I’m in an online Psychology class right now and read this today about spanking children and the ineffective use of punishment.
“Psychologist Robert Larzelere notes a problem with human punishment studies, which often find that spanked children are at increased risk for aggression, depression, and low self-esteem. Well, yes, says Larzelere, just as people who have received radiation treatments are more likely to die of cancer, and people who have undergone psychotherapy are more likely to suffer depression-because they had preexisting problems that triggered the treatments. If one adjust for preexisting cancer or depression-or antisocial behavior- then radiation, psychotherapy, or an occasional single swat or two of misbehaving 2-6 year olds looks more effective.
“Punished behavior is not forgotten; it is suppressed. This temporary suppression may (negatively) reinforce the parents’ punishing behavior. The child swears, the parent swats, the parent hears no more swearing from the child, and the parent feels the punishment was successful in stopping the behavior. But was it? If the punishment is avoidable, the punished behavior may reappear in safe settings [not at home in front of parents] …the child will swear elsewhere.
“Punishment may also increase aggressiveness by demonstrating that aggression is a way to cope with problems…Punishment can create fear; the person receiving the punishment may associate the fear not only with the undesirable behavior but also with the person who administers it or with the situation in which it occurs…”
From Exploring Psychology: 5th Edition in Modules, David G. Myers
Thank God for this Study that revealed in the late 1990’s the negative effects of spanking as a form of discipline. If you’ve raised children prior to this study, don’t beat yourself up… you did the best that you knew how. But for those of us that are raising children after this study was published we have a higher standard to discipline by.
As the saying goes, “To whom much is given, much is required.” We’ve been given this knowledge and now we must choose what to do with it.
#1 by Alicia Broaddus at July 28th, 2010
| Quote
Of course punished behavior is supressed – that’s the goal! We want to prevent that behavior in the future. We wouldn’t want one to forget a lesson that should be learned. Some lessons are vital to ones safety and the safety of others. Now, how we go about “punishing” (and I prefer to use the word “disciplining”) is a matter that is influenced by any number of factors. No one “punishment” fits all behaviors. If one spanks it should be done sparingly. Any “punishment” that is overused, or misued can certainly become ineffective. And, any “punishment” that is administered improperly or out of anger (whether it be spanking or not) can be harmful. There are any number of ways to discipline poor behavior as a deterrant to it being continued. Of course, the final decision as to whether the behavior actually is continued is up to the individual (demonstrating the behavior). We cannot completely eliminate undesired behavior through punishment…only establish that there are consequences to all behaviors so that individuals (even children) may choose correct behavior.
#2 by Vera at July 30th, 2010
| Quote
Well, yeah, if your child does something wrong, and the only immediate response you can offer is physical punishment, like slapping or spanking a child, then i agree with the psychologist, as it happens unfortunately in families with physically abused children. However, I believe this is just an excerpt from the whole book, and provides general information on punishment. We have already discussed all the aspects of it in the previous post. I echo Alicia’s post; it is very individual, and is not one-size-fits-all solution. Let’s not mix in together ignorance and abuse with proper discipline, which requires a lot of God’s wisdom and humbleness in parenting.
#3 by Lauren at July 30th, 2010
| Quote
I see what you’re saying, Alicia, but what this psychologist is describing is that punishment and hitting only prevents bad behavior in the future in front of the parent that hits. Not in all aspects of life. It teaches a child to avoid said action in front of punishing parent… it only hides the action and doesn’t stop it.
I want to discourage wrong behavior by teaching good choices, not a threatening environment that ’so and so behavior’ will result in ’so in so hitting or punishment’.
We can argue the use of the word ‘punishment’ but the idea of nipping a bad behavior in the bud is a temporary fix… the idea is to shape the child not gain momentary satisfaction on the part of the discipliner.
Vera, I understand your desire to mimic God’s wisdom in your parenting. I appreciate that fully. I simply cannot find it in the Bible where an older person hitting a child is loving discipline.
Discipline is definitely individualized to the child and parent but( as in many things in our society) limits are established when research or history shows that an old practice is more harmful than helpful. I feel like recent studies are showing this to be so… spanking is an old fad that is hanging around only because it takes a while to spread the news that it is ineffective… thus the blogs!!! Just trying to spread the ‘good news’ that we don’t have to spank and harshly punish in order to love!!
Some parents truly believe that they must spank because it is how they were raised or they must spank but it translates a spiritual wisdom to children. But recent evidence shows that it confuses children and is more harmful than helpful. Hitting is out… as of studies such as this published in the 1990’s… just in time for me to raise my own kids with this knowledge.