Cross-Cultural Attitudes Towards Corporal Punishment
Brienda Brew
Central Connecticut State University
November 29, 2021.
Introduction
Corporal Punishment is the application of physical methods to correct or control a child’s behavior by use of pain but without injuring the child (Engulu & Harris, 2017). Is corporal punishment beneficial or detrimental? Corporal punishment is a topic that is highly debated nowadays (Lee, 2000). Physical punishment results in negative conduct in youngsters (Gershoff & Font 2016). When it comes to corporal punishment, many individuals have strong feelings either for it or against it (Barrish, 1996), depending on their own experiences. Proponents of physical punishment feel that it aids youngsters in understanding that they have made a mistake and that it will prevent them from repeating the error (Engulu & Harris, 2017; Barrish, 1996; Flynn, 1994; Gershoff & Font, 2016; Lee, 2000; McCormick, 1992). People who are opposed to physical punishment feel that there are several other methods of informing a kid that they have made a mistake and that they may remedy it without resorting to harsh discipline (Flynn, 1994; Gershoff, 2010; Larzelere & Kuhn, 2005).
Studies have shown that physical punishment has long-term consequences for children, such as fighting, aggressiveness, disorderly conduct, or bullying; and anxiety disorder and alcohol abuse in adulthood (Gershoff & Font, 2016; McMillan et al., 1999). A study by Mulvaney & Mebert (2010) revealed that people who experienced corporal punishment in childhood had a higher likelihood of poor mental health. Parents, schools, and other organizations continue to practice corporal punishment in the United States (Barrish, 1996; Flynn, 1994; Gershoff & Font, 2016; Gershoff, 2010).
A wide variation exists in the attitude towards spanking (Engulu & Harris, 2017). Previous research studies have established consistent gender, religious, and ethnic differences in people’s perspectives towards this form of punishment. Asians, African Americans, religious people, and men have a higher likelihood of advocating for spanking than women, Caucasians, and non-religious people (Engulu & Harris, 2017; Flynn, 1994). In terms of ethnic differences in corporal punishments, many studies have proved that Latino and African American parents instill discipline in their children through corporal punishments. On the other hand, Caucasian parents seek alternative forms of correcting and controlling their children, such as positive reinforcement, guidance and counseling, and setting rules (Engulu & Harris, 2017). According to Jendrusakova (2016), practitioners from different ethnic backgrounds practice or stay away from corporal punishments based on their cultures.
Many parents nowadays are unaware of the negative consequences of physical punishment on children’s long-term development (Gershoff, 2010). When it comes to long-term consequences, the major purpose of parental discipline should be to ensure that children absorb the reasons for acting safely and responsibly in new contexts and when parents are not there to enforce compliance. Specifically, parents’ use of corporal punishment was significantly associated with lower long-term compliance and lower moral and pro-social behavior — in other words, corporal punishment was associated with worse rather than better child behavior (Gershoff, 2010). A large number of parents feel that physical punishment is the most efficient method of correcting a child’s misbehavior (Engulu & Harris, 2017; Barrish, 1996); yet, it has been shown to induce hostility, aggression, and antisocial behavior in children (Guterman & Rice, 2010).
There are now 19 states that permit physical punishment in educational settings. Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas are just a few states where physical punishment is still permitted in schools (Gershoff and Font, 2016). Spanking youngsters with a wooden paddle is now permissible in certain schools (Gershoff & Font, 2016). Corporal punishment is used to reprimand schoolchildren for a variety of misbehaving actions. When it comes to corporal punishment in North Carolina, 63 percent of cases occurred during the 2013–2014 school year because of disruptive behavior such as fighting, aggressiveness, disorderly conduct, or bullying, with the remaining 37 percent occurring because of bus misbehavior, disrespect for staff members such as cell phone use, inappropriate language, and other misbehaviors (Gershoff & Font 2016).
According to the Society for Adolescent Medicine (2003), between 10,000 and 20,000 kids need medical care each year due to school physical punishment, which is a conservative estimate. These injuries are usually the consequence of striking the youngsters by employing items, such as paddles. (Gershoff & Font, 2016). If someone can force someone to go to the hospital due to an injury, they will face legal consequences. So, what is it about physical punishment that is still tolerated in schools today? Why is physical punishment permitted anywhere in the world at all?
In the United States, corporal punishment of children is one of the most often used types of discipline for children (Barrish, 1996)). The use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary technique by caregivers, on the other hand, is one of the most contentious issues in the fields of parenting and psychology today. Three viewpoints on the usage of CP have been found by Kazdin and Benjet (2003), and they are articulated in public, research, and academic works. Spanking proponents say that spanking is a sort of operant training that promotes positive child outcomes such as obedience to authority and respect for authority. Religious methods contend that Bible scriptures such as “spare the rod and spoil the kid” (Proverbs 13:24), which promote spanking, are expressly supportive of it. A greater incidence of physical punishment is connected with conservative religious attitudes, namely conservative Protestant connections, in particular (Gershoff, 2002; Engulu & Harris, 2017).
For their part, anti-spanking activists claim that spanking is an unproductive discipline approach that causes violence and hostility in children, among various other long-term harmful impacts on their development (Straus et al., 1997; Taylor et al., 2010). Using social learning theory, this viewpoint communicates the idea that “violence breeds violence” (Benjet & Kazdin, 2003, p. 179). Aside from the potential for violence and aggressiveness in children, the use of CP on youngsters may result in despair, suicidal thoughts, future spousal abuse, and poor self-esteem (Straus & Paschall, 1998).
According to the conditional corporal punishment method, the third viewpoint stresses the circumstances under which CP is administered (Kazdin & Benjet, 2003). According to these experts, spanking is considered acceptable by certain specialists in the area of psychology under specific situations (Larzelere, 2000). Some researchers believe that spanking may be good if it is done sparingly and non-violently, administered by emotionally supportive parents, and used only when necessary, in response to the disobedience of rules and regulations (Larzelere, 1996; Larzelere & Kuhn, 2005; Paolucci & Violato, 2004)
Specifically, this research aims to investigate the association between remembered parental physical punishment and views about physical punishment as adults among people of different racial and cultural backgrounds. And to provide descriptive data to examine the relationship between several sociodemographic variables and physical punishment beliefs within a race.
References
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Engulu, F. C., & Harris, K. A. (2017). Spanking, Ethnicity, Gender, and Religion: The Development of a Spanking Scale. International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity, 19(1).
Flynn, C. P. (1994). Regional differences in attitudes toward corporal punishment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56(2), 314. https://doi.org/10.2307/353102
Gershoff, E. T. (2010) More Harm than Good: A Summary of Scientific Research on the Intended and Unintended Effects of Corporal Punishment of Children. Law and Contemporary Problem, 73(2), 31-56, https://www.jstor.org/stable/25766386
Gershoff, E., Font S. (2016) Corporal Punishment in the U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities in Use, and Status in State and Federal Policy. Social Policy Report, 30(1), 1-25 DOI: 10.1002/j.2379-3988. 2016. Feb. 00086.x
Jendrusakova, D. (2016). Factors Related to Practitioner Attitudes Regarding Discipline Practices (Doctoral dissertation, Kean University).
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Mulvaney, M., & Mebert, C. (2010). Stress appraisal and attitudes towards corporal punishment as intervening processes between corporal punishment and subsequent mental health. Journal of Family Violence, 25(4), 401-412. doi:10.1007/s10896-009-9301-0
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Straus, M. A., Sugarman, D. B., & Giles-Sims, J. (1997). Spanking by parents and subsequent antisocial behavior of children. Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 151(8), 761
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