Punitive Discipline example essay topic

Discipline used as a noun means arranged, proscribed behavior. The verb "to discipline" means different things to different people. Most definitions of "to discipline" fall into two general camps: 1) to control, punish, and correct; or 2) to teach, guide, and influence. The majority of studies today show, that the second definition is more effective in producing the desired behavior.

The word discipline is often used as a synonym for punishment, but this is wrong. Discipline is a system of actions or interactions intended to create orderly behavior. There are a variety of disciplinary systems, which show varying degrees of success. Some disciplinary systems use punishment as a tool; others shun punishment, believing it is at best ineffective, at worst destructive. Disciplinary systems have been the norm in the West for centuries.

Judaeo-Christian religion has traditionally been seen to promote authoritarian parenting: "Spare the rod, spoil the child" is an oft-quoted pseudo-Biblical injunction (the only actual words similar to this in the Bible are "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" -- Proverbs 13: 24, Revised Standard Version). Some conservative Christians and Jews continue to hold to this style of discipline in the belief that punishment is the only way to teach children proper submission and obedience to parents, other adults, and ultimately God. (Gordon, 1991). Other systems of discipline reject harsh, physical violence. Practices of "logical consequences" and "time out " are two well-known examples. Both are behavior modification techniques that are used to train a child to behave in socially, or parent ally, acceptable ways.

Rewards and punishments are used to control a child's actions. This can be effective in modifying external behaviors, but it does little to change underlying motivations or attitudes. In fact, attempts to control a child actually prevent any lasting influence from occurring. Children instead simply rebel against the imposed limitations, resist authority, and resort to lying, evasion, or manipulation to get their needs and desires met.

(Nelsen, 1996). Harshly punitive measures of discipline have been shown to create anxiety, fear, anger, hatred, apathy, depression, obsessiveness, paranoia, sadomasochism, domestic violence, aggression, crime, and apocalyptic religious views, none of which promotes stable, orderly, socially creative behavior. When children are punished harshly, they remember only the pain and humiliation of the punishment, not the reason for the discipline. They lose trust in their parents and become less likely to accept their authority in the future. Physically violent discipline actually promotes further violence by teaching a child that force is a means to gain control, and that violence is acceptable in "loving" relationships. Perhaps the biggest problem with punitive systems of discipline, whether violent or nonviolent, is that eventually the parent runs out of means of control.

As the child grows, physical force is less and less effective, and the child continually learns new ways to evade other forms of punishment. At some point, the child becomes immune to discipline. In spite of this reality, however, Western culture remains wedded to punitive discipline in the vast majority. A survey conducted in 1980 by Murray Straus, Richard G elles, and Suzanne Steinmetz showed that 70% of parents randomly sampled viewed slapping or spanking children as "necessary"; 77% viewed these forms of discipline as "normal"; and 71% viewed them as "good". Nearly three-fourths (73%) of the parents had used some form of physical discipline on their child at some time in that child's life. (Gordon, 1991).

Millions of children have been kicked, bitten, or punched by a parent some even beaten up. It is clear from these statistics that punitive discipline is common and frequent in Western society today.