Corporal Punishment In Young Adults

Reduced prefrontal cortical gray matter value in young adults exposed to corporal punishment is a study done by Akemi Tomoda, Hanako Suzuki, Karen Rabi, Yi-Shin She, Ann Polcari, and Martin H. Teicher. This study was published in March 2009 and had the objective to see how harsh corporal punishment during a persons childhood changes the brain structure and specifically the amount of gray matter volume. They clearly drew guidelines on the differences between harsh corporal punishment (HCP) and corporal punishment (CP). They stated that spanking was an acceptable form of CP as long as it was done with ones hand and did not extend to areas other than the butt, arms, and legs, and did not cause any injury. HCP is classified as anything above that, whether it be using an object, or causing pain and injury from anger. Out of a sample group of 1,455 young adults ages 18-25 they were only able to identify 23 subjects who experienced HCP at least 12 times a year for 2 years, and 22 healthy control subjects. From this study they learned that children who experienced HCP on average, their parents had 2 years less of education, had higher levels of verbal aggression, and the children had about 10 points lower IQ than the control group. While every research articles have pros and …show more content…
These are set in place because as shown in this study there are long term affects of depression and addiction while also loosing necessary gray matter needed in a healthy brain. The way to be able to discipline ones child without causing permanent damage is to follow the guidelines set up for acceptable CP and to never intentionally cause harm or use CP as a form of aggression. Children who have lost gray matter can not replaced so parents must always remember that when children need to be disciplined because it will affect them for the rest of their