# the effects of corporal punishment



## Pinzelhead (Mar 14, 2007)

In spite of the widespread popularity of corporal punishment, hundreds of research studies are all in unanimous consensus on the points that (1) corporal punishment defeats the purpose of discipline, and (2) it entails a host of very deleterious consequences upon both the child and the parent-child relationship.

The research findings concerning this most important child-rearing topic can be summarized as follows:

(1) Corporal punishment is a self-image/self-esteem lowerer. The more frequent the reliance by the parents upon corporal punishment, the lower a child's self-esteem is likely to be, and the less positive his mental attitude is likely to become.

(2) Corporal punishment undermines the ability of parents to constructively influence their children. People (including children) tend to be most thoroughly influenced in situations wherein they can relax and let down their defensive guard. Corporal punishment creates social distance between parent and child.

(3) Actions speak louder than words. Corporal punishment teaches violence and psychopathic behaviour and attitudes. The psychopath doesn't care about the needs and feelings of others because his own needs and feelings had never been shown any genuine concern. Frequently spanked children tend to become either extremely aggressive and bullying towards their peers, or they tend to become extremely passive. Among criminals, the more violent and frequent the criminal behaviour, the more frequently and severely that criminal is likely to have been beaten by his parents. In general, criminals had received far more corporal punishment than non-criminals.

(4) A history of corporal punishment has been found to be strongly associated with husband-wife violence and with child abuse.

(5) Corporal punishment discourages the development of internal self-control. It makes people become overly dependent on external forms of control. For this reason, frequency and severity of corporal punishment has been found to be inversely associated with social mobility. In other words, frequently whipped children stand a below average chance of (1) getting a good education, even if they have the native intelligence, and (2) getting and keeping a good, white-collar, middle or upper-middle-class occupational career.

(6) Fear of pain has been found to bear no relationship to long-term obedience. Studies have been done with children born with a rare gene that makes them incapable of experiencing pain. Except for their inability to feel pain, these children are quite normal in all respects. In fact, these children have been found to behave themselves just as well, and to grow up just as responsibly, as children of the same ages who are capable of feeling pain. For both (1) the children who could feel pain, and (2) for those who could not feel pain, whether or not the children were spanked had no relationship to acceptability of behaviour. For both groups of children the only factor which did give rise to good behaviour was a harmonious, emotionally satisfying parent-child bond.


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## Pharao (Jun 10, 2004)

What if you're a child from that environment? What sort of things can be done in adulthood to overcome the way that you were brought up so that your self-esteem can be the way it should have been if you were raised the right way?


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## Pinzelhead (Mar 14, 2007)

I dunno really. Therapy might be a start I would say.


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