|
Founded in 1974 by
Dr. Kerby T. Alvy, the Center for the
Improvement of Child Caring (CICC) has
grown to be
one of the nation's largest and most productive
nonprofit parenting and parenting education
organizations. For more information about our many
programs, activities, products and services, go to our
website,
www.ciccparenting.org, or call (800) 325-2422.
(If this newsletter has been forwarded to you, and
you would like to be added to our mailing list, please
click "Enter your e-mail address" at the bottom of the
right hand column.)
| Definitions and Prevalence |
 |
|
The corporal or physical punishment of
children refers
to a wide range of parenting practices intended to
cause physical pain. These include such acts as
pinching, shaking, slapping, punching and kicking
children, and, with or without the use of objects like
belts, cords and brushes, spanking, hitting and
beating children. Each act can be mild or severe,
depending upon their force and duration.
All such acts constitute violence directed toward
children, because violence is defined as an "act
carried out with the intention, or
perceived intention, of causing physical pain or injury
to another person" (Straus, M.,
Beating the Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment
in American Families and its Effects on Children).
National surveys of thousands of parents from all
walks of life and all cultural groups continue to show
that nearly all parents use one or more forms of
corporal punishment, and especially with young
children.
The latest national survey focused on the use of
milder forms of corporal punishment ("ordinary
corporal punishment"), including (1) spanking on the
bottom with a bare hand, (2) slapping on the hand,
arm or leg, (3) pinching, (4) shaking (on children age
3 or older), (5) hitting on the bottom with something
like a belt, brush, stick or some other hard object,
and (6) slapping on the face, head or ears. The
survey was conducted in 1995 and the results
reported in a
1999 article in Clinical Child and Family
Psychology Review (see graph for prevalence data).
As can be seen in the graph, 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 forth and fifth year of life, and
decreasing in use as children grow older and bigger.
In terms of how often such practices were used, the
most frequent reported use of corporal punishment
was found with two-year-olds, where parents used it
on an average of 18 times a year.
Verbal aggression directed at children
includes such practices as putting children down,
insulting them, swearing at them, and saying and
doing things to spite them.
An analysis of data from a nationally representative
sample of 3,346 American parents with a child under
18 living at home found that 63 percent of the
parents reported one or more instances of verbal
aggression directed at their children. These results
appear in a
1991 article in Child Abuse and Neglect.
|
| Long and Short Term Effects |
|
|
The previously mentioned national surveys were
conducted by Dr. Straus and his colleagues at the
Family Research Lab at the University of New
Hampshire, and were funded by federal government
grants.
In those studies, the researchers found relationships
between the frequency of use of corporal punishment
and verbal aggression, and a wide range of child and
family characteristics and outcomes.
They found that the greater the use of corporal
punishment by parents, the higher the chances were
of their children:
- Becoming Depressed
- Having Suicidal Thoughts
- Striking Siblings and Peers
- Performing Poorly at School
- Becoming Delinquents and Committing Crimes
- Having Career Problems
- Abusing Their Own Children and Spouses, when
Adults.
In terms of the use of verbal aggression, the
research has shown that the more frequent the
verbal aggression the higher the chances of the
children:
- Becoming Physically Aggressive with Others
- Experiencing a Variety of Interpersonal Problems
- Becoming Juvenile Delinquents.
These studies also indicated that children who were
exposed to both verbal aggression and severe
corporal punishment exhibited the highest rates of
aggression, delinquency and interpersonal problems.
A 2002 study-of-studies on the effects of corporal
punishment on children also found evidence of many
of these relationships. This study, by Dr. Elizabeth
Thompson Gershoff of Columbia University,
encompassed 62 years of research. The study was
entitled,
Corporal Punishment by Parents and Associated
Child
Behaviors and Experiences: A Meta-Analytic and
Theoretical Review. (This article is very long
and takes an extended time period to download.) It
was
published in a journal of the American Psychological
Association, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 128,
No. 4, pages 539-579.
Dr. Gershoff’s study found that parental use of
corporal punishment was related to such child
behaviors and experiences as:
- Greater Aggression
- Poorer Internalization of Moral Values
- Higher Rates of Delinquency and Antisocial
Behavior
- Poorer Quality of Parent-Child Relationships
- Poorer Child Mental Health
- Being a Victim of Child Abuse
- Abusing Own Child and Spouse
Her study also found that the use of corporal
punishment was associated with the short-term
effect of a child more quickly complying with parental
directions.
|
| Children Should Never, Ever Be Spanked No Matter What the Circumstances |
|
This is the title to Dr. Murray A. Straus' chapter in a
2005 book on family violence,
Current Controversies on Family Violence, edited
by Dr. Donileen R. Loseke of the University of South
Florida, and by Drs. Richard J. Gelles and Mary M.
Cavanugh of the University of Pennsylvania. In his
chapter, Dr. Straus makes a powerful case for
everyone making a commitment to stop spanking
children. It begins as follows:
"There are many reasons why children should never
be spanked or subjected to any other kind of
corporal punishment. Three of the most fundamental
reasons:
- Spanking has serious harmful side effects that
parents have no way of seeing, because such effects
do not show up until later.
- Spanking is no more effective than other
methods of correction and control, and it is therefore
unnecessary to subject children to the risk of the
harmful side effects.
- Spanking contradicts the ideal of nonviolence in
the family and society.
"Progress is being made toward the goal of
nonviolence in the family. Assaults on partners have
decreased (Straus, 1995). Fewer and fewer parents
and professionals who advise parents approve of
spanking (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1998;
Schenck, Lyman, and Bodin, 2000; Straus and
Mathur, 1996). There has also been a large
decrease in the percentage of parents who use
corporal punishment (CP) with school-age
children (Straus and Stewart, 1999)."
"No one is sure about the reasons for these
important changes. In addition, there are some
paradoxical aspects to the trend away from CP. One
paradox is that, although only about half of American
parents now believe that spanking is sometimes
necessary (Straus and Mathur, 1996), 94 percent of
parents still spank toddlers (Straus and Stewart,
1999). A second paradox is that although
ever-larger percentages of professionals who provide
information to parents are opposed to spanking, few
directly advise parents not to spank. Even fewer
advise parents to never spank."
"Given these paradoxical discrepancies, one objective
of this chapter is to draw on the research evidence
to explain the discrepancy between what parents
believe and what they actually do, and the
discrepancy between what professionals who advise
parents believe and what they actually advise."
"A second objective is to identify the implications of
the research evidence for advising parents about
spanking and other forms of CP. A particular focus is
on whether parents should be advised to
never spank or to use other forms of CP
under any circumstance. The analysis suggests a
third paradox: Focusing almost exclusively on helping
parents learn alternative strategies to CP unwittingly
contributes to perpetuating CP."
The current Controversies on Family Violence book, in
which Dr. Straus' entire chapter appears, also
contains a chapter by John Rosemond that argues in
favor of spanking, and chapters that address such
related issues as child abuse, woman's violence
toward man, elder abuse, and date and acquaintance
rape. That book can be obtained by clicking here.
Dr. Straus' persuasive presentation on why children
should never be spanked is also detailed in different
sections of the second edition of his classic book,
Beating the Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment
in American Families and Its Effects on Children.
|
| What To Do Instead |
|
The best answer to what to do instead of spanking
and berating children is to learn to be an
authoritative parent, and use more positive and
nonviolent ways of gaining the cooperation and
respect of children.
A variety of modern
Parenting Skill-Building Programs
are available for learning the authoritative
approach. These programs are usually taught for
small groups of parents as classes that meet once
per week for several weeks for two to three hours of
instruction and role playing.
Some of these programs also are taught as one-day
community events (one-day parenting
seminars)
where large numbers of parents can participate and
learn.
There are also several excellent educational videos
that parents can view at home, at childcare centers,
schools, churches, temples and other community
venues.
Two video programs of particular note, and which
demonstrate numerous non-violent ways of managing
situations that often tempt parents to spank, hit or
verbally berate children are called:
Each video presents typical child rearing
situations where parents are on the brink of losing
control because of the behaviors of their children. In
the Spanking video, the situations are a
baby crying
incessently in the middle of the night, a toddler
messing up the kitchen, a grade school child
disobeying, and a middle schooler refusing to clean
her room.
In the Yelling video, the
challenging
situations include an attention-seeking toddler
running in front of the tv while a tired Dad is trying to
watch a game, an angry preschooler throwing blocks
around after being frustrated with not being able to
build a tall tower, a seven-year-old's whining
demands while in a market, and a brother and sister
who can't solve their own problems and explode in
fighting in front of a parent who is working at home.
As the parents of these children are about to hit or
yell, the videos are stopped, and the question of
what to do instead is asked.
Then the videos are turned back on to see
excellent, non-violent ways of managing these
situations. The skills that are demonstrated include
many of those that are taught in modern parenting
skill-building programs, such as:
- The Thinking Parent's Approach to Child
Disobediences
- The Family Rules are Like a Coin Strategy for
Selecting What To Do
- Effective Praising
- Empathy
- Parental Modeling
- Parental Coaching
- Communicating Expectations in Advance
- Practicing or Role Playing Desired Behaviors
- Use of Material Rewards
- Family Meetings
- Mild Social Disapproval
- Ignoring
- Logical Consequences
- Redirection of Attention
Other excellent videos that address and provide
perspectives and alternatives to corporal punishment
are:
|
|
Perspectives on Corporal Punishment and Verbal Aggression |
|
|
|
A solid conclusion that can be drawn from decades of
research on parenting and child development in such
fields as psychology, sociology and anthropology is
that it is the overall pattern or constellation of
parenting practices, attitudes and commitments that
is most important in the development and lives of
children, rather than specific practices and attitudes.
For example, the “authoritative” pattern of parenting
identified by Dr. Diana Baumrind, which consists of an
abundance of parental warmth and nurturance,
respect for the needs and viewpoints of children, and
firm and fair discipline and family leadership, is a
pattern that has been consistently associated with
such positive child outcomes and characteristics as
high self-esteem, solid academic performance and
stable social adjustment. Other patterns identified
by Dr. Baumrind, like the “permissive”
and “authoritarian” patterns, have been consistently
associated with fewer positive and several negative
child outcomes.
However, decades of research also indicates that
certain specific sets of parenting practices, those
subsumed under the headings of corporal punishment
and verbal aggression, have been consistently
associated with negative and sometimes tragic
consequences, thus making their use a matter of
critical concern.
This and future editions of Effective Parenting will be
devoted to explorations of the research on corporal
punishment and verbal aggression, the controversies
surrounding their use and abolition, as well as
programs and resources that are designed to provide
parents with alternatives to such practices.
As the founder of the Center for the Improvement of
Child Caring, I am an advocate for non-violent
parenting and for teaching parents to approach
children in the authoritative manner. One can be an
authoritative parent without using corporal
punishment and verbal aggression. My wife and I
have worked hard to be authoritative and non-violent
in the raising of our two daughters, both of whom are
turning out to be healthy, competent and peaceful
adults.
My and the Center’s perspective on these matters is
available in an article,
written for the Center’s new,
one-day seminar in the Confident Parenting Program.
This edition of Effective Parenting will include
definitions and facts about corporal punishment and
verbal aggression, drawing greatly on the research
and writings of one of the nation’s foremost
authorities on these matters, Dr. Murray Straus.
Dr. Straus is a Professor of Sociology and Co-Director
of the Family Research Laboratory at the University
of New Hampshire. We were proud to have him
speak at one of our conferences in the early 1990s
and have been following his exemplary work with
great interest.
His classic book on corporal punishment, Beating
The Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment in the
American Family, originally appeared in 1994. All
of the studies mentioned in that book were of
correlational nature, where one could observe
associations between the use of corporal punishment
and children's behaviors and development.
Since 1994, additional studies of a prospective nature
have been conducted which allow for making
statements that the use of corporal punishment was
the cause of the certain child behaviors and
characteristics. The second edition of Dr. Straus'
book, which was published in 2001, contains these
newer findings. By being able to include them in the
latest edition, greater credibility and validity can be
given to the findings from the prior correlational
studies. As a result, Dr. Straus
used a different subtitle for the second edition. It is
called,
Beating the Devil Out of Them:
Corporal Punishment in the American Family and Its
Effects on Children.
We strongly recommend that anyone concerned
about children, whether they be parents or
professionals who work with children, obtain and
learn from this very important book. Dr. Straus is an
extraordinary thinker, researcher and humanitarian.
What he has assembled in this latest version is the
most comprehensive understanding of corporal
punishment and its effects on children and society.
This book presents the strongest, clearest and most
empirically based argument against ever using
corporal punishment.
Do yourself, your children and your community a
great service by learning what Dr. Straus has to say
in this marvelous book.
Sincerely,
Kerby T. Alvy, Ph.D.
|
|
