Spanking: Why is it so Bad?

I do not know when the practice of spanking or corporal punishment (CP) became a 'capital offense', but I believe that it may have been given a bad rap. Currently in the U.S. there are roughly five main forms of punishment and reinforcement techniques used to correct undesirable behavior in children. These include; time out, redirection, positive reinforcement, reasoning, and CP or spanking. Time out seems to be one of the most widely used forms of punishment today and has nearly taken over as the main punishment used in pre-schools and daycares. I do not believe that either of the mentioned institutions should be spanking our children. However, I do not know that it is such a bad idea that, we as parents utilize this technique of discipline as a last resort method in a more complete disciplinary strategy.

Time out is seldom utilized correctly in most households. Common mistakes made are giving a time out session a time limit. A child must learn to self-sooth or self quite and only be released when all undesirable behavior has ceased. A child must understand that there are more desirable activities that he or she could be participating in. A child in time out should not be given any attention until their behavior changes. Another common mistake is in the issuance of the time out command. This should be kept very unemotional and short. These are just a few guidelines that should elicit positive results. They will not be easy to implement at the outset, but should bring behavior change in time. Patience is the key to any discipline strategy.

The second most common form of punishment is that of CP. Most of us have been told that CP is roughly the same as child abuse. This misconception stems from the media and what I believe is poorly executed research. There was a study performed by Baumrid, Larzelere, and Cowan in 2002 that proposed the use of the word CP was not being defined well enough in current literature. The main point was that no real distinction was being made between reasonable and light spanking as a last resort measure and full blown child abuse, such as physical beatings. This is a key point when looking at current literature. If researchers are simply saying that all forms of CP are the same as child abuse, and child abuse can cause violent behavior in children, then CP is child abuse and thus causes violent behavior in children.

Other studies have shown that CP, when used as a last resort and executed properly, can be a very effective addition to an overall disciplinary strategy. I am the father of a little girl who is about to turn two. I believe that the addition of CP in my wife's and I overall discipline strategy will serve us well. I also believe it is up to the parent to decide. Just remember to remain unemotional and do not let your frustration affect your judgment.

References

Myers, D. G. (2007). Psychology. New York, NY: Worth Publishers

Larzelere, R.E. (2008). Disciplinary Spanking: The Scientific Evidence. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 29, 334-335.

Baumrid, D., Larzelere, R.E., Cowan, P.A. (2002). Ordinary Physical Punishment: Is it Harmful?. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 580-589.

Gershoff, E.T., Bitensky, S.H. (2007). The Case Against Corporal Punishment of Children: Converging Evidence From Social Science Research and International Human Rights Law and Implications for U.S. Public Policy. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 13, 231-272.

eSSORTMENT. Alternatives to Spanking your Child.

Retrieved from http://www.essortment.com/all/alternativetos_rvwi.htm

Priceless Parenting. What Makes Time Out Work and Fail.

Retrieved from http://www.pricelessparenting.com/Documents/WhatMakesTimeOutWorkandFail.pdf