NCJ Number
159853
Date Published
1994
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Many parents use spanking and other forms of corporal punishment to discipline their children, but the use of physical force as discipline teaches violence and eventually becomes ineffective.
Abstract
Even when used as a last resort, hitting should be avoided so that it does not become construed as child abuse. To discipline means to teach, and the need to discipline usually arises in social situations where children learn how their own rights and autonomy relate to the rights of others. Children must be taught how to negotiate solutions to daily problems, and the use of corporal punishment gives children an opposite message. Authoritarian parents are most likely to use physical force to discipline. These parents usually produce children less able to creatively handle new situations. Further, children routinely disciplined through physical force have less of a sense of options available to attain their goals. The only way they know to get someone to do what they want is to use force, since they have not been taught the art of negotiation which is an integral part of effective verbal discipline. Physical discipline can lead to physical abuse; therefore, corporal punishment must be avoided. 1 figure