NCJ Number
203621
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 12 Issue: 5 Dated: September-October 2003 Pages: 282-291
Date Published
September 2003
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews differing views of children as human beings or merely "becoming human beings" and the links of these views to negotiation with or violence against children, to views about parents' and children's rights, and to contrasting ways in which violence toward women and toward children have been addressed.
Abstract
The term "smacking," as used in this paper, refers to any lawful parental violence against children, i.e., physical force that does not rise to the level of assault under British legal definitions of assault. This paper holds that "smacking" is part of a continuum of violence that encourages fear, resentment, and a sense of humiliation and powerlessness. Research and most expert opinion has concluded that smacking children is unnecessary and dangerous. Still, most British adults as well as the government oppose giving children the same legal protection from being hit as adults; and most British parents smack their children. Although the authors of this paper support the goals of the anti-smacking lobby in Great Britain, which are to persuade parents not to smack their children and convince the government to prohibit smacking by law, they criticize some of the tactical choices made by this lobby, especially the rhetoric it uses. The literature review conducted by the authors found the following two primary reasons why parents and the government support smacking children: the beliefs that children are "human becomings" rather than full human beings and support for "parents' rights" over children's human rights. This paper argues that efforts to stop the practice of smacking as an accepted tool for managing children's behavior must focus on attitudinal modifications regarding the way adults view and relate to children in general. Although children's behavior must be managed and guided, in the course of such management children must be respected, listened to, and guided by reason and sensitivity, based in knowledge of and respect for their developmental level and basic right to fair and nonviolent treatment. Further, the right of children to be free of the infliction of violence from others should be equal to that of adults. The foregoing emphases should be the focal points for the anti-smacking lobby. 39 references