Is Corporal Punishment Needed to Discipline Children?
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology
February 24, 2014

Child discipline is very important, without it, society would have many problems. The questions arise when we discuss what kind of child discipline is most effective. Times have changed and how our parents and grandparents were disciplined when doing unwanted behaviors would today be a severe child abuse. Even for middle age parents of today there is a contrast in the way corporal punishment is used on the youth of today. It is quit the controversy about whether corporal punishment should be used as an acceptable form of child discipline and if it acceptable at what point is the line crossed from physical discipline to child abuse. So many countries have banned corporal punishment in all three aspects of corporal punishment. The three disciplines of corporal punishment is home, school, and judicial. In this paper we will be focusing on the home. Home is where discipline is the most effective and happens most frequently. Besides home there is school where here in the United States most schools are not allowed to use corporal punishment. Twenty-eight states ban corporal punishment of public schoolchildren, an increase of 26 states over the past 30 years; but inside the family, legalized corporal punishment of children remains entrenched and unbudging” (Susan, 2006).It is used in the judicial system but only under extreme circumstances and under strict guidelines and laws that must be followed. Corporal punishment has long since been a misunderstood concept. Some think of corporal punishment as something administered by a prison or extreme physical abuse. Corporal punishment does not seem to fit with the word child discipline or with children and general but it is. When we think of punishment we tend to think of something bad whereas discipline we tend to think of as guidance. Corporal punishment is punishment administered by an adult to the body of a child ranging in severity from a slap to a spanking. It can be thought of as wanting to cause the child physical without causing physical injury. So when we slap our child’s hands, spanking our child’s bottom, slap your child upside the head, or other forms of physical discipline. People do not tend to think of a slap on the hand as a form of corporal punishment. There are varying degrees of corporal punishment; people that don’t agree with it at all, those that completely agree with it, and those that are in the middle and agree with some types of corporal punishment. So the question that arises then is how do we discipline effectively without it and is it possible to raise good children without it. There are many negative aspects of corporal punishment that leaves lasting physical and emotional scars that last a lifetime and needs to be ended here in the United States for the sake of all children.
The main controversy is whether or not corporal punishment is an effective form of discipline. Most parents in the United States would say yes that physical discipline is effective. In fact nearly 90% of American parents use corporal punishment (Straus, 1994). Let’s ask ourselves why as parents we think that physical discipline is an acceptable form discipline. Often times we find ourselves disciplining the way that our parents did and although as a child we did not like the way that it made us feel we find ourselves thinking that it worked or unknowing what to do we revert back to what we were taught. So why would we view that corporal punishment as a good thing? One reason is people believe that there is nothing wrong with slapping your child’s hand if there about to touch something hot or inappropriate, or slapping your child’s mouth for saying something that made the parent upset, or giving a spanking for any number of unwanted behavior that a child may display. Parents sometimes think that children should fear them and that fear of physical discipline will make them behave appropriately and not make the same mistake twice. Parents believe that this form of discipline will help their child grow up to be well adjusted and productive members of society.
The other side says that no amount of physical discipline is acceptable when disciplining a child. Those using time outs, communication, writing assignments, removing important objects, taking away privileges, and other forms of punishment are better than being physical with your child. They argue that we do not go around hitting other members of society with physical violence then why would we resort to that with people that we love? That is a very challenging question and one that makes people think. Why can we refrain or control ourselves in public and not with our children. It raises a certain level of knowing that it is somehow wrong or is it because we love them. Both sides of the argument have valid points but what way is best or produces the best child; or is corporal punishment even necessary.
There is another perspective to consider, the parent that uses corporal punishment as a rare form of discipline and not as the go to punishment. These parents may use this as a last resort to get the child’s attention when the parents are at the end of their rope. The 2 year old that darts away from the parent in a parking lot and the danger of that makes the parent swat the child’s bottom to make sure they understand that it was wrong to run. When children are young they do not understand all the words that go with something that serious so parents may use it as a form of getting the child’s attention and the swat is letting them know that was wrong. Sometimes this is once or twice a year and sometimes only twice in the child’s lifetime. So are these random acts of corporal punishment the same as the parents that use it daily or weekly? Where are the lines drawn between no corporal punishment and physical abuse of child and are there more than one line.
I asked a few parents their perspective on corporal punishment and knowing the parents that I asked I was not surprised by some of the responses but some of them I found interesting and one I was really thinking might be the norm. She is a mother of three and is married to father of her children, they are middle/upper class, have strong religious beliefs, children go to private school, and are all around a typical family. After talking to her I asked her to write her thoughts on the subject. Her thoughts are below:
My opinion on this matter has evolved over the last 18+ years I have been a parent and care provider. I started out as a first time parent with the opinion that any type of corporal punishment was absolutely unnecessary in any circumstance, and that there are always better alternatives in disciplining children. Then I had my second child. I was convicted in my decision to never use any type of corporal punishment, until I had no other alternative. My second child was very active and didn’t respond the same way as my first to my firm “no!” and diversion techniques that I so proudly thought that I had mastered. After a very long time of trying to stay with my beliefs, I finally had no choice but to spank. I had a responsibility of keeping my child safe, and reason, redirection, body language, and firm voice were not doing the job. I felt awful that first time, but I realized that parenting is not all rainbows and sunshine and that keeping them safe was priority. I decided to look at the different opinions and psychology behind the anti-corporal punishment and the “not” anti-corporal punishment opinions. I have continually evolved my feelings and opinion on the subject, influenced by personal experience, religion, and peers. I have come to the personal opinion that, when used along with loving and understanding, teaching and helping, forms of corporal punishment, such as spanking with a paddle, or slapping a hand, are very effective and acceptable forms of discipline. This also comes with gray areas. Some children are very sensitive, and respond to just a look of disappointment, while other children become so immersed in everything around them, that a look or even a firm tone does not deter them from what they are doing. In the case of the later, I feel that a parent may need to capture the child’s attention in a different, physical way, such as a hand slap, or spanking. This will redirect their attention, and if done in love and not anger, will present with a teachable moment. I feel spanking with a paddle vs. a hand is important. The desired behavior is not for them to associate me with a bad feeling, but to gain their attention and therefore be able to deter them from a dangerous or undesired behavior. On the other hand, in the case of the first child, corporal punishment could be damaging to their self esteem, and should not be used. I also feel corporal punishment is not appropriate for the normal child at the age of puberty. I feel strongly that it is a parent’s jobs to not only keep our children safe, but to teach them respect, of themselves as well as of others, especially those in authority. Some children are auditory learners, and some are visual learners. In my experience, these children respond well to other methods of discipline. Then there are the kinetic learners, the doers. These children need to feel and experience in order to learn. These are typically the children who need to associate negative behavior with a negative physical response. I am very against abusive behavior, and there is a line between the use of corporal punishment and abuse. A spanking or hand slapping should not be a response to anger, ever. And the individual child should always be respected as such, and be disciplined in a manner appropriate to their spirit and learning style. Although I take the position that corporal punishment is an acceptable form of discipline, it must be used responsibly and respectfully in order to be effective. When used inappropriately it becomes abuse, and completely unacceptable.
There are consequences to the parents and to the children when the choice is made to use corporal punishment. Children suffer physically and emotionally when discipline takes a physical route. Physical discipline is just not effective for two reasons; one being the corporal punishment on its own does not teach children right from wrong. Secondly, although it makes children afraid to disobey when parents are present, when parents are not present to administer the punishment those same children will misbehave. On top of these concerns psychologist Elizabeth Thompson Gershoff, PhD, of the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University, found strong “associations between parental use of corporal punishment and 11 child behaviors and experiences, including several in childhood (immediate compliance, moral internalization, quality of relationship with parent, and physical abuse from that parent), three in both childhood and adulthood (mental health, aggression, and criminal or antisocial behavior) and one in adulthood alone (abuse of own children or spouse)” (American Psychological Association, 2014). With immediate compliance some might think that this is good and that it is the behavior parents are looking for but that compliance is driven by fear. A child should not fear their parent, when that happens communication between parent and child breaks down. Not only may the child feel alone but the parents will not know what is going on with the child on a personal level. Sometimes when the parent does not get the wanted behavior out of a child over and over and common physical discipline is not working and out of the parent’s frustration the discipline turns to abuse. When we resort to physical discipline it can lead to depression or the opposite aggressive which results in troubles with the schools, friends, and possibly the law. More over it can be difficult for the child to break the cycle and inflict physical discipline onto the child. It is important to note that the act of corporal punishment itself is different across parents - parents vary in how frequently they use it, how forcefully they administer it, how emotionally aroused they are when they do it, and whether they combine it with other techniques. Each of these qualities of corporal punishment can determine which child-mediated processes are activated, and, in turn, which outcomes may be realized," (American Psychological Association, 2014). If you find yourself in a position as a parent and you choose to use physical discipline make sure that you follow up with communication. Letting your child know verbally what they did wrong and what you expect and most importantly that you love them will help ward off the negative feelings that come with corporal punishment.

There needs to be more studies done on how much is too much and at one point corporal punishment hurts a child long term. Studies have shown that it can leave lasting emotional scars but that it usually in cases where the child receives physical discipline as normal form of discipline. As we discussed earlier that depending on the frequency, forcefulness, and how emotionally aroused the child gets will determine the long term outcome. Conducting a case study with children over a long period of time with parents that choose to use all the varying degrees of corporal punishment would provide a better understanding of the consequences of using this form of discipline. There is another possibility besides learning how to use physical discipline safely; we could follow other countries and ban it all together. Education, as well as legislative and legal reforms, is crucial to ending corporal punishment on a worldwide level. In 1979, Sweden became the first country in the world to ban all corporal punishment of children (Paintal, 2007). Other countries were soon to follow including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Ukraine, and the Netherlands. Although the United States have made steps toward ending corporal punishment they have not done so. Until changes are made through banning physical discipline or learning more about how much pain and long term emotional problems that each level causes children the only thing that can be done is to educate parents, caregivers, and authority figures on the dangers of corporal punishment causes because even if one child grows up with the emotional scars of corporal punishment it is to many and it takes something as simple as education, and learning a better way than using our hands.

What does a child feel when they are stricken by a parent and what motivates a child to do well and to follow the right path? Children are motivated by so many things these days. There are their electronics that consist of ipods, phones, pads, and computers not to mention television. You take away any or all of these things from a child and you will have their attention and will get results. Most children will respond to the incentive theory of motivation which suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Behavioral learning concepts such as association and reinforcement play an important role in this theory of motivation. With young children toddler through kindergarten a parent could earn a trip to the park or some other special reward for following rules that the child is having hard time learning. In our schools they use a discipline in classrooms that have a system of colors for behaviors. A child starts out on green and can work their way up to eagle excellent or their way down to first yellow and then red. The child gets a warning first before moving to yellow. My son was often in the yellow red range and it was not acceptable for me. I started by making him right sentences and that did not seem to work. I decided to motivate him with an award. He was really in Ben 10 things and so I started purchasing them and each week I would put one on top of the fridge where he could see it and on Friday if he was on all green or better he got the toy if not he could try the next week. It worked for the most part. Teens are typically motivated by electronics or doing things with friends. I think this theory of motivation can work both ways either by removing a reward to motivate them to make better choices in the future or motivation to earn something back or something new. Finding what motivates your child and using that as an incentive to get a desired behavior is better than using corporal punishment and your child will feel empowered when they achieve this goal a renewed motivation to start again.
Positive reinforcement goes along with the motivation of incentive but adds another element to finding alternate possibilities other than corporal punishment. This learning principle uses positive reinforcement for desirable behavior, sometimes combined with the withdrawal of reinforcement for undesirable behavior (Lefrancois, 2011). So like with the motivation when you give positive reinforcement such as the toy idea I used with my son or even just using words of praise when they do something right it gives them a much better outlook on your expectations. Children have always done better with positive motivation and reinforcement than with negative consequences however sometimes children do not respond to positive and that is where parents sometimes step in with corporal punishment.
As you can see corporal punishment leaves lasting physical and emotional scars that last a lifetime and needs to be ended here in the United States for the sake of all children. Corporal punishment in the United States as of right now is the choice of the parents and although there are laws for when parents cross the line into physical abuse there is nothing to protect the child from corporal punishment of all kinds. I’m not an advocate of corporal punishment and although I have used it randomly throughout the years of being a mom I think that it is a wrong choice to make. I feel very strongly that once your child can have a conversation with you there should be no need for corporal punishment to be used. In my opinion when children are young and just learning sometimes you may have to slap their hand or swat their bottom but never in anger. I think that with education and rethinking how we discipline it is possible for the United States to ban all forms of corporal punishment. Children need to be guided differently and shown respect so that they can grow up to be productive members of society. To me right now there seems to be a gap in today’s youth and parenting skills. A lot of parents have laid off the corporal punishment but have not learned to parent effectively without it. I have heard a lot of parents say I don’t want to fight with them so I just let them have their way or I know its wrong but that’s what they wanted. It is truly amazing to me that children have become the guidance and nto the parent guiding the child. This is why I think that just letting parents know about the hazards of using corporal punishment is only half the equation we must educated and motivate the parents to be just as effective without corporal punishment and they thought they were with it. Is corporal punishment needed to discipline children? I don’t think so but here in the United States you still get to decide for yourself.

References

American Psychological Association (2014). Is Corporal Punishment an Effective Means of Discipline? Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news /press/releases/2002 /06/ spanking.aspx
Lefrancois, G.R. (2011). Psychology: The Human Puzzle. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUPSY101.11.1/sections/sec1.4?search=types%20of%20research#w4886
Paintal, S. (2007). Banning corporal punishment of children. Childhood Education, 83(6), 410-413. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/210392836?accountid=32521
Straus, M. A., & Kantor, G. K. (1994). Corporal punishment of adolescents by parents: A risk factor in the epidemiology of depression, suicide, alcohol abuse, child abuse, and wife beating. Adolescence, 29(115), 543-61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/195929585?accountid=32521
SUSAN BITENSKY Susan Bitensky is a professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law This is excerpted from The,Baltimore Sun. (2006, Nov 30). We need child 'whisperers', U.S. is too far behind the ban on children's corporal punishment. Newsday. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/280091634?accountid=32521