Positive Effects Of Physical Punishment

Register to read the introduction… However, this is not the case, the use of physical punishment increases stress levels in a child in the short term. If the physical punishment is repeated over and over the stress will accumulate over time which will lead into the development of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression (Gershoff, 2010). In an interview study done in New Zealand, the children interviewed talked about how painful the physical punishment was, which is not surprising, however it was the extent to which the children spoke about the emotional distress the felt when physically punished by their parents. Their experiences with physical punishment included emotions such as sadness, anger, stress, anxiety and fear (for example, “smacking makes you feel sad and grumpy” or “…it stings you and makes you feel horrible inside.”) (Gershoff, 2010). The negative emotions that these children experience hamper their mental well being, which is important for healthy development. …show more content…
However, the argument against the use of physical punishment has made it very clear that physically punishing a child can place a child at risk for, physical injury, more sever abuse, depression, anxiety, and stress as well as poor relationship attachments. The irony of physical punishment is that the more successful it is for short term compliance, the more likely it is that the child will use physical force to get what they want in the future. Therefore, when examining past and present literature it can be concluded that physical punishment of a child does not promote long term compliance, in fact physical punishment decreases positive behaviors thus affecting a child’s behavior opposite to what the parents intended. Physical punishment does more harm than good to a