Corporal Punishment On Their Child example essay topic

Overview The purpose of this research report is to review the practice of corporal punishment in the home and the lasting harmful effects on the children involved. The research is based on the opinions and finding of professionals in mental health and child development and offers little to no support for the use of physical punishment. This research outlines several areas of a child's life that are acutely affected by the violent form of punishment called "spanking". Within our community I have seen first hand that children who are subjected to such punishment suffer emotional as well as physical harm.

Loss of trust, confusion, damaged relationships; aggression, humiliation, depression as well as death occur in children disciplined with corporal punishment. This paper reports the findings of many national studies in an attempt to educate those who continue to advocate violence in the home. A Lifetime of Damage Research about corporal punishment and the effects on children has become increasingly important. In particular, child psychologists have studied how to recognise behaviour's that may suggest violence in the home, allowing vital intervention. This research led psychologists to realise that the behaviour's they were observing in young children were almost always carried with the child throughout life and affected future behaviour; causing delinquency with the law, drug and alcohol abuse and perpetrating abuse on others. This study began with a sense of urgency to find information and educate those who felt that spanking was an acceptable and effective form of punishment.

Secondly this research was done in order to better understand the emotional health of children. Research pertaining to the detrimental effects of corporal punishment on a child's emotional and physical well being has shown that whether corporal punishment is used every day, once a week or once a month, there are lasting harmful effects to the children involved. Some of the physical and emotional effects of parents using corporal punishment on their child can be seen immediately. Along with physical damage such as redness, swelling and bruises, there is also significant emotional damage. Loss of trust and confusion are immediate and very detrimental to a young child. There are also many consequences that remain hidden for years, which may cause these children to suffer from fear, aggression, and depression.

The research on long-term effects of corporal indicate that there are specific types of behaviour's are found primarily in children raised in homes where corporal punishment, or punishment inflicted upon their bodies was used. Even later in life as these children grew into young adults the lasting effects of physical punishment could still be seen. The association of love with violence that is learned through corporal punishment causes antisocial and violent behaviour later in life (Straus, 1994; Greven, 1991; Flynn, 1999). Children and spouses of individuals who were spanked have a much higher risk of being battered (Straus, 1994). According to a 1985 National Family Violence Survey published by Murray Straus, the risk of drug and alcohol abuse is also much higher in the population of children whose parents spanked them. The use of drugs and alcohol may create an escape for those individuals looking for a diversion from their traumatic memories of perceived rejection as children (Straus 1994).

A child who is spanked not only absorbs the blows, but the message the blows convey, "You " re worthless, I reject you!" Murray Straus, author of Beating the Devil Out of Them, writes, "No one of us can show that anything bad happens if we do not hit children" (Straus, 2000, p. 1). The messages that are conveyed to children through spanking are very confusing. The way spanking looks and feels must be confusing to a child when being administered by a parent who is supposed to be an example of what is right and good. Astrid Lindgren, author of Never Violence, states, "I think that too often we fail to feel situations from the child's point of view and that failure leads us to teach our children other than what we think we " re teaching them" (Lindgren, 2000, p. 1). When children are being spanked, they go into a state of emotional turmoil and cannot possibly learn the lessons adults claim they are trying to teach. Furthermore, parents tell their children that hitting is wrong and then they proceed to hit that same child.

This behaviour sends the message that it is okay to do something wrong. Although sometimes called "tough love" by parents, love is not the message being conveyed to children through spanking. One parent interviewed by Kelly Alexander recalls, "Having spanked her kids twice for what she calls, 'life-threatening behaviour' " (Alexander, 2000, p. 96). Jordan Riak states, "Spanking does not teach kids that cars and trucks are dangerous, it teaches them that the grown-ups on who they depend are dangerous" (1992, p. 3).

When a parent strikes a child, the child is less able to look at the parent as a source of love, protection, and comfort. In the child's eyes the parent now appears to be the source of anger and pain. A damaged relationship between a parent and a child can be detrimental to healthy development for the child involved (Straus, 1994; Riak, 1992). Jordan Riak claims, "A child who is betrayed by a parent (through spanking) fails to mature optimally" (1992, p. 4).

As an example, when trust between a child and a parent is damaged, the child also lacks the ability to form trusting relationships with others. Children who have been threatened and spanked see honesty and truthfulness in others as weaknesses to be exploited, exactly as it was once done to them. A two-year study reported by Kelly Alexander and published in 1997, found that children who were spanked regularly show more aggression and other antisocial behaviour's such as cheating, lying, and bullying at the end of the research period rather than less. Charles Schaefer reported that physical punishment may; make children angry, hostile, fearful, teach that violence is a way to handle problems and teach that it's okay to vent anger by hurting others (1990). Every act of violence by an adult toward a child whether brief or mild, leaves a permanent emotional memory (Greven, 1991).

Child-rearing experts have discouraged not only spanking but also scolding in ways that might damage a child's self-esteem. Corporal punishment lowers self-esteem by degrading, dehumanizing, and humiliating a child (Greven, 1991). The poor self-esteem and self-hatred that is instilled through spanking can lead to anxiety and depression. A 1999 Canadian study used by Kelly Alexander in her article, documented behaviour on approximately 5,000 teenagers who had been slapped or spanked, found the group to have a two times higher incidence of anxiety disorder than peers who had never been spanked.

Additional research indicated that there are emotional consequences caused by spanking, "Depression is often a delayed response to the suppression of childhood anger, from being physically hit and hurt by adults whom the child loves and depends on" (Straus, 1994, p. 69). The immediate physical dangers of striking a child are also severe. Some people in an attempt to justify battering their child's bottom claim that God or nature intended that part of the anatomy for spanking (Riak, 1992). Jordan Riak argues, "No part of the human body was made to be violated" (1992, p. 8).

The tailbone at the base of the spine is susceptible to injury if a child is hit in that region. Jordan Riak also explains that dislocation of the tailbone and genital bruising on children caused by spanking are frequently reported by hospital authorities to social and services and law enforcement (1992). His research also indicated that striking a child even on the hands could be especially dangerous; growth plates if damaged can cause deformities (1992). Striking a child's hand can cause fractures, dislocations and premature osteoarthritis. Not only can spanking result in fear and resentment within a child, it may result in permanent physical scars. The association of love with violence can lead to a lifetime of hurt for a child who was spanked.

In the association of love with violence, the child learns to love those that hurt him or her the most. Spanking trains children to accept the idea that adults have absolute authority over their bodies, including the right to inflict pain. Jordan Riak reveals, "The child who submits to a spanking on Monday is not likely to say 'No' to a molester on Tuesday" (1992, p. 6). One characteristic of young children who are abused is their compliance and acceptance of whatever happens.

Along with being at higher risk for sexual abuse, studies have found that children disciplined with corporal punishment also had a higher incidence of bizarre sexual behaviour later in life (Riak, 1992; Flynn, 1999). Jordan Riak states, "Medical science has long recognised and documented in great detail, the link between buttocks-beating in childhood and the subsequent development of deviant sexual behaviour's" (1992, p. 7). Another threat to those who suffered physical punishment as children is the risk of drug and alcohol abuse. The feelings of worthlessness and rejection caused by spanking can lead to a want of instant relief. The "instant relief" found in drugs and alcohol can lead to many problems later in life for individuals trying to escape childhood memories (Riak, 1992). Abuse of drugs and alcohol can increase depression, violent episodes, and cause problems with career, finances, as well greatly multiply risk of suicide (Flynn, 1999).

Violence is an act carried out with the intention, or perceived intention, of causing physical pain or injury to another person. Murray Straus writes, "I think that corporal punishment is really just a milder, culturally permissible form of 'real' child abuse" (1994, p. 99). He also reports on a juvenile delinquency study done in 1988, the results indicated that the more corporal punishment the parents used, the greater the risk of the child being delinquent (1994). Delinquency can range from lying, stealing, skipping school, to more severe behaviour's such as bullying, tormenting pets, abusing younger siblings and eventually trouble with the law. Research reported on by Clifton Flynn, a sociologist at the University of South Carolina, most often illustrated that corporal punishment and aggression in children are linked.

Flynn's research on the effects of corporal punishment also proves spanking to be associated with delinquent behaviour in children (1999). Jordan Riak declares, "School dropout and juvenile delinquency would cease to be major problems wracking our nation if only it were possible to persuade parents to stop socialising their children in ways guaranteed to make them antisocial and / or self destructive" (1992, p. 9). Clifton Flynn also examined the relationship between receiving corporal punishment and perpetrating animal abuse as a child or adolescent. Animal cruelty has been associated with a distortion or inhibition of empathy that is fostered in children who are spanked (Flynn, 1999).

The conclusion that childhood cruelty towards animals may identify not only children who may engage in future antisocial behaviour, but also those who are living in violent dysfunctional families (Flynn, 1999). Not only is the child directly involved in corporal punishment at a greater risk of emotional and physical scars, but those closest to that child as he or she grows up will also be at risk (Riak, 1992; Flynn, 1999). Children learn through receiving spankings that once they are big enough and strong enough they can control others by hurting them. Jordan Riak claims, "When children, whose personalities have been formed in violent households grow up and produce children on their own, they find it very difficult to break free from the behaviour's they have witnessed and experienced" (1992, p. 6). Children learn from their parents' examples that the way to show frustration, show disapproval and assert authority is by hitting.

Jordan Riak warns that when a child who is spanked grows up, he or she will become an adult who deals with others by force (1992). Murray Straus, Clifton Flynn and Jordan Riak all write of the dangers faced by spouses of those children raised in families practising corporal punishment. Jordan Riak writes, "Battering and battered spouses who spank their children are raising them to be victims exactly like themselves" (1992, p. 5). Straus and Riak both compare spousal battery and spanking to be one and the same, thereby hitting children and hitting wives are equivalent (Straus, 1994; Riak 1992). Murray Straus writes, "Spanking or slapping a child is an act of violence, just as slapping a wife is an act of violence" (1994, p. xi). Non-violent discipline especially discipline that includes reasoning with children, fosters an awareness of and sensitivity to viewpoints and feelings of others".

'The main source of good discipline is growing up in a loving family, being loved and learning to love in return' " (Spock as cited in Greven, 1991, p. 95). Physical punishment is not necessary to bring up well-behaved children. The fact that love comes naturally to a child and that hate is created, should, in itself, deter parents from using violent forms of discipline. Philip Greven quotes Dr. Spock", 'If we are ever to turn toward a kindlier and safer world, a revulsion against physical punishment would be a good place to start' " (1991, p. 96).

There is not one situation in this world that changes hitting from a wrong into a right thing. Murray Straus lectures, "There is no excuse that magically makes hurting a child kind or merciful" (1994, p. 1). Children suffer damages that have been measured in many studies, by many doctors. But, these children who are being spanked also suffer from wounds that no one can begin to measure. The lost trust that a child suffers while begin spanked causes a lifetime of damage to his or her spirit, as well as to the relationship between the parent and the child. The psychological impact that has been attributed to a majority of spanked children, not only harms the future of that child, but those who surround him.

Bibliography

Alexander, K. (2001).
Is Spanking Ever Okay? Parents, 90-98. Flynn, C. (1999).
Exploring the Link Between Corporal Punishment and Children's Cruelty to Animals. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61.971-980 Greven, P. (1991).
Spare the Child. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Lindgren, A. Never Violence. Cox, Randy. Riak, J. Plain Talk About Spanking. web Schaefer, C. (1990).
Teach Your Child to Behave. New York: Penguin Books. Straus, M. (1994).