Spanking Children Research Paper

The current research question that I will be focusing on is “What are the effects of a child receiving spanking compared to a child who does not receive spanking in a long term?” I choose this question because it is related to the concentration that I am focusing on in my sociology major, which is youth and childhood. Another reason why I choose this question is because when I was child, my mother would spank me with a wooden spoon if I ever were to behave badly or if I broke something in the house. People believe that when a child is spanked it can affect their self-esteem once they or grow older, but for me it did not make any affect, as a result I was okay. Also, people that I know who are in college had been spanked as well, and they would

Many see spanking as a form of parental rights and that the parent has the right to raise their child the way they consider most appropriate. Those in favor of spanking, also hold there is little evidence that moderate spanking is harmful. Further, many believe that discipline problems among children have recently increased, and partially attribute the boost to the decline of both parental authority and the use of spanking.

A recent study shows 70 percent of parents believe it is right to discipline a child through physical means. Most commonly, parents will spank their children but being hit with things like belts or other objects happens as well. Parenting methods haven’t changed much with time and discipline in similar no matter the country. With more studies out to find the most effective method of parenting and discipline it’s coming to attention whether or not physical harm is the best way to teach children. Parents want what is best for their children, so it is important to constantly bring up and question methods commonly accepted in the past. One method that is becoming more controversial is spanking children. Though it is still considered normal to do, it is gaining more traction and more studies are being done to find the problems it causes. Checking on parenting methods can be difficult as everyone is raised differently. It is also difficult to test which forms of punishment lead to certain outcomes. However, there is a trend of negative effects from hitting. Gershoff acknowledges, “several national professional organizations have called on parents to abandon spanking as a child rearing practice and for professionals to recommend disciplinary alternatives to spanking.” Spanking children is a terrible discipline method as it has negative effects.

Spanking has been the way of discipline for many years, but in reality it is child abuse. Spanking, also known as corporal punishment, to me is any kind of negative physical contact to a child with the intention to cause pain as a way of discipline. Anything from a pat on the butt, to the use of a belt or paddle on a child, or a smack on the hand or mouth can be considered spanking. Child abuse is violence, and "violence is an act carried out with the intention, or perceived intention, of causing physical pain or injury to another person" (Straus 7). The intentions of both spanking and violence are to cause pain and the only difference is that violence also covers acts of injury. So, are parents actually teaching their children

Researchers have studied that spanking is effective for anyone’s child who had experienced the pain of spanking on their bottoms or any part of their body because it has shown that it has increased the aggressiveness as well as mental issues towards his or her families and peers. For instance, in a book that was based on a true story called “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” where Henrietta had a cervical cancer in her, so years has passed by she had died from the cervical cancer and leaving her children behind. The children had nowhere else to go but to live with their aunt’s house named Ethel. Later Ethel had decided to abuse these children because she had hatred towards Henrietta who Galen was interesting to be with her instead her wife, Ethel. Ethel starves Henrietta’s children by walking them at dawn and forcing them to do chores. In the summer she sends them to Clover to pick the worms off the tobacco leaves and if they ever stop she would beat them. Out of the most of who got abused was Joe Lacks who changed his name to Zakariyya because she would abuse him for no reason by forcing him to stand in the dark basement for hours on end. Over the years now that Ethel has completely crossed the line of abuse he had gotten downright angrier and angrier by having him to have mental disorders, aggressiveness as well as anger because of what he had experienced in the past now that it has permanently affected him for a while by having problems in his later life and becoming an alcoholic, getting himself in trouble as well as murdering someone. Many people say that spanking is a good example of punishing your child, however; parent’s need to realize that if they have crossed the line from spanking it is now considered as abuse

Why Spanking Children is Wrong Parents have been spanking their children for hundreds of years, but recently this practice has come into question. The concern is not regarding the effectiveness of spanking but the correctness of spanking. Parents should not be allowed to strike their children. Child abuse is defined as any unnecessary or intentional physical or emotional or sexual mistreatment of children. Spanking is not the only method of child discipline. Spanking is not even the most effective method of child discipline. Numerous studies have made it evident that spanking does have a negative effect on children. Spanking children should be considered child abuse because it teaches children the wrong message about hitting, it does not

Lansford et al. (2012) examined the differences in externalizing behavior for children who had never been spanked (no spanking), children who had been spanked with a hand only less than once a week (mild spanking), and children who had been spanked with an object or spanked with a hand more frequently (harsh spanking). The

There is a widely held tradition in western civilization that "sparing the rod spoils the child" (Day 81). Spanking is deeply rooted in the history and culture of our nation as well as in our own personal experiences. Some people point to the Bible as supporting, even requiring, physical punishment. Those who subscribe to this argument misunderstand and misuse scripture (Epoch 3).

When it comes to disciplining your children the question that continues to come up is, to spank or not to spank? The argument on whether or not to use physical punishment has been going on for decades. It’s still one of the biggest controversies and debates among parents and just about everyone has a strong and emotional opinion. One of the problems with spanking is how people define it. If you were to ask people what is spanking, each person would define it differently. Baumrind defined spanking as “striking the child on the buttocks or extremities with an open hand without inflicting physical injury, with the intent to modify behavior.” Spanking can make a negative or positive impact on a child’s life.

Spanking has been a controversial topic among many parents. Some believe it is just a form of discipline and is okay, while others believe that this is abuse or violence and it will harm the child in the long run.

According to Roger Thompson, associate professor at Stony Brook University “If we are going to take seriously what science tells us about how we form relationships and how our mind develops, we will need to construct new strategies for parenting and when we do… we just may change the world” (Thompson). Punishment is usually intended to correct behavior, get rid of or lessen unwanted behavior and encourage better normative behavior. Parents often try to use punishment, such as spanking, to guide children, show them was is acceptable and what is not. This technique is outdated, unnecessary and harmful. To see that spanking as punishment for children is wrong, one needs to look at significant factors such as how the brain of a child works, the more effective options and the long term effects.

With new upcoming generations and a changing society, traditional practices of how people live are changing; arguably for the better or worse. Some of these changes include the controversial to spank or not to spank question, in which new studies are aiming to show the effects of spanking on children. “With more than 30 years of research, we can now visualize accurately how spanking can alter a child’s perception.” (Scrock 2009) Although spanking has been the “go-to” way of discipline, it is starting to be looked on as a form of child abuse. After all, there are great reasons as to why organizations like the American Psychological Association and American Academy of Pediatrics condemn spanking. We will talk about the problems spanking causes in children, the misconception on why parents do it, and how to properly discipline your child. This essay argues that parents should not spank their child and should instead turn to other measures of discipline.

Spanking has become an arguably debatable form of discipline. According to a study at the University of Texas, the more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents (“Spanking: Pros and Cons”). There is a connection between spanking during the childhood and mental health diagnoses later in life. There are other options of discipling your child than spanking them, especially because all children can take spanking differently. Parents should not spank their child because it showers that being “stronger” is right, demonstrates that older people have a right to hit younger people, and gives the examples that violence solves all problems.

The term corporal punishment means the intentional infliction of pain on the body for purposes of punishment. "Spanking can be defined as the use of physical force aimed at causing children to experience pain but not injury, for the purposes of correction and control of youthful behavior"(http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=32539). Spanking is a controversial topic and should not be taken lightly.

Discipline is one of the basic things a child learns from his parents before he or she faces the outside world to learn more about life as a whole. Teaching this trait can depend on how the parent shows it to their child and how they explain the importance of having this trait both in and out of their homes. Misbehaving children cannot be avoided as they are curious little beings and they have a tendency to explore. But there are some parents, even teachers, who do not tolerate misbehaving and they resort to corporal punishments such as spanking to make sure the child never forgets how painful it is to misbehave as they will remember the punishment entailed to it and become more disciplined. However, not all children would understand the