Parental Discipline

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that as recently as the 1950s, parents were fierce champions of spanking as a form of child discipline. The writer then points out that since then, a large crop of studies on child psychology has surfaced, with a considerable number of them concluding that spanking breeds detrimental results, and that non-physical discipline is far more likely to cement the desired long-term positive behavior. The writer argues that Sally Lieber's proposed bill, even if it never passes into law, opens up a topic that many parents do not wish to discuss. The writer concludes that it is hoped that this discussion, which aimed to pinpoint some of the sexual and behavioral risks involved in the practice of spanking children, will entice one to abandon this undignified and humiliating practice.

From the Paper:

"Children, naturally, imitate the behavior of elders and authority figures, and caregivers must remember that their sons and daughters will one day become husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, etc: that is, the children will likely imitate the behavior of their own parents when they, too, have children of their own. The family, then, is entrusted with instructing a child in life skills, and one's ability to deal with conflict in one of the more important of these skills. As such, kids who learn to address conflicts with the use of the open hand or clenched fist are, consequently, more likely to develop aggressive or violent behavior. What more, spanking sends a clear message about human relationships, and that message will likely include the understanding that it is perfectly justifiable for the strong to intimidate and dominate the physically weak, the small, or the helpless ..."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dowshen, Steven. "Spanking Doesn't Improve Children's Behavior." KidsHealth. Ed. Neil Izenberg. <http://kidshealth.org/research/spanking_behavior.html>.
• Freud, Sigmund. A Child is being beaten: a contribution to the study of origin of sexual perversion." The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000.
• Freud, Sigmund. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books, 2000.
• Lieber, Sally. "A spanking ban: are we gonna get it?" Los Angeles Times 20 Jan. 2007.

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