First of all, I would like to express my personal opinion on the issue of flogging. And especially in the matter of parenting and discipline of minors, both in the family and in school.
But first, the terminology. The term 'spanking' is, in my opinion, extremely unsuitable for general use on the subject of corporal punishment. It has a very narrow scope. In my personal opinion, 'spanking' can be called only the process of corporal punishment of a child by means of an open palm. At the same time, everyone claims that the most correct and safe spot for punishment is the soft parts of the body without the presence of important internal organs. For example, it could be the buttocks or the upper part of the thighs. And it is hard to disagree.
I.e. spanking is the palm, the buttocks (over clothes or naked), the smack. Any use of discipline other than the palm can hardly be called spanking. It would be beating, flogging, whipping, slippering, belting, paddling, caning, and the like. Call it what you will! But I'll say it a million times! It's not spanking! So when parents say they had to spank their son with a belt last night, they're lying!
Children naturally spread this terminology in their environment and among themselves. Thus, a stable stereotype of statements about flogging as spanking is formed in society. This is especially well seen on thematic forums. All this is designed for children and propagandized by adults to cover their duplicity and disguise beating or violence against a child with the harmless word spanking. Don't do that! Call things by their proper names if you use whipping for educational purposes.
Now for the process of parenting itself. I am not a strong opponent of flogging minors for the purpose of discipline. I believe in whipping, but only in exceptional cases. It is absolutely necessary when a child's behavior threatens his health or life. It's only then that a serious lesson should be taught to the child to prevent extreme behavior in the future. Pre-spanking lecture on life-threatening behavior should end with a severe whipping with the use of disciplinary tools.
In schools, on the contrary, there should be a complete ban on educating students using corporal punishment. Only parents or their legal representatives have the right to punish a child at home, including for school offenses. However, many countries still allow corporal punishment in the educational process of their schools, including the most democratic country like the USA.
Despite the existing practice of corporal punishment of minors in many countries of the world, psychologists, for their part, are seriously concerned about the current situation. According to them, this is due to the distant psychological problems of children who were whipped when they were growing up. Their various perspectives on the subject are presented below.
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The Effect of Spanking on the Brain
Spanking found to impact children's brain response, leading to lasting consequences
Jill Anderson
Research has long underscored the negative effects of spanking on children’s social-emotional development, self-regulation, and cognitive development, but new research, published this month, shows that spanking alters children’s brain response in ways similar to severe maltreatment and increases perception of threats.
“The findings are one of the last pieces of evidence to make sense of the research of the last 50 years on spanking,” says researcher Jorge Cuartas, a Ph.D. candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who coauthored the study with Katie McLaughlin, professor at the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. “We know that spanking is not effective and can be harmful for children’s development and increases the chance of mental health issues. With these new findings, we also know it can have potential impact on brain development, changing biology, and leading to lasting consequences.”
The study, “Corporal Punishment and Elevated Neural Response to Threat in Children,” published in Child Development, examined spanked children’s brain functioning in response to perceived environmental threats compared to children who were not spanked. Their findings showed that spanked children exhibited greater brain response, suggesting that spanking can alter children’s brain function in similar ways to severe forms of maltreatment.
The study looked at 147 children, including some who were spanked and some who were not spanked in the beginning years of their lives, to see potential differences to the brain. By using MRI assessment, researchers observed changes in brain response while the children viewed a series of images featuring facial expressions that indicate emotional response, such as frowns and smiles. They found that children who had been spanked had a higher activity response in the areas of their brain that regulate these emotional responses and detect threats — even to facial expressions that most would consider non-threatening.
Perhaps surprisingly, says Cuartas, spanking elicits a similar response in children’s brains to more threatening experiences like sexual abuse. “You see the same reactions in the brain,” Cuartas explains. “Those consequences potentially affect the brain in areas often engaged in emotional regulation and threat detection, so that children can respond quickly to threats in the environment.”
“Preschool and school age children — and even adults — [who have been] spanked are more likely to develop anxiety and depression disorders or have more difficulties engaging positively in schools and skills of regulation, which we know are necessary to be successful in educational settings."
While we tend to think of spanking as an “outdated” practice, it’s still an incredibly common form of discipline used among parents and even in schools — despite the research linking the practice to negative results. There are only 62 countries — not including the United States — with a ban on corporal punishment, Cuartas points out. Additionally, nearly one-third of parents in the United States report spanking their children every week, often to detrimental effects and implications.
“Preschool and school age children — and even adults — [who have been] spanked are more likely to develop anxiety and depression disorders or have more difficulties engaging positively in schools and skills of regulation, which we know are necessary to be successful in educational settings,” he says.
Cuartas offers three steps educators and caregivers can take toward eradicating spanking in schools and homes:
- Recognize that spanking is not an effective tool of discipline in the classroom or at home. When parents or teachers use spanking, it doesn’t lead to the desired outcomes in discipline or teach children how to regulate their emotions. “We know there are better techniques, like positive discipline, that are more effective,” Cuartas says. “The most important tool out there is explaining to children certain behaviors that are wrong and what type of behavior to seek through an example.”
- Work to eradicate forms of violence in the home and school environment by pushing for policies that can make corporal punishment illegal in the world. As Cuartas notes, the issue of corporal punishment is still widely accepted in the world and even in the United States.
- Provide better support to families. Research shows that parents aren’t always to blame for using corporal punishment. Cuartas points to many different reasons why parents rely on spanking, including aspects like what they learned growing up, emotional factors like stress, and different familial circumstances. He notes that it’s important to take care of the caregivers and offer tools that will help families and caregivers find other ways of discipline.
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Psychology Reveals How Spanking Harms a Child’s Mental Health
Where do you stand on spanking a child? Did your parents spank you? Many other countries wouldn’t dare use hitting as a form of punishment. Yet, America, one of the world’s freest nations, has many people who resort to acts of physical violence to discipline their children. Did you know that more than 70 percent of Americans believe that spanking their child is an acceptable form of punishment? However, what they don’t realize is the amount of mental damage they’re doing. Sure, the sting from a belt or switch will quickly fade, but the marks left on a child who suffers from physical reprimand can last a lifetime.
Who Favors Physical Punishment?
While spanking is a form of corporal punishment, it’s a very mild form. Did you know that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that a child of any age should never be struck as a form of discipline? The Midwestern part of the country seems to be more favorable to this type of correction than other parts of America. Did you know that your education level can dictate whether or not you would spank? If you are highly educated, then you are less likely to use this form of punishment. However, people who have a high school education or less seem to favor spanking as a form of reprimand. The problem with spanking comes down to the disciplinarian. See, many parents strike their children when they are angry, scared, stressed out, afraid, or fear their next move. It’s often used as a last resort when no more options exist. Some experts call spanking an adult temper tantrum where nothing is ever resolved and only worsens the situation. Now, you may have the occasional time when your child ticks you off, and you swat them. While it’s still wrong, it won’t cause any long-term damage. The problem comes into play when you repetitively turn to physical violence and spank your child. It’s a severe problem when you think that the only way you can handle your child is to hit them. Hitting a kid doesn’t teach them anything at all. It shows them that if you don’t like the way someone is acting, you can hit them, and it settles the score.
Why Is It That Physical Discipline Never Works?
Striking a child should never be a dominant disciplinary method. Everyone makes mistakes, and many don’t know how to handle the situation. Use the past to make better decisions for the future. Here are ten reasons why you should never use corporal punishment on your children.
1. Violence is Never Okay
If you use physical correction on your child, you teach them that this is an acceptable way to deal with anger and conflicts. It also contradicts societal norms, making the child feel singled out and ashamed.
2.Inflicting Pain on a Child is Damaging
Making your child feel pain for the wrong choice in life is cruel. Some people believe that they are doing things for the child’s good, but the theory of “No pain, no gain” doesn’t apply here. Child-rearing is about love, not hurting, so you need to find effective discipline methods that show you love them.
3. It Damages You Too
Not only is striking your child emotionally damaging to them, but it’s also damaging to you. Have you ever spanked your child and felt horrible afterward? You may doubt your parenting skills and feel doubt, remorse, or guilt over your actions. It makes parents feel like a bully and not a guide in life.
4. Children Can Suffer Esteem Problems
Hitting of any kind can be damaging to a child’s ego. When you spank them, they feel as if there is something wrong with them. They don’t question their behavior as they’re feeling the pain from their parent hitting them. Did you know that this action can lead to self-image issues as well as body image problems? Know the signs of depression in children.
5. You’re Putting Your Child in a Powerless Position
When you’re bending a child over a bed to spank them, you are making them feel powerless. When a person feels helpless and out of control, then they will act out even more. Studies show that spanking can cause children to act worse, not better.
6. It Shows Poor Coping Skills
Parents need to instill respect, values, and standards for their children. However, when you’re hitting your child, it’s hard to show them anything other than anger and poor coping skills.
7. It Crosses the Child’s Personal Boundaries
Things have certainly changed over the past few decades. This generation knows how to respect their body and to keep people out of their personal space. You teach them that no one should ever cross their boundaries. Yet, when a parent spanks a child, it does just that. Striking a child will break their trust as well as invade any sense of security the child feels.
8. Hitting is Not Effective Communication
Every action causes a reaction. If your child is having an issue and acts out, they will not be eager to talk to you when you spank them. Instead, sitting down and getting to the crux of the problem will do more for them than hitting ever could.
9. It’s a Bad Path to Start Down
With traditional discipline, parents start with a time out, then grounding, and there is a progression of steps. The punishments become more difficult as the child’s behavior continues. However, when you spank a child, there’s nowhere to go. In most instances, the “whippings” become greater and turn into physical abuse. Again, it’s another way for the parent to vent their anger on the child. Sadly, it doesn’t make anyone feel better once it’s over.
10. It Doesn’t Work
Hitting your child doesn’t work as an effective form of discipline. You may stop the behavior momentarily, but the backlash from the act of physical violence is long-lasting. In the end, it’s probably going to make the situation much worse.
Is it Child Abuse?
Many experts believe that spanking your children is child abuse. True, some parents believe that a small child and a tap on the hand can help them to know a stove is hot and not to touch it. However, when you’re still striking a child that is 12-15 years of age, then it’s not about redirection. Child abuse is anything that causes physical, psychological, or neglect of a child by their parent or caregiver. Since spanking causes physical and mental pain, it’s more than justified as abuse. Some areas of the country allow a child to be spanked without physical marks left behind. When a police officer or Child Protective Services worker sees bruises, burns, strange marks, and other signs of abuse on a child, then they can take them. Parents try to use physical discipline too often, and it ends up in a violent encounter.
Acceptable Forms of Punishment
Now that you know what kind of discipline is unacceptable, you should also know what works well. Remember that the child’s age and circumstances dictate your reaction, but this is a general guideline.
• A Stern Talk
Talk to your child about why their behaviors are not okay, and ensure they understand. The older the child, the more talking you can do. Don’t call names, yell, or make threats. Talk to them in a calm voice as they will be more receptive.
• Isolation
The key is to remove the child from the environment to give them time to think. This can be a time out or being sent to their room. A “naughty chair” also works great. The time of isolation shouldn’t be for long periods. Experts recommend one minute per each year old. So, a three-year-old should sit for three minutes.
• Withholding
Withholding means taking something from the child they hold near and dear. You can remove or limit video games, computers, phones, time with friends, and deny other privileges. This method of punishment seems to work best with older kids.
• Grounding
Grounding is a time out from the things they love to give them time to think about their actions. Some parents ground kids to the bedroom, and they can only come out to eat or use the restroom. Others will ground them for a specific period. During that time, they are not allowed to do anything for fun.
Final Thoughts on How Spanking Can Harm Your Child’s Psyche
Being a parent is hard, and no child comes with a handbook. You want to do the best you can and raise healthy individuals. However, when it comes to discipline, it almost always reverts to the way you were punished. There are too many studies that show that children who have been spanked are damaged psychologically, and you wouldn’t wish that on an enemy, let alone your child.
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How Spanking Harms the Brain
Why spanking should be outlawed.Molly S. Castelloe Ph.D.
Spanking erodes developmental growth in children and decreases a child's IQ, a recent Canadian study shows. This analysis, conducted at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, offers new evidence that corporal punishment causes cognitive impairment and long-term developmental difficulties.
Debates around physical punishment typically revolve around the ethics of using violence to enforce discipline. This inquiry synthesized 20 years of published research on the topic and aims to "shift the ethical debate over corporal punishment into the medical sphere," says Joan Durant, a professor at the University of Manitoba and one of the authors of the study. According to the report, spanking may reduce the brain's grey matter, the connective tissue between brain cells. Grey matter is an integral part of the central nervous system and influences intelligence testing and learning abilities. It includes areas of the brain involved in sensory perception, speech, muscular control, emotions, and memory. Additional research supports the hypothesis that children and adolescents subjected to child abuse and neglect have less grey matter than children who have not been ill-treated.
Medical professionals investigating the long-term effects of spanking have consistently found a link between corporal punishment and increased aggression in children. Such "educational" discipline correlates to higher levels of acting out in school and trouble in academic performance. It predicts vulnerability to depression, typically in girls, and antisocial tendencies usually manifest in boys.
Boys are spanked more than girls. Physical punishment most frequently occurs at the toddler or preschooler age. Parents of lower income and with less formal education spank more often. Religious conservatives tend to favor corporeal punishment, though not always the case. The King James version of the Bible, Proverbs: 13:24, expresses the sentiment "spare the rod and spoil the child" in antiquated language: He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
Spanking gets quick results, but it doesn't reduce the undesired behavior. In addition to detrimental physiological effects, it may also inflict lasting emotional damage that inhibits the learning process. Physical punishment undermines trust between parent and child and breeds hostility toward authority figures. Being hit may subsequently hinder social relations in the classroom where there is a power differential between teacher and child. It is any wonder when hitting sends the signal to a child that learning occurs through punishment? This form of discipline pretends to be educational but is actually a way for parents to vent their own anger. Spanking involves the learned misrecognition of injury as education. Figures of cultural authority, such as parents and teachers, may be construed as purveyors of sadism rather than knowledge. Corporal punishment undermines compassion for others, for oneself, and limits the mutual capacity for gaining insight.
In 1979, Sweden became the first country to outlaw the physical punishment of children. Since then, more that 30 other countries have banned corporal punishment at home and in schools. Yet it remains legal for a parent to spank their child in the United States. Part of the difficulty in changing the cultural attitude that corporal punishment is an effective means of discipline is that many view prohibiting spanking as limiting the rights of parents. Here, the underlying assumption is that children remain the property of adults and should serve their parents' egos.
In the United States, spanking has declined since the civil rights movements of the 1960s. Most parents who use physical punishment today express regret for it and scant belief that it improves a child's behavior. More effective means of teaching discipline are: giving time-outs, choices, and non-violent consequences for misbehavior. These include logical consequences ("if you do not pick up your toys, they will not be available tomorrow") and natural consequences ("if you do not put on your coat, you will be cold").
Parents who administer corporal punishment were often on the receiving end of it themselves. In other words, the cause of this form of "educational" violence are often hidden in the repressed history of the parents. When adults do not understand the connections between their previous experiences of injury and those they actively repeat in the present, they perpetuate a destructive cycle and inflict their own suffering on their offspring. The next generation continues to carry the damage that has been stored up in the mind and body of their ancestor. Conversely, parents can also work to become consciously aware of their own childhood pain and recognize how they transmit historical violence to their children by hitting.
The effective teaching of discipline may have the potential to lessen the overall levels of violence in our society. In other words, corporal punishment, of which spanking is a relatively minor form, can have larger social implications. Some studies suggest a connection between the physical punishment of children and the behavior involved in some criminal assaults.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and The American Psychological Association oppose striking a child or adolescent for any reason. Regarding how a parent can best handle an incident of spanking in the moment of regret after it has occurred, The American Academy of Pediatrics advises:
Parents should explain calmly why they did it, the specific behavior that provoked it, and how angry they felt. They also might apologize to their child for their loss of control. This usually helps the youngster to understand and accept the spanking, and it models for the child how to remediate a wrong. What do we want to teach our children? Spanking teaches kids that hitting is an acceptable response to anger. Showing the next generation how to manage rage without violence is a critical life skill.
*SpankOut Day USA, officially April 30th, was inaugurated in 1998 to educate about the societal need to end corporal punishment and promote non-violent ways of teaching discipline.
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Longitudinal study provides more evidence that spanking might harm kids’ early developmental skills
Eric W. Dolan
Spanking, a form of physical punishment aimed at correcting child behavior, has long been a topic of debate in parenting and developmental psychology. A recent study published in the Psychology of Violence sheds new light on this controversial practice, suggesting that spanking is associated with detrimental effects on a child’s cognitive, social-emotional, and motor development. The study, conducted across four countries — Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda — utilizes longitudinal data to provide a more robust analysis than previous studies.
Spanking remains a widely practiced form of discipline, considered normative and socially acceptable in many cultures. Despite international disapproval from bodies like the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, it is estimated that globally, two out of every three children aged 2-4 years have been spanked. Previous research predominantly from high-income countries has often highlighted the detrimental effects of physical punishment on child development. However, these studies mostly relied on cross-sectional data and correlational methods, raising concerns about the accuracy and applicability of the findings. In light of these challenges, the current study aimed to address these gaps by using longitudinal data from lower- and middle-income countries, which have been underrepresented in previous research. This approach sought to improve the understanding of how early experiences, shaped by parenting behaviors such as spanking, influence the development of the brain and foundational skills in children.
“Physical punishment, including spanking, is widespread and socially normative around the globe, and there has been some academic controversy on whether it may be harmful for children’s development. Therefore, in this study I wanted to provide rigorous evidence on the potential effects of spanking on young children’s development,” said study author Jorge Cuartas, an incoming Assistant Professor at New York University, researcher at the Centro de Estudios sobre Seguridad y Drogas (CESED) in Universidad de los Andes, and senior consultant on Violence Against Children at the World Bank. Data were sourced from four longitudinal studies sponsored by Save the Children. Each study was conducted independently in one of the countries mentioned, involving two rounds of data collection. These studies were not originally designed to explore physical punishment but were utilized for this purpose due to their rich data on child development and caregiver behavior. The sample included a diverse set of participants with a total of 3,048 children.
The core tool used for assessing child development was the International Development and Early Learning Assessment. This instrument is designed to measure early development in several domains: numeracy, literacy, social-emotional skills, and motor skills. IDELA consists of a series of tasks and questions that are administered directly to children, lasting about 30 minutes. To ensure cultural relevance and accuracy, the assessment was adapted and translated by local experts in each country.
In addition to developmental assessments, the caregivers were asked about their use of spanking in the week preceding each survey round. This was measured through a binary (yes/no) question. Over 70% of the children in the sample were spanked at least once during the study period. The researchers found significant negative associations between spanking and each of the developmental domains measured by the International Development and Early Learning Assessment. In terms of cognitive skills, children who were spanked demonstrated poorer outcomes in numeracy and literacy compared to their non-spanked peers. Similarly, spanked children exhibited lower levels of social-emotional competencies, which include the ability to regulate emotions, empathize with others, and engage in social interactions in a healthy and constructive manner. The researchers noted poorer motor outcomes among spanked children, which might be linked to restrictions in physical activity or stress responses associated with being spanked.
“Findings from the study demonstrate that spanking is not beneficial, and might actually threaten young children’s healthy development,” Cuartas told PsyPost. “In particular, the study shows that children who are spanked have a higher risk of experiencing developmental challenges, including impaired cognitive, social, and emotional development.”
“These findings are consistent with results from several prior studies conducted in the U.S., and other countries, which collectively indicate that parents should avoid the physical punishment of children and policymakers and practitioners should work on providing support to parents to replace this harmful practice with other developmentally appropriate, non-violent discipline methods.”
Despite the overall negative impact of spanking, the study noted some variation in the magnitude of these effects across different countries. This variability could be influenced by several factors, including cultural norms regarding discipline, the frequency and context of spanking, and socioeconomic conditions.
In Cambodia, for instance, the associations between spanking and negative outcomes were particularly strong across all developmental domains. In contrast, the results in Ethiopia showed negative trends, but these were not statistically significant, which could be attributed to less variability in spanking practices among the sampled population. However, even with these variations, the general trend across all sites pointed to detrimental outcomes associated with spanking. The study controlled for various demographic and contextual factors like caregiver education, household wealth, and other disciplinary practices. But the study, like all research, includes limitations. While the longitudinal data is an improvement over previous research, the study lacked data on other confounders, such as forms of family violence, which could affect developmental outcomes. In addition, the measure of spanking may not accurately capture the regularity or severity of the practice.
“Looking ahead, I am interested in continuing my work on designing, implementing, and scaling parenting programs aimed at (1) promoting the nurturing care of children and (2) preventing violence against children, including physical punishment,” Cuartas said.
The study, “Estimating the Association Between Spanking and Early Childhood Development Using Between- and Within-Child Analyses,” was published January 11, 2024.
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This is what Spanking Does To Your Personality & IQ
Spanking has become quite the controversial issue over the last few years. Whether or not you spank your child is a personal decision, but researchers say that spanking does in fact effect your child’s personality and IQ. Dr. Murray Straus spent the better part of his life trying to understand the negative effects of corporal punishment on the psyche of a child. He wrote many books on the subject, detailing the harmful effects of spanking and how it can affect a child’s adult life. A newer study supported by the University of New Hampshire explored the link between spanking and IQ.
Straus, along with Mallie Paschall, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, conducted the study. The two researchers studied samples of 806 children ages 2-4 and 704 children ages 5-9. Four years later, they retested both groups. They found that the IQ’s of children 2-4 who were not spanked ranked five points higher compared to those in the same age group who were spanked. Children 5-9 years old who were not spanked scored 2.8 points higher in IQ four years later, compared to those in the same age group who were spanked.
The duo presented the results at the International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in 2009. Straus explained, “How often parents spanked made a difference. The more spanking the slower the development of the child’s mental ability. But even small amounts of spanking made a difference.”
He added, “All parents want smart children. This research shows that avoiding spanking and correcting misbehavior in other ways can help that happen.”
Straus and his team also collected data on corporal punishment in 32 nations among 17,404 university students who experienced spanking as children. They found lower national average IQ levels in nations where spanking was more common.
As for an explanation for the relationship between corporal punishment and lower IQ, researchers explained that corporal punishment can become a chronic stressor for young children, especially those who experience it three or more times a week. Researchers found that the stress of corporal punishment can lead to post-traumatic stress symptoms, such as being afraid that something bad will happen and being easily startled, symptoms that are associated with lower IQ.
Spanking And Personality
According to a study published in the Journal of Family Psychology, children who get spanked are more likely to “defy their parents and to experience increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties.”
The study is based off of a meta-analysis of 50 years of research that involves over 160,000 children. Elizabeth Gershoff, an associate professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin was part of the study. She explained, “We found that spanking was associated with unintended detrimental outcomes and was not associated with more immediate or long-term compliance, which our parents’ intended outcomes when they discipline their children.”
Co-author of the study, Andrew Grogan-Kaylor added, “The upshot of the study is that spanking increases the likelihood of a wide variety of undesired outcomes for children. Spanking thus does the opposite of what parents usually want it to do.”
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Spanking in developmental psychology
Spanking has been used as an appropriate form of discipline for decades and, until recently, received little scrutiny. There have been many obstacles for scientists in determining whether or not spanking is detrimental to a child’s well being. Personal biases, third variables, and ambiguous definitions have all proved to be difficult to overcome in the quest of discovering spanking’s effects.
Children are the fragile individuals that will make up the future and their psychological functioning needs to be maintained, which proves the importance of the topic. Anything used in a child’s life can be subjected to questioning, which includes spanking. In this paper, I will talk about the vague definitions found amongst research, other forms of discipline and the effectiveness, and factors that are more likely to contribute to behavioral problems that were overlooked in all research. Despite the points I’m about to make, many scientists have argued that spanking could contribute to detrimental behavioral problems for children, which could inhibit their ability to have positive social and psychological experiences. However, I believe when used as a controlled form of discipline or physical punishment, spanking has no harmful effects on children.
Spanking Surfaces as Problem Until the 1990’s, spanking was commonly used among mothers as a primary form of discipline. An article by Julie Scelfo (2007) showed that in 1988, two-thirds of mothers with children under the age of 6 routinely spanked their child at least three times a week. (2007) National surveys from the later 70’s, early 80’s showed that more than 90 percent of parents spanked their 3-year olds. By the 1990’s however, it was widely agreed in the medical community that corporal punishment was not as effective as other disciplinary techniques and may have harmful side effects. (2007) At the time of the article, over 2, 000 parents were asked if they spanked their child and only 9 percent admitted hitting their children ages 2 to 11 years.
These results indicate that either spanking is not being used as a form of discipline anymore or those that do spank their children feel compelled to keep it a secret because of society’s implications of spanking. Research has recently been surfacing however, that spanking may not be as harmful as researchers are indicating. Spanking as a Cause of Behavioral Problems Among Children? According to a study from the University of New Hampshire, it was found that punishment was linked to behavioral problems for children.
The article examined a group from a longitudinal study that had been conducted since 1991 and consisted of over 2, 000 mothers and children. (Mulvaney & Mebert, 2007) Through a series of home observations and interviews with the mothers, the researchers determined that corporal punishment was linked to increases in child aggression and other externalizing problems, which were never specified. (2007) The researchers argued that even though the data collection was formed through home observations and could contain biases, the fact that behavioral problems still surfaced is a significant finding. The researchers were adamant in their conclusions that corporal punishment is causing serious behavioral problems in children and needs to be eliminated from the disciplinary world.
Research opposing spanking was common, but many questions arose considering the validity of the articles. Limitations of Study Unfortunately, this study also lacks validity and many details are distorted to support their theory. For instance, the study itself recognizes the influence of third variables on their finding, highlighting maternal depression and child temperament. These variables aren’t even considered in their results as influencing the findings and were only briefly mentioned at the beginning of the article. Perhaps the real issues in child behavioral problems are home environment and child temperament, not spanking.
The authors did not recognize the difference between spanking and corporal punishment, which would blur many boundaries that need to be specified and will be later in the paper. These boundaries are essential to separate all forms of corporal punishment from spanking itself. Without this the literature will include all forms of corporal punishment, which will influence the results. Along with these issues, the sample used in the longitudinal study consisted of primarily higher income, higher education levels, and Caucasian individuals. The sample could potentially sway the results due to a lack of ethnic diversity.
For example, it is proven that African American mothers use harsher discipline on their children and behavioral problems are not found among those children. (Pinderhughes et al., 2000) These differences in ethnicity are not recognized in the researcher’s results, which could potentially influence the findings in a different direction. These issues, along with vague definitions, have influenced research for years without any scrutiny. I will further evaluate on the research supporting spanking while also finally finding a proper definition that should be used as a template for each article. Defining Research Terms is Imperative According to a study concerning the association between harsh punishment and child behavioral problems, the real problem not being addressed is how researchers should define disciplinary terms in their literature. In this case, controlled spanking is a term that is essential to define before the other points are addressed.
Many studies use corporal punishment and spanking interchangeably while also blending aspects of harsh punishment when these terms are all completely different. The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia defines spanking as, “ a form of corporal punishment usually consisting of striking the buttocks (used as a form of punishment). ” Turkheimer and colleagues (2006) defined corporal punishment as, “ physical force with the intention of causing the child to experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of the correction of the child’s behavior. ” Harsh punishment entails severe or cruel forms of punishment, leaning to physical abuse, in order to correct the child’s behavior. (2006)
These definitions are not specified in the articles increasing the likelihood of invalid results and ambiguous information making distorted claims about spanking. Although the definitions have many similarities that make them easy to blend together, they will yield different results among the researcher that are imperative to recognize. Turkheimer and Colleagues Twin Study- Differential Treatment as a Factor When properly defined however, the study found that no harmful effects were linked to spanking even with differential treatment among siblings examined. Turkheimer and colleagues (2006) wanted to understand whether children who reported more harsh punishment than their siblings also reported more behavior problems between and within twin families.
The Australian study consisted of over 7, 000 twin pairs born between 1918 and 1961. (2006) The reason for choosing this demographic was due to the immense numbers and availability of information of this sample. Through a series of questionnaires concerning health risk behaviors (smoking, substance abuse), personality, school performance, delinquency, forms of punishment used by parents, and mental disorders measured with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). (2006) Many variables were looked at to determine the effects of punishment on siblings as I have listed. It was found that, even with differential treatment among siblings, controlled spanking was not linked with negative behavioral outcomes among children. This was very surprising for the researchers who predicted that differential treatment among siblings would increase the likelihood of behavioral problems when paired with spanking, which makes sense.
Researchers predicted that these feelings of envy towards the unpunished sibling and frustration would further increase these behavioral problems that were linked to spanking. It was found however, that harsh punishment was significantly linked to child behavioral problems. (2006) The distinction between controlled spanking and harsh punishment was imperative in the validity of the results. This distinction was not recognized in the previous article, which leads me to believe that the results included characteristics of spanking and harsh punishment in their findings. The current article has minute limitations however, that will be discussed next. Limitations of Study Turkheimer and colleagues (2006) had significant findings that should be considered when arguing against spanking, but also included limitations.
The sample population was of little ethnic diversity and was based in a different culture and country (Australia), but the findings should raise some important questions for American researchers. Could this study, if replicated, yield similar results? Are researchers ignoring the imperative definitions needed to eliminate third variables and solidify their results for the general population? This study suggests that yes; these definitions are needed and can be used in American literature. Turkheimer and colleagues discovered significant results for the world of spanking and the definitions found in the article need to be recognized among other researchers.
When looking at the general picture, the limitations found in the study are minute considering the lack of validity in the other studies against spanking. Third Variables are the Problem in Research To further counteract the previous study against spanking, I must shift the attention from spanking to the third variables. If all studies against spanking would remove the third variables influencing the results, spanking would have a different reputation. In a study conducted at the University of Michigan it was found that, when linked with positive maternal emotional support, spanking had no detrimental effects on children. (McLoyd & Smith, 2002)
The sample was a subset of the children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and consisted of over 1, 000 diverse individuals including Hispanics, African Americans, and European Americans. The children were measured through change in the Behavior Problems Index, home observations, interviews, and maternal emotional support was measured on a five-item scale known as the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. (2002) Once all variables were removed, (maternal emotional support and income) it was found that African American children had the lowest average level of behavioral problems with a smaller increase over time.
These findings are fairly consistent across the racial-ethnic groups, however. Although these findings suggest that behavior problems were found among children whose spanking increased over time, when paired with emotional support, findings were counteracted. McLoyd & Smith (2002) suggest that emotional support may moderate the impact of spanking by influencing the child’s interpretation of physical discipline. The child may be less likely to view spanking as unjust and harsh when the parent-child relationship is warm and supportive.
Thus, if a child were spanked in a healthy home environment, no harmful effects would be found. Assuming parents desire to provide a healthy, positive home environment, spanking will not have an effect among those families. Spanking cannot be looked at alone in a home environment because there will always be third variables to consider. Maternal emotional support, child temperament, and other factors will also contribute to the child’s psychosocial development.
Although discipline is an important factor in the development of the child, the other factors listed above have greater impact. Those who oppose spanking may disagree with the research I have surfaced. The reality is that much present research is not accounting for crucial variables that are more likely to influence what the researchers are hoping to find. Limitations to the current study include the mother’s disclosure of spanking instances and child behavior, which could create biases. The fact is however; there are few ways to collect such information without the presence of biases.
In research the main concern should be to recognize those biases and factor them into the results. Despite opposing claims, perhaps home environment, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and parental stress are the real problems rather than just spanking. Third Variable Effects on Punishment- Pinderhughes and Colleagues Pinderhughes and colleagues (2000) found the factors listed above have a great impact on the frequency and degree of discipline in the household. Participants included 585 families, with both parents participating in 393 cases, based in two cohorts in Tennessee. (2000) The sample included adoptive and stepmothers and fathers along with White, African American, and a category for “ other” ethnic diversities.
Through a series of interviews and questionnaires, regression analyses revealed cross-situation consistency in relations between cognitive-emotional processes and physical punishment and severity of punishment. (2000) In other words, parental stress in the household affects the degree and frequency of physical punishment, which is consistent between mothers and fathers. Results also showed that European American families, compared to African American families, made fewer hostile attributions about their child and endorsed less severe punishment. (2000)
Once these factors can be established as influencing discipline, research can further examine the validity of past studies. The past research has found it almost impossible to eliminate the distal factors found in each household that influence the child’s development. With so many factors influencing discipline and children’s development, spanking cannot be blamed for behavioral problems. Alternate Forms of Discipline as a Solution? Many researchers opposing spanking have claimed that alternate forms of discipline have proven to be more effective and enhance positive development for the child.
According to a study examining other forms of discipline, this may not be the case. Larzelere and Kuhn (2005) performed a meta-analysis of over 20 studies on this same issue. Results showed that other forms of discipline including time-outs and reasoning were not as effective as controlled spanking. Controlled spanking was found to also reduce defiance and antisocial behavior among children. (2005)
Physical punishment was separated into four different categories according to their degree of punishment. For example, conditional spanking was spanking that was given only for certain situations (when a child refuses to comply with time-out, for example). Analyses also found that controlled spanking doesn’t enhance positive development for the child, but it also doesn’t surface any problems. Larzelere and Kuhn (2005) concluded that the best form of punishment is controlled spanking with reasoning so the child can understand why the discipline was administered, which is beneficial for the child. Those opposing this study would claim that a meta-analysis is not a sufficient way to collect information.
With the other research I’ve presented, I believe this study to be a satisfactory addition because of the insight into many different studies also supporting my position. Individuals opposing spanking may believe they are the mainstream now with the majority of research on spanking being against it, but this study provides the evidence needed to counteract that belief. Although it was still difficult to find information on my position, the research I did find was valid and brought up many questions that are imperative in future research on spanking.
With the information provided, when used a controlled form of discipline or physical punishment, it is easy to see that spanking has no harmful effects on children. Because of vague definitions, focus being on the wrong distal factors, and supposed effectiveness of other forms of discipline; spanking has developed a negative reputation. Although there is a line between controlled spanking and harsh punishment, these terms are rarely recognized as being separate forms of discipline. Even using corporal punishment as the broad term in research has damaging effects on the audience’s view of the research.
Grouping spanking with such an extensive term is broadening the way for opposing views. Implications and Applications for Future Research My position has further been supported with the information provided. I have shown that terms used in research need to be defined in order to validate future research and also research that used specific definitions found results in favor of spanking. Also, home environment and other distal factors are the real problem in causing behavioral problems among children.
Spanking is a minute part of the household and although discipline is important for the child’s development, the focus is not being put on other factors as often as it should. This was brought up because of the countless numbers of third variables found in research against spanking. I found it difficult to consider the research valid when third variables were so apparent in all the research and was hardly recognized.
The information for spanking has many implications for future research and families. Those who pushed to ban spanking should now consider the research provided and shift their attention to other, more influential, factors in the household contributing to children’s behavioral problems. Families may now be able to punish their children as they have for decades without being under the scrutiny of society.
Future research may be able to validate their results because of the present research surfacing for spanking. Future research may also be able to have universal definitions, which could increase the reliability of all research. This would change the world of research if applied to all concepts because it would create a template and basis for all research to start from.
With so many third variables in the disciplinary theme, anything to create a universal template is imperative. Children are the future and steps are being taken to ensure their positive psychosocial development, but the blame can’t be pushed on spanking.
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No, Mike Pence, You Didn’t Deserve to Be Paddled
Unpacking why support for physical punishment persists.
Veronika Tait Ph.D.
Former Vice President Mike Pence recently sat down with undecided voters from Iowa to discuss the issues that matter to them. When asked about how to deal with students with extreme behavior problems, he responded, I went to Catholic school for eight years… the nuns knew how to get the paddle out when you deserved it. I guarantee you I deserved it more times than I got it. I think traditional discipline being returned to our schools as opposed to flooding our kids with Ritalin… makes more sense to me. The Bible says, “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” I’m a believer in that. Pence’s response was disappointing, given our current understanding of paddling and spanking.
The Drawbacks and Prevalence of Corporal Punishment
Corporal or physical punishment has devastating effects. A 2021 narrative review summarized the findings of 69 longitudinal studies. It reiterated how physical punishment increases a child’s level of aggression, conduct problems, stress, and cognitive abilities. Parents who use physical punishment are at greater risk of perpetrating severe maltreatment, exacerbating the damaging effects on their children.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers corporal punishment abuse, yet over 15 states still allow schools to paddle students, according to The Washington Post. Preventing its use has been difficult due to its acceptance by many parents and educators. According to The American Family Survey conducted in 2021, the populations most likely to support the use of spanking are men, people over 45, less-educated adults, those living in the South, those with household incomes less than $80,000, and religious conservatives.
Researcher and professor Elizabeth T. Gershoff, who has coauthored several spanking and corporal punishment studies, said in the Deseret News, We’re seeing national data that support for use of physical punishment and actual use of it are going down slowly, over time. But still, over half of children are physically punished each year. So the message is not getting out quick enough. If the evidence continues to mount that physical punishment is not only ineffective but downright harmful, why does the myth persist that it will fix the behavioral problems we see in communities and schools?
Breaking Down Common Fallacies
Pence presented disciplining students as a choice between overmedicating and corporal punishment, but this is the either-or fallacy. While there's evidence of overuse of psychotropic medications in children, especially in vulnerable populations, there are several solutions to addressing behavioral problems beyond paddles and medication. Many defenders of physical punishment remember the past with rose-colored glasses. They may exhibit juvenoia, wherein they disparage younger generations. This is not new. There have been records of the older generation lamenting their disappointment in the upcoming generation as far back as 2,000 years ago.
Pence likely believes the current generation has more problems because they experience fewer physical consequences. Conservatives are more likely than liberals to agree with statements such as, “Our society is getting worse every year.” Gen Z and Gen Alpha are indeed worse off than previous generations in some ways, such as greater instances of mental health disorders, but there is no evidence that this increase is due to a lack of physical punishment at home or in schools. This assumption is an example of mixing up correlation and causation. (See how researchers address questions of causality related to physical punishment and externalizing problems here.)
System Justification Theory and Belief in a Just World
Support for physical punishment may stem from a desire to maintain the status quo and uphold tradition. Social psychologist John Jost's system justification theory suggests that humans tend to endorse belief systems that explain and legitimize existing societal structures. This bias arises from our need to reduce uncertainty, threat, and social discord, leading us to favor preserving the current state, rather than risking change.
On average, conservatives score higher on system justification scales than liberals. Conservatives are more likely to justify current power structures and endorse clear hierarchies, such as between students and teachers. Conservatives' inclination to preserve the existing order, uphold traditional values, and prioritize hierarchy may lead to greater resistance to modernizing disciplinary approaches.
Pence may believe the world is just. As Jost stated, To cope with distress [from injustice], people convince themselves that the social world operates according to rules of deservingness, namely, that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
Just like system justification, a belief in a just world is more common in conservatives than liberals. While a belief in a just world may be adaptive at times, research has shown it can also lead to victim-blaming. Believing we deserved our past suffering may be one way to cope with the fact that we cannot change what happened to us and preserve our belief that ultimately our fate is controllable and predictable. However, believing in a just world makes it difficult to consider that there exist any children who were unfairly harmed at the hands of adults.
Relatedly, Pence may be experiencing cognitive dissonance. This term stems from Leon Festinger’s groundbreaking theory that helps explain the discomfort that arises when our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors conflict. Pence may feel dissonance between the research on physical punishment and his belief that being hurt as a child ultimately helped him in some way. He could resolve the conflict by painfully admitting that he did not in fact deserve to be paddled as a child or find a way to discount the research. If he chose the latter, he wouldn’t be the only conservative to do so. Reaction to scientific findings is polarized where conservatives are more likely than liberals to reject consensus scientific findings.
The most tragic part of Pence’s statement is that he believed he deserved to be paddled as a child. To our former vice president, I emphatically say that there is nothing you could have done as a child that would have warranted physical harm. You didn’t deserve to be hurt then, just as the students of Iowa and throughout the world don’t deserve harm now. Pence, you can set the example of acknowledging the pains and lessons of the past to advocate for a brighter and more hopeful future.
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Why Do Children Punish Unfairness?
Research explores whether children are strategic in allocating punishments.Art Markman Ph.D.
There are many ways to influence the behavior of other people. Broadly speaking, we can reward others for their good behavior and punish people for their bad behavior. These strategies are ones that children learn early on, and even 5-year-olds are adept at punishing others for doing something wrong.
There are lots of actions that a child might want to punish. For example, when one person is mean to another, it's an offense that may lead to a punishment. An interesting example of a behavior that may lead to punishment is unfairness. There is a strong social norm that people should share things with others. Indeed, American parents spend a lot of time teaching children to share what they have (like their toys) with others.
Children will punish others who do not share with others, but there is some question about why they do this. One possibility is that children learn a rule that being unfair is wrong and then they feel compelled to punish that behavior. Another possibility is that children are more strategic. Children may know that if someone they are likely to encounter does something unfair, that individual is likely to be unfair to them, as well, unless they are punished.
These possibilities were explored in a paper by Young-eun Lee, Susan He, and Felix Warneken published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General in 2024.
In these studies, children between the ages of 5 and 9 were first given 20 coins and were told these coins could be exchanged to watch fun videos. Then, the children were told they would see two other children playing a game that involved similar coins.
In the game they watched, one player was the divider, and the other was the recipient. The divider was given six coins and was told to split them with the recipient in any way they wanted. On some trials, the divider was selfish, keeping all six coins and giving none to the recipient. In other trials, the divider was fair and split the coins evenly, keeping three and giving three to the recipient. Through eight rounds in the game, the divider split the coins fairly twice and unfairly six times.
After watching the divider choose a split for the coins, the participant was given the option to punish the divider. Choosing to punish the divider would cost the participant a coin (the punishment would reduce the number of videos the participant would get to see later). If they issued a punishment, neither the divider nor the recipient would get any coins. Because the unfair split was always six coins to the divider and 0 coins to the recipient, punishing the divider would never harm the recipient.
Finally, before watching the game, participants were told they would play the sharing game next as a recipient. Some children were told they would play the sharing game with the same divider as they were watching. Others were told they would play with a different divider than the one they were watching. The experimenters ensured that the participants understood all of these instructions.
The idea here is that if children punish unfairness, they should punish the unfair division of coins, but not the fair division of coins. If children punish unfairness to ensure that they are treated fairly by a person in the future, they should be more likely to punish the divider when they play with that same person later than if they are not. Finally, if they punish unfairness in general, they should punish unfair allocations by the divider regardless of whether they would play with that person later.
The results of this study, and a similar replication reported in the same paper, found that children punish the unfair allocations about half the time and rarely punish the fair allocations. Children clearly understood the game and tended to punish unfairness. There was no clear difference between the likelihood of punishing unfairness and whether the child was slated to play that child or another in the next game. This finding suggests that children are not being highly strategic when they punish others for unfairness and they do it only when it might benefit them later.
This work suggests that children are learning a general rule that unfairness is bad and that people who act unfairly toward others should be punished. Interestingly, the punishment in this study had a cost to the participants—watching fewer videos the more times they punished the unfairness. Despite that cost, participants did feel the need to punish unfair divisions.
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A Curious Question About Physical Punishment of Children
Physical punishment of children is a controversial issue throughout the world.Paul C Holinger M.D.
Physical punishment of children is a controversial issue throughout the world. Many countries have banned physical punishment in schools, and several have banned it in all settings. In the United States, spanking a child (hitting, paddling) is still legally permitted in the public schools of 17 states and in the private schools of 46 states. The paddling is often done using a wooden paddle on the child’s backside. Rather than repeating the well-documented data on the problems with physical punishment, I find myself puzzling over a very intriguing question in this area.
So, here’s where it gets interesting. Say the same child, the same adult, and the same paddle are about 10 yards or so outside of the school grounds and the child is being paddled. It turns out that the paddle is now considered a lethal weapon and the adult can be charged with assault and battery—for exactly the same actions as were occurring and permitted in the school!
How are we to understand this?
What are we to make of this—that the same action that is a serious criminal offense is now considered to be reasonable discipline within the walls of the school? To borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan’s song about the Kennedy assassination: "Right there in front of everyone’s eyes. Greatest magic trick ever under the sun". (Murder Most Foul, 2020)
How does the international community respond to the physical punishment of children?
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC or the Child’s Convention) was adopted in 1989. It presents one of the most comprehensive cases regarding problems associated with physical punishment of children and the benefits of its prohibition. Currently, 196 countries are party to the CRC, including every member of the United Nations, with the exception of the United States. Currently, more than 125 countries have prohibited physical punishment in schools, and more than 64 countries have banned it in all settings, including the home.
Are there studies of outcomes in countries that have completely prohibited physical punishment? Joan Durrant and her colleagues found that countries that banned physical punishment tended to have less physical punishment of children, enhanced parent-child relationships, and less violence in society (2011, 2012, 2017). Following a ban on physical punishment in Finland, Karen Osterman and her colleagues found a continuous and significant decline in self-reported physical punishment and a similar decline in murdered children (2014, 2018). They concluded that, in Finland, a shift existed in the mindset toward a culture of nonviolent child-rearing.
What about physical punishment in the United States?
The United States has no federal law prohibiting physical punishment. The 17 states that permit physical punishment in public schools tend to be in the south and west—such as Florida, Georgia, and Kansas. In 2023 a bill called The Protecting Our Students in Schools Act was reintroduced in the U.S. Congress, sponsored by Senator Chris Murphy, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, and others. This bill would prohibit physical punishment in any public school in the United States that receives federal funding.
Unfortunately, the position statements of most major medical and psychological associations do not call for the prohibition of physical punishment. Rather, they urge consideration of alternatives to physical punishment. This results in what Straus and his colleagues (2014) call Paradox #3: Focusing exclusively on teaching alternatives results in almost everyone spanking. Some organizations have called for a ban on physical punishment, including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA), and the Association for Child Psychoanalysis (ACP).
Wrapping Up
There seems to be something of a paradox here, or confusion, as we try to integrate our complicated feelings and cognitive capacities regarding raising children and physical punishment. Rather than provide a so-called answer, I think it is better to let readers come to their own conclusions regarding the dilemma presented at the beginning.
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The psychology of spanking
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