Physical Punishment: Harm And Long-Term Effects On Children

The use of physical discipline as a parenting technique has been a controversial topic for our most recent generations. The evolution of physical punishment, beginning with our ancestors to now, has changed because of the findings from research studies conducted by psychologists over time. The use of spanking has been proven to have short-term and long-term effects on children for many reasons. The least detrimental way of gathering this information is through practical research in the form of questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observations and discussion groups. Undoubtedly, it would be unethical and even immoral if we conducted randomized experiments with control groups that manipulated the independent variable, which would be to have the parent spank or hit their child, and get the dependent variable, which would be the effect of the physical punishment, in order to gather data on the immediate outcome. The home …show more content…
Because a child’s brain is developing at this crucial time in their life countless events can affect their growth positively and negatively. According to Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor (2016), 80% of children around the world are spanked or have experienced some kind of physical punishment from their parents (p. 453). The meta-analyses in their research found that there was no association of improved behavior when a child is spanked instead they found that their were 13 detrimental outcomes (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016).

In the article, “Spanking and Child Outcomes”, Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor (2016) chose potential studies to use in their meta-analyses. Their primary source for the study was through theoretical research, in which they searched