Thesis; Corporal Punishment

Corporal Punishment

Krichell Blair

Submitted under the supervision of Professor Bateh to the College Honors Program at

Berkeley College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of

Science, cum laude in Accounting.

August 1st, 2016

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

Definition of Corporal Punishment ............................................................................... 2

Type of Corporal Punishment to be Discussed .............................................................. 2

Negative Social Psychological Long Term Effects of Corporal Punishment ................ 3

Link between Low Self-Esteem and Corporal Punishment ................................... 3

Link between Clinical Depression and Corporal Punishment ............................... 5

Children vs. Corporal Punishment ......................................................................... 6

Erosion of Respect for Authority ........................................................................... 8

Unwillingness to Learn .......................................................................................... 9

What Corporal Punishment Teaches Children .............................................................. 10

Violence is the Answer .......................................................................................... 10

Violence is Normal ................................................................................................. 14

Into the Mind of a Parent ............................................................................................... 13

The Explanation ..................................................................................................... 13

The Hamster Wheel ................................................................................................ 14

The Community Bench .......................................................................................... 17

The Police Car ........................................................................................................ 17


TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont’d)

Analysis of Corporal Punishment in Society ................................................................. 19

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 22


Abstract

This paper focuses on key factors supporting and opposing corporal punishment.

Children subjected to corporal punishment suffer from lowered self-esteem, clinical

depression, and suicide ideation all so that parents can instill fear and artificial control.

Aside from the negative psychological effects, the use of corporal punishment has

negative implications as it teaches children that it is acceptable and sometimes necessary

to solve their problems using violence. With that being said, school administrators,

teachers, and parents instill high levels of moral capacities onto children only for them to

grow up into a world that applies force and violence at every nonconforming moment.

Corporal punishment is still wrong, but the hypocrisy in American culture on the issue

drives a wedge in the progress of eliminating this ideology. This paper seeks to highlight

negative social/psychological long term effects of corporal punishment and what we can

do to wean out this way of disciplining children.

Keywords: corporal punishment, society, police influence


Introduction

Barbarism is the reason behind corporal punishment towards children today

(DeMause, 2010). Barbarism has been a part of human identity since Neolithic times.

Compared to other animals’ sharp claws, strong teeth, and fur (to protect them during the

winter), humans couldn’t stand a chance. But, in modern times, it is humans who are able

to dominate the animal kingdom and control the rest of the animals. In order for that to

happen, we had to use sheer force, barbarism, and underhanded tactics. These actions

have followed us and have been permanently ingrained in us (DeMause, 2010). The laws

of evolution and Social Darwinism produced humans who use violence to get where they

need to be. Violence has been a part of our culture for so long and is so deeply ingrained

in our psyche as humans that we use violence against our own children.

Fast forward to the 21st century and we have tried to shun our barbaric ways and

condemn violence in search of solving problems through negotiations and peace.

However, our past is too hard to shake as the controversial topic of corporal punishment

still has strong supporters. Humans of the past did everything through force: They taught

and fought by force. This is something that is rooted in every culture. African, European,

Asian, Native American, and Australian history are all synonymous in its account of the

violence of human nature.

It is hard for us to shake the monkey off our backs because some argue that the

monkey is the reason we were able to stay on our own two feet. Violence is so ingrained

in our DNA that hitting our children is deemed the responsible thing to do for some

people. But 21st century studies and technology is starting to shed a more scientific light

on the matter. Violence against children, deemed corporal punishment, is not as


productive as we have brainwashed ourselves to believe. Children subjected to corporal

punishment suffer from lowered self-esteem, clinical depression, and suicide ideation all

so that parents can instill fear and artificial control. Aside from the negative

psychological effects, the use of corporal punishment has negative implications as it

teaches children that it is acceptable and sometimes necessary to solve their problems

using violence. With that being said, school administrators, teachers, and parents instill

high levels of morale and integrity onto children only for them to grow up into a world

that contradicts what they were taught in school.

Definition of Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment can be defined as any kind of physical punishment, whether

it be caning or flogging, with the intent of causing physical injury or pain. Corporal

punishment is used in the military to coerce spies or other opponents to talk. It is also

used in many prison systems around the world (especially in the United States) as a

means of keeping the prisoners restrained. Surprisingly, some schools still exercise their

right to use corporal punishment on young children. Lastly, parents have the right to use

corporal punishment on their children in the United States.

Type of Corporal Punishment to be Discussed

Corporal punishment can be implemented against anyone but the type of corporal

punished being discussed will be in regards to children (during any circumstance). The

term corporal punishment has many different classifications. Any and all punishment

ranging from a light slap to a hard punch is included in the definition being discussed.

There will be further analyzation of the differences in effect between a “light tap” and a

“beating”. But, in essence, the term corporal punishment is defined as any physical blow


whether it be for disciplinary purposes or to cause serious bodily harm. The reason

corporal punishment is being defined as such is because whether a child gets slapped in

the face so hard that he/she cannot breathe or whether he/she receives a light tap, the

child will still have feelings of shame and embarrassment either way. In the long run,

some children might forget just how much pain was caused but the feelings of shame will

remain. This is why it is important to include any and all forms of violence against

children.

Negative Long-Term Social and Psychological Effects of Corporal Punishment

Link between Low Self-Esteem and Corporal Punishment

The use of corporal punishment causes children to experience lowered self-

esteem. A child with lowered self-esteem is disadvantaged compared to children with

higher self-esteem. The difference between the two esteemed children can be as simple as

one being more participatory in the classroom or being more confident in submitting and

doing homework. A child with lowered self-esteem is comparable to a drug user using a

gateway drug in that having a child with the said characteristic can snowball into the

child having other, more major, problems. Low self-esteem is the gateway to antisocial

behavior, limited speech, and possibly clinical depression. No scientist and/or

psychologist can disapprove of the link between low self-esteem and children who are

spanked. Which then raises the question; Why are children still spanked if their parents

are aware of the possible negative outcomes? Spanking a child is the gateway to a list of

negative emotional outcomes on the child's behalf.

Many parents use the counterargument that a child's lowered self-esteem is only

temporary. The belief being that once the child becomes a certain age, he/she will realize


the reasoning behind their parents' efforts to discipline him/her and will 'forgive' the

uncomfortable portions of the disciplinary stages. This ideology has been the tradition

that has been passed down through various cultures from generation to generation, but

human beings cannot evolve until we change as a group.

The fact of the matter is, "when subjected to physical beating [many people] will

often bury the memory and downplay its effect. But the pain never disappears... and so

the childhood scenes are reenacted in adulthood where the individual[s] can identify with

their childhood aggressor in situations where they are confronted with children or the

weak" (Pantagraph, 1992). In essence, adults often downplay the effects of their

experiences when they were younger. So, when adult supporters of corporal punishment

say that they were 'spanked as a child and still grew up to be a productive member of

society', they are victims of denial.

Adults who were spanked as children carry around the pain of being spanked into

adulthood, in which case the pain manifests itself in different ways. Thus, the act of

spanking a child will accomplish a short term victory of compliance, but that compliance

comes at the cost of the child's self-esteem. Taking into account that every child is

different, parents run the increased risk that their child will internalize this feeling of

worthlessness which will live on with them well into their adult life. This internalized

feeling of worthlessness is oftentimes referred to as clinical depression.

Link between Clinical Depression and Corporal Punishment

Children subjected to corporal punishment have been linked to higher rates of

clinical depression. A 10-year study conducted by M.A. Straus and G.K. Kantor sheds

light on the major connections between corporal punishment and negative mental health


(1994). Straus and Kantor gathered a group of adults and asked them about their personal

lives (1994). Questions ranged from how often test subjects drank alcoholic substances to

how often they had suicide ideation (Straus & Kantor, 1994). Test subjects were also

asked to recollect their teenage years to place the amount of times they were spanked as

teenagers into different frequency categories (Straus & Kantor, 1994).

The scientists found an eye-opening link between adults who were spanked more

(when the test subjects were children) and mental illnesses (Straus & Kantor, 1994). For

example, Straus and Kantor found that test subjects who were subjected to higher

amounts of corporal punishment as teenagers had higher than median spousal abuse rates,

suicide ideations, and depressive rates (1994). Meaning, adults who were spanked as

children grew to have a higher percentage of emotional instability. Unsurprisingly, as the

frequency of corporal punishment that adults underwent as teenagers increased, so did

their levels of emotionally instability. Straus and Kantor’s study suggests that spanking

children has a direct correlation with their mental health during the course of their lives

(1994).

The purpose of studies like the one being discussed is to measure and analyze

risk. The study concludes that there is a definite risk associated with corporal punishment

and depression by outright claiming that teenagers who undergo corporal punishment are

more likely to try to kill themselves along with a slew of other mental illnesses. These

mental illnesses are, in a sense, a physical manifestation of the pain and feelings of

worthlessness that the test subjects internalized as teenagers. To be clear, no one child is

the same so observations and studies done on children (and adults) who have been

spanked are not to speak a doomsday onto them, but only to highlight possible causes for


future problems that these same children will have as they grow. Albeit the fact that some

children may grow into adulthood with minimal emotional instability, the alarming

effects of corporal punishment still need to be addressed for the simple fact that it puts

children at an increased risk for mental illnesses.

The fact that scientists have yet to debunk all of the mysteries of the brain means

that much of what there is to know about mental illnesses is still unknown. With this in

mind, one would think that parents would tread lightly when it comes to engaging in any

behavior that could possibly affect their child's mental health in a negative way.

Especially when we know so little about how to cure and treat mental illnesses. The fact

that we have yet to find a cure for depression is reason enough for us to be careful not to

cause even more emotional depression in our own lives (and the lives around us) as best

as we can. Yet, parents risk the emotional stability of their children every day by

spanking them.

Children vs. Corporal Punishment

Children themselves can attest to the pain they feel when they are spanked by

their parents. In general, children are said to have a lower capacity to communicate

compared to older teenagers and adults because of their limited use of language. Their

inability to articulate their feelings places them at a disadvantage because many people

like to sweep the emotions of children under the rug.

Susan Redman, psychologist, interviewed parents regarding their views on

corporal punishment and found that many believed that kids just “accept it” (Redman,

2010). Redman argues that, “if young children do just accept punishment and don’t

always articulate their feelings about their experience of smacking, then adults may


interpret this as somehow less significant than the experience of an older child or adult”

(Redman, 2010, p. 223). Just because children are not able to completely articulate their

feelings of shame and humiliation does not mean that they ‘just accept’ being slapped

around.

Redman’s observations highlight the connection between language and

recognition of emotion. Her insight into this connection further validates the popular

saying ‘communication is key.’ But, in the case of a child, communication is limited,

leaving some parents believing that a child’s emotions are also limited. In reality,

children are emotionally sensitive and parents must take heed to the pain that they subject

their children to because the experiences and emotions that children internalize when they

are young never go away.

To further clarify the pain that children feel, the book “It Hurts You Inside” by C.

Willow and T. Hyder, seeks to get an inside look at what children think of being spanked.

One seven-year-old boy said, “‘Sometimes if you smack, if it was an adult like my daddy,

he can smack very hard … he can smack you like a stone … and you’ll cry’” (Willow &

Hyder, 1998, p. 13). One insightful child is quoted saying, “‘[my parents] might

remember being smacked but not really remember how it feels because it seems so long

ago. And as they got older when they thought about it they forgot how it feels’” (Willow

& Hyder, 1998, p. 18). Children might not be the best at communicating but in order for

adults to be better parents they have to become better at listening.

Oftentimes, many parents do not research safer, more productive ways to

discipline their children. They often stick to what they know - barbarism. During

Redman’s investigation, she found that parents used words like “whack” and “biff” to


describe their experiences being spanked as children but use words such as “lightly tap”

to describe how they spank their own children (Redman, 2010). The words that the

parents used to describe their own experiences growing up differ vastly from the “light

taps” they used on their own children.

It seems parents are disconnected to how much pain they cause their children.

This dichotomy in diction between how parents think they were spanked versus how they

think they spank their children lines up smoothly with what the seven-year-old girl had to

say on the matter of corporal punishment: Parents forget the emotions they felt getting

spanked as a child. Small children might not be able to write a twenty-five-page thesis on

why they do not like being spanked, but they do have the same emotions as any other

human being. They end up internalizing their feelings of embarrassment because they

cannot think of words passionate enough to match the intensity of their emotions.

Erosion of Respect for Authority

Children subjected to corporal punishment begin to lose respect for authority.

Oftentimes, after a child is spanked, they wonder whether or not they are liked by the

adult that spanked them. The confusion around whether not the adult likes them soon

mixes and festers with their feelings of embarrassment and shame. After some time, these

emotions flare up in the form of disrespect.

S. Han conducted a study on the effects of corporal punishment policies in rural

schools. During her study, Han gathered survey data. She asked the principals located in

each selected rural area whether or not they allowed physical punishment. She gathered

statistics regarding violent school incidents caused by students, total number of

disciplinary actions for student insubordination, student problem behaviors, parental


involvement and more to test “the effect of corporal punishment on student outcome”

(Han, 2014, p. 222).

“One conclusion that can be drawn from the findings is that schools with a

corporal punishment policy are more likely to have students who disobey school

personnel, violate school rules, and/or act against school authority/teachers. This

association is well supported by the literature. A corporal punishment policy stimulates

student anger, disrespect, and violence toward school staff” (Han, 2014, p. 229). The

study indicates that there is a higher probability of erosion of respect for authority once

corporal punishment is instilled in schools.

It is much easier for a child to respect an adult if the specified adult respects the

child in return. Therefore, when teachers, administrators, and parents spank children, the

children perceive the act as a lack of respect towards them (the child). As children grow

into adolescence, it is very likely that they will not hold a high regard for adults who do

not respect their physical health.

Unwillingness to Learn

Spanking children creates a hostile learning environment. Whether a child is in

the classroom, or at home, they will lose interest in whatever it is that the adult is trying

to teach them. Oftentimes, when given the opportunity, children will never return to the

locations where they were spanked and traumatized. This is why many teenagers go off

to college in different states from where their parents live and act radically different from

how they acted around the presence of their friends and family.

Creating a hostile environment for children (by spanking them) makes them shut

down. “…Corporal punishment negatively affects students’ academic aspirations… A


hostile learning environment that includes corporal punishment practices may lead to

students being fearful of physical punishment. This situation discourages students from

becoming involved in school work, and they may lose interest in future learning” (Han,

2014, p. 229). This unwillingness to learn is not what we should be advocating for our

children. Especially when some children may possibly suffer from undiagnosed learning

disorders.

What Corporal Punishment Teaches Children

Violence is the Answer

Corporal punishment teaches children that violence is a viable way to change the

behaviors of people around them. “According to social learning theory, violence toward

others is learned behavior” (Swinford, DeMaris, Cernkovich, & Giordano, 2000). This

means that a child that does not grow up with violence is less likely to use violence in

his/her adult life. Hitting children for their transgressions can translate into said children

hitting their own children and other family members for their transgressions.

“Children… treated [with corporal punishment] learn that physical aggression is

permissible within the context of intimate relationships and that violence is justified when

someone is guilty of wrongdoing… Because it typically modifies children's

own behavior, such a practice also demonstrates the effectiveness of aggression as

a behavior-modification strategy” (Swinford, DeMaris, Cernkovich, & Giordano, 2000).

This observation can justify why a man beats his significant other or vice versa. When he

was spanked as a child, he changed his behavior, so, he employs this same way of

thinking onto his future intimate relationships (whether it be between the women/men in


his life or with his child(ren)) assuming that the people in his life will also change their

behavior if they are subjected to violence.

The purpose of using violence in general is because the abuser wants a desired

effect/ response from the abused. For example, an Iraqi soldier flogs an American soldier

countless times in order for the American soldier to disclose where his station is located.

Or a teacher spanks a student who is talking over her in class because she would like him

to pay attention to her. Or a father spanks his daughter for being rude to her mother.

In all three examples, people from different walks of life employ corporal

punishment in order to achieve their personal agenda. The Iraqi soldier wants to bomb the

American base, the teacher wants the student to only listen to her, and the father wants

his daughter to be respectful to her mother. In many of these cases, the corporal

punishment method seemingly works. The Iraqi soldier gets the information from the

soldier, the student in the classroom does not say another word during class time, and the

daughter does not disrespect her mother again for the day.

But notice that corporal punishment tricks people into believing that they

achieved their goal. The long term effects of flogging every American soldier in sight

will not end up well for the Iraqi soldier, and neither will spanking a child for being

disrespectful. The Iraqi soldier will end up dead, and the teacher and father will end up

losing respect from the children, making it even harder to discipline them down the line.

The moral of the story is solving problems with violence ends up being

counterproductive because later on, the roles will switch and the abuser will become the

abused (and vice versa).


Corporal punishment teaches children to communicate with their hands and not

their mouths. “Evans and Davies (1997) contended that Caribbean parents lacked the

propensity to have extended conversations or to reason with their children. Evans and

Davies noted that parents often complained about their children talking too much or

asking too many questions, ideas reinforced by the cultural belief that "children should be

seen and not heard” (Evans & Davies 1997; Smith and Mosby 2003). Instead of

highlighting the importance of communication and listening, corporal punishment

establishes an understanding of authoritarian intimate relationships. The most important

factor of any healthy relationship is communication, yet parents hypocritically teach their

children the opposite by employing a relationship that teaches children to talk with their

hands and not their mouths.

Fear and artificial control are established in an authoritarian relationship and

nothing good comes from those two things. Parents are so fixed on establishing and

maintaining control that they lose sight of their purpose, which is to raise up healthy,

functioning members of society. Many adults today struggle with alcohol abuse, suicide

ideation, and learning disabilities because of their psychological response to being

subjected to violence when they were young and weak. A healthy member of society

should not be struggling with abuse or addiction problems.

Parents that subject their children to corporal punishment play a risky gambling

game because of the negative long term outcomes that they potentially impose on their

children. Corporal punishment may seem to be the short-term quick fix answer, but

parents need to analyze the long term implications that this form of abuse has.


Violence is Normal

Growing up under corporal punishment teaches children that violence is a part of

everyday life. Women who grow up being spanked are more susceptible to domestic

violence cases because of their thwarted psychological health. Saunders and Goddard

(2010) argues that, “children must be recognized as individuals with human rights as well

as special needs for protection.” Violence towards children diminishes a child’s feeling of

self-worth and makes them feel unprotected (vulnerable). A child cannot grow up healthy

and feeling protected if his/her physical health is being placed in jeopardy often.

Violence in the home is not normal, and we should not teach children that. Kaleb

“KJ” Hill of New Orleans, 29, remembers being targeted by a particular teacher in high

school only to be diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult (Anderson, 2015). Unfortunately,

he was spanked as a child for having a learning disability which is not something that he

can control (Anderson, 2015). Having a learning disability warranted him to be spanked

more often than his peers when he had no control over the amount of drugs his mother

may or may not have used while she was pregnant with him (Anderson, 2015). KJ grew

up believing that he deserved to be spanked and that spanking was normal when all he

needed was someone to be patient with him.

Growing up in violence increases a person’s chances of recreating that violence in

their adult life. Boys who grow up seeing their fathers spank his daughters have a higher

propensity of doing the same to their own daughters. Girls who grew up being spanked

by their fathers subconsciously develop rationalizations for why it might be acceptable

for a male to put his hands on a female. Normalizing a violent home life perpetuates a

dangerous system. If parents do not want their sons and daughters living in dangerous


and potentially life-threating situations, they should not put forward anything involving

violence in front of their children.

Into the Mind of a Parent

The Explanation

If we were all to pretend to be small substances and we entered into the mind of a

parent, we would see a lot of loose electric wires and dripping water from a few burst

pipes, but mainly there would be three main objects; a hamster wheel, a community

bench, and a police car. These three things represent a few (but not all) influential factors

that dictate how parents decide to discipline their children. The hamster wheel represents

the journey that a parent undergoes to discipline their child using corporal punishment.

The community bench represents the pressures a parent faces from the community when

it comes to keeping their child out of trouble on the streets. Lastly, the police car

represents the influences that the law enforcement plays on how a parent might raise their

child.

The Hamster Wheel

No parent wants to hit their child. The question becomes why parents spank their

children when a majority of them claim that they would rather not. Studies suggest that as

children, parents might’ve felt rejected by one/both parent(s) in a way that causes

emotional stress (Sherbourne, 2004). “… The basic ingredient of parents who physically

abuse and neglect originates in how they lacked inadequate parenting themselves as

children” (Sherbourne, 2004). Many parents are stuck on the generational hamster wheel

of violence. Their parents spanked them and they internalized their feelings of rejection

only for the same feelings to materialize itself later on into 7 blows to their baby’s


buttocks. Each generation of parents is defeating the new generation by deleteriously

chipping away at an incomplete cognitive mind.

Parents need to see that running on the hamster wheel is weakening their child.

The hamster wheel has become a safe haven for parents. They would rather keep running

and panting on the hamster wheel because they do not know life without it. They justify

all the negative outcomes of corporal punishment by claiming that all the cons will make

the next generation stronger. But, as society continues to grow and learn about the human

mind, a person with tough skin and a weak mind makes for a weak opponent. Corporal

punishment weakens psychological strength.

One of Dr. Phil’s famous lines is “the best predictor of future behavior is past

behavior”. If parents can really open their eyes and just look at the negativity and

violence that was a part of the world at one point, they can slowly start to convince

themselves to get off of the hamster wheel. Many psychologists and sociologists attribute

the high levels of violence in society 60 years ago to the existence of corporal

punishment in schools.

“President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, murders during the civil rights

movement, and thousands of deaths in Vietnam brought a new focus on violence to

America. When Straus, [a researcher, professor, and sociologist] was teaching a course

on the family in 1968, the year the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F.

Kennedy were killed, he learned during a class discussion that almost all of his students

had been spanked. Surprised, he checked with students in other classes and found the

same results…There, he found the practice associated with problems such as an


underdeveloped conscience and aggressive behavior” (Burnett, 2012). In the past,

assassinations, murders, and violence wreaked havoc in American streets.

Murray Strauss, a vocal psychologist and activist against corporal punishment,

has been disproving corporal punishment for decades now with thousands of pages of

experiments and studies to back him up. The best predictor of the future effects of

corporal punishment are the past effects of corporal punishment. The last dangerous

attempt on a president’s life was when Ronald Regan got shot in the lungs in the 1980s. If

parents do not get off of this hamster wheel, they are only setting themselves up for this

same effect. What does an assassinated President who has not yet completed his/her term

say about the people residing in a country?

Since Regan’s presidency, society has started to move away from corporal

punishment. Barack Obama can happily state that violent crimes have decreased by more

than 30% from Regan’s presidency. Minimizing corporal punishment in schools is one of

the reasons for this decrease (Belkin, 2013). At first glance, these statistics might not

seem like it is related to parents, but if parents could significantly decrease corporal

punishment at home, they can play an active role in truly making the world a safer place

for the next generation.

Parenting is not taken lightly by most parents. Being a parent is difficult. Finding

the balance between how much discipline is too much and how much is too little can be

challenging. Especially when the school system, the local community, and local police

mostly blame the faults of children on the parents. Parents have to think about how to

teach their children to act independently and speak correctly around law enforcement.

The stress of these decisions does not lie in what has to be taught, but rather how these


things are taught. If a parent is too overzealous, the neighbors or the school might call

Child Protective Services. If there is not enough enforcement, the school and the

community blames the parent for not being firm enough. Either way, parents receive a

healthy dose of blame all the way around every scenario. Which explains the stress that

parents undergo while running on the hamster wheel. But the sad news about the hamster

wheel is many parents were once children whose parents were also on the hamster wheel.

These current parents had a front row seat to the effects of spanking. Instead of taking

courses on childhood education and learning alternatives to corporal punishment, many

parents find themselves stuck on the same recycled wheel.

Research suggests that people who are a part of certain religions, like

Conservative Protestantism, are more likely to use corporal punishment as a disciplinary

tactic (Grogan-Kaylor & Otis, 2007). And, unlike popular belief, the link between low

socioeconomic status and instances of corporal punishment has been less consistent as

more updated research has surfaced (Grogan-Kaylor & Otis, 2007). Instead, parents

under high stress levels are more likely to spank their children (Grogan-Kaylor & Otis,

2007). With information like this, parents can arm their educational arsenal to prevent

themselves from being mere statistics. People who remain ignorant in an area of study

can be studied, predicted, and calculated down to a statistic because humans have the

same natural tendencies (Fuller, G., Stecker, R., & Wright, J. P. 2000).

The Community Bench

“Police brutality is not a major problem... what is a problem are these unruly

children and their parents who don't have adequate parenting skills” (Griggs, 1995).

Oftentimes, in a community, the more vocal (and elder) neighbors control the climate and


rules of the local community. In this specific community, many elders and shop owners

were complaining about young children who were always loitering in front of their stores,

preventing their more mature customers from coming in. The shop owners do not blame

the county police for insufficient patrolling, nor the schools for not having a tighter

attendance policy. They blame the parents. Parents have a tremendous amount of pressure

to perform well and create a functioning, successful member of society. Some fear failure

so much that they would rather take their chances with corporal punishment, than try a

gentler approach. With the community watching, parents want to look stern and in

control, and certain alternative methods to corporal punishment might allow some

children to think that they can take advantage of their parents.

Mainly, the community bench represents the neighboring parents and

grandparents of one specified family who may or may not be spanking the children in

their life. This neighboring group of adults and elders might be peer pressuring some

adults into spanking. Every parent can attest to the look they receive from other adults in

the store when their child is disrupting others. That look maybe one of peer pressure. It’s

most often saying ‘control your child’.

The Police Car

Many parents fear for their child’s life in the power of a police officer. Some

more than others. There is an overflow of emotion in the country as minority parents

grapple with ways to teach their children how to act correctly when in a police officer’s

presence. Fear of seeing their children perish cause many parents to give their children a

“taste” of what will happen to them in prison or what the police will do to them. “Today,

many black parents fear that a loose tongue or flash of temper could get their child killed


by a trigger-happy cop. They would rather beat their offspring than bury them” (Dyson,

2014). While some parents may not fully agree with corporal punishment, some find it

necessary in order to teach their children about the real world. The police force uses

corporal punishment to refrain adults, so some parents follow suit with their children to

teach their children how life works. Some parents believe that a parent's firm hand is

favorable over a police officer's bullet (Dyson, 2014). Meaning, some parents believe that

the only way to discipline their child is to show them a taste of what they will receive if

they end up on the wrong side of the law. The hypocritical way that American legislation

regards the treatment of prisoners in federal penitentiaries is the reason that many parents

feel the need to hit their kids. For some parents, beating their kids for stealing something

in the house helps teach children not to steal something from a store due to the fact that a

cop might implement punishment at a far more torturous level (which will only get worse

in prison).

No one ever said that being a parent would be easy. Parents have to make tough

decisions every day. They have to choose between their child’s psychological health and

their child’s street sense. Spanking a child teaches them how the law enforcement works,

but damages their psychological health. Teaching both concepts are important, and many

parents find themselves choosing one over the other. But, surely there has to be a way

that parents can still be stern and instill discipline in their children while nurturing their

child’s psychological health.

Adults in the 21st century have access to cell phones, notebooks, laptops,

desktops, iPods, and etc. With so much information at everyone’s fingertips, parents can

easily look up tips for disciplining their children or enroll in classes. So why isn’t it


happening? Why are parents lazily agreeing to end corporal punishment while more than

90% actively spank their child(ren)? Education and awareness was not available when

they first became parents, so some parents have already adapted a parenting style that

works for them and do not plan on changing any time soon. Education would teach

parents that believe in corporal punishment that the “success” that they are seeing with

their current parenting style is short term and will not be fruitful in the end.

Analysis of Corporal Punishment in Society

Children are taught not to hit or bully their fellow classmates or superiors in

school. From a very young age, every school official in a child’s life instilled high morals

and integrity to ensure that they raised innocent, good creatures. Children are taught

concepts like seeing the good in the people and violence is the not the answer. But the

problem lies when these children grow up to discover that the rules they abided by in

school does not apply to the real world all the time.

In a Gold Coast Bulletin article, an uptick in street assaults and domestic violence

led the police department of the area to acquire more deadly weapons to maintain order

(2008). In a society where children are taught that violence is not the answer, the author

of this article (anonymous) hails the police for its call to receive even more guns and

tasers to defend the safety of the police (Gold Coast Bulletin, 2008). Instead of calling for

more after school programs to keep teenagers out of trouble, or informative classes on

domestic violence for men and women in abusive relationships, the town decided to arm

the police with more weapons. How can sociologists and psychologists try to sell parents

on the positive effects of corporal punishment when society is so hypocritical?


There are two competing forces in society with one force condoning violence as a

necessary tool to solve problems and the other force preaching about all of the negative

effects. The force that condones violence is the justice system. Out of the 50 states of

America, 31 still have the death penalty legalized (Durham, 2015). New York recently

abolished the death penalty in 2007 (Durham, 2015). Either the educational system is

failing the children or society is. It is a shame that, “in many other countries of the world,

corporal punishment in any form is illegal” yet the richest, most industrialized nation in

the world has yet to ban this detrimental practice (Clark & Clark, 2007).

Legalized corporal punishment is utilized in the jail system. American law is

hypocritical in that we want our children to think that violence is not the way to solve

problems, yet we impose institutionalized corporal punishment onto our prisoners.

Although there are laws that supposedly protect prisoners from abuse, prison guards are

allowed to carry weapons ranging from mace, to Tasers, to stun guns, and everything else

under the sun (Martin, 2006).

In the book Bad Kids by Barry Feld, Feld tackles another hypocritical aspect of

the jail system. He analyzes the rise and fall of the juvenile system (Feld,1999). In

summary, he speaks on the positive activists who wanted to reform the juvenile system to

allow minors some breathing room before they are tried in court like grown men and

women (Feld, 1999). He also speaks on how there is always strong talks on reform and

change, but the change is mediocre or non-existent (Feld, 1999). Feld captured the

hypocritical nature that society has of claiming to want better for itself but not truly doing

anything because of its own indifference.


This same kind of hypocritical nature is what children notice when they enter into

the adult world. The same people who teach that violence is not right are the same people

imposing violence onto their innocent ones. And the same people who call for the

militarization of the police force are the same people who try to teach their children that

violence is wrong. We have to take a good look at ourselves in the mirror.

Conclusion

Alternatives to corporal punishment include, “deprivation of privileges, reasoning

timeout, grounding, negotiation and compromise, redirecting young children's attention

away from their unacceptable conduct, asking children to come up with a fitting

nonviolent punishment, physical restraint of young children about to engage in rash

activity, letting the child suffer the logical consequences, within reason, of his or her

naughtiness, positive reinforcement of good conduct, such as praise, signs of special

attention and affection, and rewards” (Bitensky, 2006). The main focus of these

alternatives is to draw a distinct line between discipline and love. When a parent spanks

their child, the act makes children question if they are loved and a child should never

question whether or not they are loved by their parents. These alternatives teach children

that hurting someone will never prove that you love them.

Parents have pressures coming from all directions of their lives influencing them

on how to raise their children. This is a cry to prioritize the health of the child first. All of

the pressures are important and need to be addressed, but corporal punishment does not

have to be the most effective way. Peer pressure from church members, neighbors, and


society shouldn’t get in the way between a parent and the health of their child.

Unfortunately, that is what is happening in society lately.

Although, as a society, a lot of work has to get done to align with non-violent

goals, the change starts at home. Teach children how to communicate well. Violence will

not make anyone’s voice heard louder, but an eloquent voice will quiet everyone else’s.


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