent to which the intention is to teach/discipline.” (Educate, don’t punish, 1999) Intensity would be the severity of the injuries that have occurred from that spanking, for example spanking a child until they welt, or have bruises, that to me is abuse. According to the article Educate, don’t punish, “parents resort to corporal punishment for different reasons,” some consider corporal punishment as being “appropriate to children’s education; because it relieves tension or because they lack sufficient resources to tackle a situation or don’t have strategies for achieving what they want.” (Educate, don’t punish, 1999) To me, those reasons were not founded, they seem more of a personal nature.
In our society today, people are scared to discipline their children in public when it comes to using corporal punishment because someone might see it as abuse and call the cops.
Corporal punishment is more common at home than in schools or public places as compared to 15-20 years ago. I have heard parents talking to their children about getting a spanking when they get home, if they did something wrong in public. I assume it’s because the parents are afraid to use corporal punishment in public for fear of either being arrested or being considered an abusive parent. Although there are side effects and possible abuse that spanking can lead to, one has to be cognizant of how they administer discipline. I could remember disrespecting a teacher in school, using profanity and he caned my butt by giving me six lashes; when I got home my mother spanked me again. I learned from that lesson not to disrespect my elders, or people in general. In today’s society, my teacher who used the cane would have been in a great deal of trouble, his actions would have been considered a form of child abuse which could have caused him to lose job, and not be able to work in a school environment or with kids. My parents did not wait until I got home to administer any type punishment. If I did wrong in a public place, I was spoken to once, and if the behavior did not change, then I got swatted immediately. In these current times if someone was to see that, they would probably call the police to report the parent’s action as child abuse.
Personally, I would not call the police if seeing a parent simply smacked their child on any part of the body while that child is acting up. I have witnessed while sitting in a hospital waiting room a little boy who could have been no older than seven years, cursed his mother out because it was taking too long for them to look at his little sister and he wanted to go home. “B…..what is taking them so long, can’t you f…..ing tell them to hurry up, I want to go home.” She was totally embarrassed and said “you wait until we get home, we will discuss this.” His response was “F you B……” Well most of us who were also sitting and waiting were just dumfounded. In that situation, I would not have cared if she took a belt to his little butt. Time out was not working for him, which led me to believe, he ran the household. Although the only non-violent option she had was to be authoritative, it did not work and it was clear that she was afraid of this child.
Many schools have banned corporal punishment, so teachers are having a hard time disciplining children. Corporal punishment has been banned in “30 states of the USA. In two such states, New Jersey and Iowa, it is illegal in private schools as well.” (The Financial Express, 2011) Although I do believe corporal punishment should not be used to discipline children, I do believe that strict and consistent punishment should be administered to children. I am reading articles in the news, and seeing a flurry of violence in the schools. It is my belief that children are more disrespectful in schools now than when I was growing up because they know that they cannot be punished corporally by a teacher. The reason for this assumption is that I have witnessed parents going to the schools and cursing the teachers because they may have said something to their child and the child did not like so they told their parents who then thought it best to curse the teacher. Teachers have to thread on thin ice when dealing with disrespectful children. They are not allowed to raise their voices, as this is considered verbal abuse, they cannot spank since this is considered physical abuse, which could cause the teacher and school to be sued. Another observation is the various school shootings which show there is more violence in schools than there were 15-20 years ago e.g. Columbine High School shooting in Colorado and the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 which left 32 people and the gunman dead.
“Emerging research suggests corporal punishment in schools may harm a child’s cognitive ability.” (Grohol, 2011) As a child growing up, your only job is to learn and enjoy life. “If children are exposed to corporal punishment in a learning environment, they may have long-term detrimental effects on children's verbal intelligence and their executive-functioning ability. (“Corporal punishment may, “2011).
Professor Victoria Talwar of McGill University and Prof. Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, performed an experiment with 63 kindergarten’s and first graders at two African private schools. One school used corporal punishment while the other used time outs and verbal reprimands. They found that overall performance was the same at both schools for the kindergarten students. The first grade students showed different results according to Professor Talwar. “This study demonstrates that corporal punishment does not teach children how to behave or improve their learning,” said researcher Victoria Talwar, Ph.D., of McGill University. “In the short term, it may not have any negative effects; but if relied upon over time it does not support children's problem-solving skills, or their abilities to inhibit inappropriate behavior or to learn (Corporal punishment May, 2011). It is my belief that if a teacher uses reasonable corporal punishment and uses it leniently it won’t affect the student, however, if used constantly the child can become mentally affected by such constant punishment. Every child is different in how they will react and overcome corporal punishment. If corporal punishment is carried out at home, and it affects the child’s behavior at school then it can interfere with their learning ability. If a child can’t learn, his/her intellectual skills will not be to par and could possibly lead to one of two things, bullying or becoming an outcast. However the same side effects can occur if a child is exposed to corporal punishment at home and not at school.
There are other options for punishing children other than corporal punishment, the most common of which is time out. This form of punishment teaches the child that his action has consequences without a physical action like a spanking. For any non-physical punishment to work one has to be consistent, firm and authoritative and the rules you set must be clear, concise and fit the action for which the child is being punished. For example, say what the child SHOULD do, not what NOT to do. (e.g., say "Put the toys away, "instead of "Don’t leave those toys on that floor;" “If your primary approach to discipline has always involved physical punishment, you may find it difficult to adopt an approach which avoids the use of physical punishment entirely. (Carter, Sheena, PHD) Dr. Carter also indicated that parents when administering time out punishment, they should be sure to make eye contact with the children. According to a study done by Dr. Straus and his colleagues at the Family Research Lab at the University of New Hampshire, over 30 percent of parents reported using corporal punishment during the first year of a child’s life, peaking at over 90 percent indicating that they use such practices during a child’s fourth and fifth year of life, and decreasing in use as children grow older and bigger (Alvy, 1974). There are many side effects to corporal punishment, some are very severe and some are just temporary. The worst of the side effects is, having suicidal thoughts, aggression, and child-parent relationship. The aggression can lead to many things later on in life like being that bully in school or bullying their siblings. One study showed that use of corporal punishment to halt aggression increased risk for aggressive behaviors by 50% (Niolon, 2010). The use of corporal punishment against aggression is like fighting fire with fire. If you spank your child for bullying another, you are doing the same thing by using that form of punishment. I believe children live what they learn and at this stage in their life they are soaking up everything around them trying to find themselves. When a child is hit for doing the wrong thing, that cycle continues, because, the child now thinks its ok to hit another if he or he feels that person is not doing right.
The next big side effect of corporal punishment is child-parent relationship. This happens for a couple of reasons. Parents that work tend to spend less time with their children. The only time they see their children is after work. Therefore most spankings happen between 5:00PM and bedtime, which comprises the majority of parent-child time together for most children (Alvy, 1974). Parents are busy, and for the most part, they do not have the time and patience to deal with bad behaviors. Parents need to learn how to cherish the time they have with their children, and find other ways to punish. There are a few side effects that linger on into adulthood. If a parent tends to go overboard on the spanking, that could transfer to the child’s mental stability and they could possibly become abusive towards their own family. Studies suggest that as many as one-third of all individuals who were abused or neglected in childhood will abuse their own children in some manner (Child Abuse: Physical and Sexual, 2001). Also parents, who tend to be abusive, use their past as a guide to child rearing or an excuse for abusing their children. Corporal punishment also has an impact on today’s society. Corporal punishment increases the use of violence in society and legitimizes it in the eyes of succeeding generations (“Educate, don,”1999). This means that when kids see a parent or adult hit or strike someone in anger, they think it is ok to do the same. If this problem isn’t fixed or the parent doesn’t teach that child right from wrong, it could lead to that child being abusive towards others. There are also parenting classes open to the general public which can teach many other techniques to punishing your child. Colleges, schools, hospitals etc., have parenting classes that are available to the general public. You can even take parenting classes online. These classes are proven to be effective and now courts are ordering abusive parents to take these classes, so they can learn how to be more effective without using corporal punishment.
Behavioral theorist suggests other ways to teach and discipline without using corporal punishment. B.F. Skinner is a theorist well known for his research on operant conditioning; the process of learning a new behavior through reinforcement, In operant conditioning the behavior produced is new, and not part of the animal’s usual repertoire. (Operant conditioning,2006). B.F. Skinner’s theory on operant conditioning is a very good way to teach your children without corporal punishment. An example of operant conditioning would be a child doing his/her homework to get a reward from the teacher or parent. This form of learning is used by everyone, daily. I pay my electric bill, so the lights would not be turned off. I complete my job at work so I could keep my job and possibly be promoted for doing a great job. These examples show that there is a possible reward; if we were not rewarded for the jobs we do, people would not work, so adults as well as children are more likely to do something if it involves being rewarded.. There is also another theory known as classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response (Classical conditioning, 2011). Classical conditioning is best described by Ivan Pavlov who worked with dogs for his experiments. “He trained dogs to salivate when presented with a bell. Naturally, dogs will salivate when presented with food, in order to facilitate digestion.” (Le Francois 2011, ch 4.2 para. 8) Pavlov demonstrated that dogs can be trained to salivate to only a ringing bell, in the absence of any food, so long as the dogs have previously learned the association of bell-ringing and food presentation (Classical conditioning, 2006). In order for this type of learning to work, you must introduce the two stimuli separate from each other. This type of learning taps into our emotional side more than the other.
In conclusion, corporal punishment has lasting effects on children either positively or negatively. The results of corporal punishment not only affect children it has an adverse effect on parents and society as well. The immediate aims of such punishments are usually to halt the offense, prevent its recurrence, and set an example for the child to behave more appropriately. However, corporal punishment is not the answer, there are alternative ways. Now that we are starting to realize there are more ways to punish a child than to use corporal punishment, we must do what is reasonable; be better educated on ways to discipline. We have to learn how to be firm and authoritative; give positive reinforcements, and finally watch what we say and do because children do live what they learn and emulate what is in their immediate surroundings.

References
Educate, don’t punish. (1999, October). Awareness campaign against Corporal Punishment of Children in Families. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/lac/spbarbados/Implementation/CP/Global/Educate_donthit
The studies provided information on being aware of other alternatives to corporal punishment, as well as some of the negative effects of corporal punishment.

Advocates for Victims of Violence, Inc., (2012), Retrieved from http://www.avvalaska.org/Child_Abuse.html
The article references how it easy to do or fail to do something that would result in harm to children and how the type of emotional damage that could be caused.

Corporal Punishment and kids development; The Financial Express. 2011, Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/docview/845873686?accountid=32521
The Article informs us on how our education sector is undergoing both affirmative and negative changes in light of the use or non-use of corporal punishment.

Corporal punishment may have long-term negative effects on children’s Intelligence. (2011, July 26). Materials provided by University of Toronto; Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedaily.com
This article talks about how corporal punishment affects children’s intelligence, mostly in a negative way.

LeFrancois, Guy R. (2011), Psychology: The Human Puzzle. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from: https://content.ashford.edu
The text spoke about how a dog was trained to conform to human commands, and suggests that this type of conformity could work for humans as well.

Nauert, Rick, PHD, Senior News Editor; Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 27, 2011 Retrieved from: http://www.psychocentral.com

Alvy, K. T, Effective Parenting Newsletter. Corporal punishment and verbal aggression. Retrieved from http://www.ciccparenting.org
Gives perspectives on corporal punishment and verbal aggression, the long and short term effects and what to do instead of spanking.

Niolon, R. (2010, December 15). How many parents spank their children? Retrieved from http://www.psychpage.com
This article gives statistics on corporal punishment and the frequency of its use. It also talks about how it can be done either thoughtfully or in anger when parents are distressed and emotional.

Austin, M. (2011, 04 26). Corporal punishment [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/
Argues how corporal punishment sends the wrong messages, is hypocritical, and contradictory.

Child Abuse: Physical and Sexual. (2001). In Encyclopedia of Women and Gender: Sex Similarities and Differences and the Impact of Society on Gender. Retrieved from: http://www.credoreference.com
Speaks of how therapeutic approaches may incorporate theory and interventions from behavioral, cognitive, systemic, and psychodynamic therapies when dealing with physical and sexual abuse in children.

Carter, Sheena, PH.D. (2012.). Alternatives to physical punishment. Retrieved from http://www.pediatrics.emory.edu
Explains how to give clear and simple directions to children when using alternative to physical punishment.

Operant conditioning. (2006). In Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/hodderdpsyc/classical_conditioning
Discusses how the operant response is brought under stimulus control.

Classical conditioning. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/classical conditioning
Discusses the process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to response in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response.

Classical conditioning. (2006). In Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/hodderdpsyc/classical_conditioning
Speaks about the Pavlovian conditioning, how a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with another stimulus.