How does it Work?

When a parent decides that they are going to use corporal punishment as a means for disciplinary action against their child’s misbehavior, the parent only inflicts pain on the child as a corrective measure. For example: a child is told to stay seated while in the doctors’ office however the child disobeys the command and proceeds to run around the office. The parent then spanks the child’s bottom or hand to insure that the misbehavior is no longer continued. This scenario is commonly seen throughout everyday life. However the effects of such behavior can be frowned upon as “bad parenting” by those who object to corporal punishment. Murray A. Straus, the author of “Beating the Devil out of Them”, challenges the effectiveness of this scenario. Straus states, “The immediate effect of corporal punishment may be able to stop misbehavior, but the long term effect is to increase the chances of worse behavior and other problems, including impaired learning and delinquency; and later in life, depression, child abuse, wife beating, and other crimes”(Straus 4) .The effects of corporal punishment in Straus’s opinions, has a domino effect. The more that a person is subjected to a particular behavior as a child the more likely their to exhibit that behavior in their adult lives. Straus argues, The more a person was spanked as a child the greater the likelihood for that person later hitting his or her spouse (9 Straus) Straus like many others that do not support corporal punishment, believes that though the results may vary in the effects, the overall detriment causes some later effect. Katharine C. Kersey, the author of “ Don’t Take It Out On Your Kids” claims that “(corporal punishment). breeds hostility and anger, leads to fear and avoidance, makes the child want to hit back or find another form of revenge and may lead to neurotic disorders (Kersey 1994). Kersey, also like Straus, argues that although corporal punishment’s intention to correct behavior comes it comes at a cost that is detrimental to the child.