Is it possible to beat children: the opinion of psychologists

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There is a fierce debate over corporal punishment. Are they acceptable in principle? And if so, in what form? There is no unity here either among specialists or among parents. Let's try to figure out what scientists and practicing psychologists have to say on this topic.

Corporal punishment is one of the oldest and most controversial parenting methods. However, it has become controversial relatively recently. Until the middle of the 20th century, flip flops, cuffs, and even a belt or a stick in the hands of parents aroused almost no one objection, if they did not cause irreparable harm to the child's health. It was only after the publication in 1946 of the famous pediatrician Benjamin Spock's book "The Child and Caring for Him" that parents' attention shifted from discipline to the formation of the child's personality. And the first scientific studies of the effectiveness and consequences of corporal punishment began in the 60s.

Since then, psychologists have conducted dozens of different studies, and the results strongly indicate that corporal punishment is a bad method of education. Increased aggression and propensity to violence, deterioration of parent-child relationships, anxiety and depression, increased risk of being overweight, decreased intelligence - this is an incomplete list of the negative consequences of corporal punishment. In 2002, psychologist Elizabeth Gershoff summarized the results of 27 papers. Here's what she did.

the effect	Number of studies	Confirmed
Poor learning of moral standards	15	87%
Increased aggression	27	100%
Asocial behavior	13	92%
Worsening relationships between children and parents	13	100%
Deteriorating mental health	12	100%
Raising a "victim complex"	10	100%
Disobedience	6	66%

»

A score of 100% means that the effect was found by all researchers, without exception. It is noteworthy that corporal punishment turned out to be completely unsuitable for the education of moral qualities. The only positive result of the use of physical punishment psychologists say is immediate obedience. However, even here spanking and spanking did not show any advantages over other methods - for example, put in a corner. And over time, the degree of obedience decreases significantly.

Attempts to find acceptable forms of corporal punishment of children are impractical and impracticable. Hitting is a lesson in bad behavior.

From a joint statement by 140 European organizations

It would seem that the issue has been resolved. But it's not that simple. First, many of these studies have been criticized for methodological flaws and authors' bias (they all turned out to be opposed to corporal punishment). Second, negative effects have been consistently found in families where beating is common and frequent. And the more often and harder parents beat their children, the worse. Diana Baumrind of the University of Berkeley has studied corporal punishment in 134 families for 12 years. And in those cases when children were spanked rarely, there were no negative consequences.

Domestic psychologist and sociologist I. S. Kon studied the arguments of psychologists who admit physical influence. They call for a distinction between instant reaction to unwanted behavior and delayed punishment. A slap may well be a form of negative reinforcement, an unpleasant consequence of prohibited actions. But the practice of punishing children when time has passed since the commission of the offense does not bring results.

Psychologists who do not support a complete ban on corporal punishment associate their use with a number of conditions.

1. Health safety. This criterion is so strict that the only acceptable forms would be palm slaps on the buttocks or limbs.
2. Frequency of application. The less often corporal punishment is used, the more effective it is. In no case should this method become common and familiar.
3. Absence. You cannot beat a child in public. This applies to any punishment.
4. No delay. The spanking should coincide in time with the unwanted action and interrupt it. If you find a misconduct after a while, then spanking a child is not only pointless, but also harmful. Even more harm is done by punishments "for prevention."
5. Explanation. It should be very clear to the child what he was punished for. Explaining, parents suggest alternatives to punishable behavior.
6. The age of the child. There is no clear framework here, but most psychologists agree that physical punishment should not be used for up to two years, and by nine years they should be completely excluded.

But even when all of these conditions are met, corporal punishment is no more effective than other methods of education. At a younger age, a loud shout has the same effect as a slap. At an older age, the alternatives are standing in a corner or depriving something pleasant.

From parents you can often hear: “What do you want to do if he / she …” - and then a list of terrible offenses. Unfortunately, there are no ready-made answers to all these questions. There are no universal recipes. And there is not a single evidence that such a recipe is to "beat". But there are many ways to get a child to obey without resorting to violence.