Effectiveness Of Corporal Punishment

Superior Essays
Corporal punishment of children is a highly debated issue. With both supporters and opponents throughout history, it has been studied and discussed in academia, the media, and even in the judicial system. With statistical information and valid arguments presented from both sides, one can delve into the complicated discussion of it’s effectiveness thoroughly.
In order to discuss the effectiveness of corporal punishment one must first understand what the definition of corporal punishment is. Corporal punishment is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as, “physical punishment, as spanking, inflicted on a child by an adult in authority” (Webster). This definition is important in understanding why this subject is debated in terms of it’s effectiveness.
…show more content…
Within the last decade more and more countries are adopting laws that prevent corporal punishment within the home due to it’s ambiguous nature and possible negative ramifications. These countries include: Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden (Gershoff 540). These countries have banned corporal punishment because they have deemed it ineffective and ultimately harmful. These countries came to this conclusion from analyzing data presented by several notable psychological and sociological studies. These studies determined that there are multiple reasons as to why it’s …show more content…
Scientific studies do not show any long term advantages to corporal punishment of children within schools. In fact, psychologists who study corporal punishment in schools note that there are several observed disadvantages to corporal punishment of children in schools such as,
The child 's withdrawal from the punishing situation whenever possible, causing aggressive reactions, modeling the act of delivery of punishment, drawing attention to the punished behavior, which then may be emitted by other students in situations when the teacher is not present, and producing, negative peer reactions to the child receiving punishment (Rose 159).
These scientific observations are based off several different studies done by both psychologists and sociologists over a series of

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    He continues on citing the source from 2011, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNA) issued a statement noting that corporal punishment is a serious risk to childhood development, that can cause antisocial behavior and gives the children a greater chance of being violent in their adulthood. He adds another similar source after that by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, in a statement released in 2012 that explains even though corporal punishment might modify the behavior for the time being, it doesn’t fix the behavior over time and it can lead to increased aggressive behavior and less appropriate…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Half of all U.S. parents say they’ve spanked their kid. Spanking doesn’t just happen in the privacy of homes, either. Nineteen states allow teachers or principals to hit children. Opponents often point to scientific studies as proof that spanking is bad. And I confess,…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Class, I spent a year in Australia living with people who were from many different countries and cultures. We would often talk about the differing opinions that people had on this topic. I had a couple close friends from who were from Scandinavia and when we would talk about any sort of corporal punishment because it is illegal in Scandinavian countires. "Spanking, slapping, smacking, pinching, hair-pulling, whipping, paddling – corporal punishment by any name or means is prohibited in Sweden, both at home and in school" (Smacking children banned, 2015). Although I grew up in a home where corporal punishment was used appriopriately, getting to talk to people with different opinions gave me an opportunity to discover if I think it would be possible…

    • 164 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The topic of this paper is to determine whether spanking your children is good or bad. Spanking can be justified. One of the main reasons parents spank their children would be to instill proper behavior in a disciplined manner. It’s not to hurt the child but to teach them the appropriate way of being respectful towards authority. Which could make a huge impact on their lives when they become adults.…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Lenient Form of Public Discipline at Trinity Hall Because Trinity Hall is a new school, an honor system has not been fully established for students. When developing an honor system, one must look at how other schools discipline their students and decide whether or not those punishments fit Trinity Hall’s mission and core values of respect, leadership, faith, and perseverance. Corporal punishment in schools has changed drastically over the past 50 years in the harshness in which students are publicly disciplined with. Although it is still allowed in some states, teachers used to hit students by spanking them or using a ruler to hit their hand. This form of punishment has evolved into public shaming which is often more embarrassing and causes…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, parent’s definitions may vary. The ways of teaching children has changed drastically, which has made spanking a major controversy in the last century. One of the main reasons it has caused such a fuss is because there is a blurred line in today’s world of what is acceptable punishment and what is…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many children are being neglected and abused by irresponsible adults. “Hundreds of thousands of children in the United States are estimated to be victims of sexual, physical, or emotional abuse”(Gale). In each family children are raised differently,however, most of the time people raise their children based on the way they were raised. Moreover, many children were raised to fear their parents because their punishment is to be abused in some way. The problem with defending spanking is that many fail to define it and/or defending it.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Twenty years ago it was acceptable to spank children in public; however, in 2016 it is considered wrong to hit a child. Thinking about the scrutiny that currently surrounds spanking children made me realize…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Given the possibility of physical and sexual violence in prisons the momentary pain and humiliation of a public beating seems much less barbaric in comparison. Opponents of corporal criminal justice believe that it is barbaric and will not be an effective deterrent in preventing crime. There are no scientific studies to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this form of punishment will work, however history has shown us that once corporal punishment was abolished that crime rates rose…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Statistics in a school have shown that less students had a visit to the office for punishment after adding corporal punishment(Source A). Physically disciplining students will…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This source looked at corporal punishment in our schools. At the time of the study nineteen states still allowed corporal punishment in their schools. This punishment has actually brought more trouble than good. According to this source there is a great racial disparity when it comes to punishment. In addition to racial disparity there is also disparity when it comes to students with…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Luz Medina English 81010 Professor Pierson November 13, 2016 Corporal Punishment: Yay or Nay? For years, physical discipline, from light spankings to brutal beatings, was seen as commonplace in households to get a child to learn a lesson. It was never seen as a cruel and tough form of punishment but as a necessity to get a point across. Now, in today’s society, this punishment crosses a line to a dangerous and serious form of child abuse.…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mulvaney, M. K., & Mebert, C. J. (2007). Parental corporal punishment predicts behavior problems in early childhood. Journal Of Family Psychology, 21(3), 389-397. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.3.389 Introduction Corporal punishment is the action of inflicting pain to the body and used as a “disciplinary” technique to correct a child’s behavior. For many decades, psychologists and parents have been battling about physical discipline and its detrimental effects on children specially kids between the ages between 3 to 6 years.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Corporal Punishment: Useful in Schools WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Students who attended many American schools from the founding of the United States until the mid-to-late twentieth century know that sound all too well. These students all knew exactly what was happening when they heard this noise.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    7 March 2017 Jeren Yong Mr. Todd Language and Literature, E8, Reflective Essay Against Physical Punishment of Children by Parents Parents should educate their children from a young age. However, physical punishment against children at any age is not the best way to educate a child. It is said that children who suffer from physical punishment from parents tend to be anti-social as they are growing up. Children have the knowledge to understand simple educational words.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays