NCJ Number
164862
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 11 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1996) Pages: 593-598
Date Published
1996
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In examining why some question the need to study subabusive parental violence (parental aggressive behavior toward children that does not rise to accepted perceptions of child abuse), this article considers the cultural and ethical origins of family violence and social biases that tend to legitimize parental aggression toward children.
Abstract
Aggression is not only giving someone a shove, smacking a naughty child, or arguing with one's spouse. It also means offending someone with harsh words or frightening gestures, threatening or even slandering them. Aggression is any type of behavior that aims to inflict physical pain or cause psychological suffering to another human being. Consequently, this type of behavior can cause a great deal of damage to the psychological development of children. Reasons why some people question the need to study and modify such behavior include the cultural acceptance of violence and aggression as a normal part of human interactions and the belief that violent methods of controlling children's behavior are necessary and effective for a child's positive behavioral development. In theoretical disputes about how smacks or other subabusive parental behaviors should be classified, there are still unresolved issues. The relevant discussion involves the aims, intentions, and consequences of the behavior labeled as aggressive; however, regardless of a parent's intention in using aggression in interaction with a child, it causes physical pain or moral suffering. A common smack administered by the parent to a child, even though the goal is to achieve positive results, is aggression, because the child is hurt by it. 18 references