The Harms Of Corporal Punishment On Children

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The Harms of Corporal Punishment on Children There is a long on-going conversation on parenting styles and techniques. Many people have written books on the best ways to raise children. One topic that is continually debated and quite controversial is the proper method to discipline children. There are various opinions on what is the correct answer. Research has shown that corporal punishment, spanking, is not the proper method of punishment due to unintentional adverse effects on the child’s behavior. Corporal punishment of children could increase the risk of developing aggressive behaviors later on in life. Spanking is a form of punishment many parents use in the U.S. Corporal punishment was formerly a common practice in prisons, military …show more content…

(2011) pointed out that Gershoff’s meta-analysis in 2002 was a cross-sectional study, therefore the findings cannot claim causation instead they only identify a correlation. The reason many parents are skeptical of the research was not examined in Gershoff (2013), but was explored by Boutwell et al. People who were spanked as children tend to believe that spanking is a good discipline technique (Belsky, 2016, p. 206). A possible cause of skepticism for many people: the majority of the children who are spanked do not have behavioral issues. Boutwell et al. (2011) did not find evidence that fully accounted for the lack of development of behavioral problems and concluded that further research would be needed to determine why some children develop behavioral problems because of corporal punishment and most do not. Boutwell et al. (2011) did find that a person can possess a particular gene, which could make them more susceptible to developing aggressive tendencies in response to corporal …show more content…

Therefore, the lack of development of those issues aids in the human race’s continued survival. Many scientists say that corporal punishment should never be used as a form of discipline. Psychologist believe that spanking communicates to children it is acceptable for adults to hit them. While, spanking does cause instant compliance, it does not cause a long-term change in behavior (Belsky, 2016, p. 206). Corporal punishment can impair the development of prosocial behavior by increasing externalizing behaviors in children with genetic vulnerabilities (Boutwell et al (2011). Thus, promoting the behavior it is meant to prevent. Corporal punishment is not the best technique to use to discipline children because of the inadvertent increased risk of a child developing aggressive behaviors further on development.

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