Burgon McLeod Rino1
Lori McLeod
Shelbi Burgon
Lynzie Rino
Carol Sieverts
English 1010
April 10, 2012
When does corporal punishment cross the line
“Many abused children cling to the hope that growing up will bring escape and freedom.
But the personality formed in the environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult
life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative. She
approaches the task of early adulthood――establishing independence and
intimacy――burdened by major impairments in self-care, in cognition and in memory, in
identity, and in the capacity to form stable relationships. She is still a prisoner of her childhood;
attempting to create a new life, she reencounters the trauma.” (Quotes about child abuse)
Every week, child protective services around the United States receive more than 50,000
reports of suspected child abuse or neglect. In 2002 alone, 2.6 million reports concerning the
safety of approximately 4.5 million children were made. As a result of only extreme
investigations, approximately 896,000 children were found to have been victims of abuse or
neglect, which is an average of more than 2,450 children per day (Iannelli).
When does corporal punishment cross the line to child abuse? It is important to know the
difference between physical discipline and child abuse. “Spanking Children: Evidence and
issues” defines corporal punishment as hitting a child with and open hand on the butt or
extremities with the intent to discipline without leaving a bruise or causing physical harm
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(Kazdin). Physical abuse is a form of corporal punishment and is usually intended to leave marks
or scars. Even when you’re disciplining your child for a good reason it can sometimes loss its
effectiveness over time. In order to get the intended messages across to the child, parents
frequently punish a child longer and harder (Dean).When a parent first spanks a child such as at a
grocery store when they can’t have a candy or at the toy store when you won’t buy them a toy
and they start throwing a fit there is not serious indication of abuse just a simple spank. It may
even be forgotten till the next time it happens again and the parent must spank their child even
harder, thinking the child will not respond different from any other form of punishment. As this
continues the spanking and punishment will not only get harsher and stronger and leave physical
scars, but can potentially cause damage to the child’s mental and emotional wellbeing.
As children mature it becomes harder for children to ignore the changes in their behavior.
Even when in a controlled place and non-abusive environment children still show behavioral
signs. Early childhood may be thought of as a ‘sensitive’ period for many forms of cognitive—
and most emotional—learning, after which it becomes difficult to establish new patterns of
thinking or reacting. Thus, the abused or neglected child is asked to adapt to a new and different
world but is given inadequate neural and behavioral tools with which to do so (Stirling). Children
who are beaten usually have a hard time trusting other people, specifically adults as they grow
up. Children think that since their parents, an adult, beat them that all other adults will be the
same. As children grow up they are unable to interpret others emotions or actions. As a result
children will trust others less, on a basis that a misunderstanding comments or action as a threat.
Anne B. Smith, author of “The State of Research on the Effects of Physical
Punishment”, explains that “the use of verbal methods of discipline through explanation and
reasoning are likely to provide the child with more cognitive stimulation than the use of corporal
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punishment without induction”. Thus, children who are physically punished will not develop the
necessary skills for basic everyday social functions. These children will be anxious about being
physically punished and thus inhibited from exploring his/her physical and social worlds, and
less likely to extend cognitive skills. The behavioral skills the child acquires during the crucial
developmental times will be reenacted on other people throughout the child’s life. If parents try
to modify their children’s behavior through inflicting pain, then those children are likely to do
the same to others when they want to influence other people’s actions (“The State of Research on
the Effects of Physical Punishment”).In other words a child who has been physically disciplined
when they do not get what they want from society, will implement the same discipline that their
parents find acceptable.
The only way to prevent harmful outcomes of corporal punishment in the future is by
eliminating, or at least limiting the use of corporal punishment as a means of discipline. Parents
must accept alternate methods that show more positive results for their child. It is possible
however, to use research to show that effective parents do not need to use physical force to
discipline a child, but should instead set clear rules and explain why these rules are important
(“Discipline”). When rules are established parents need to explain to their children that broken
rules carry consequences that does not mean consequences are physical abuse. Most important,
the parents must learn to control their anger and frustration. Physical punishment tends to
escalade when parents grow impatient with their children. One parent could beat their child and
leave a physical mark while another parent could do the same thing to their child and not leave a
physical mark. This misconception fails to realize that not all of the effects of corporal
punishment are physical or physically seen.
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It may be true that most parents who physically discipline their children don’t mean to
harm them but intend to teach them a “lesson”. But this also applies to parents who do harm
their children. Most parents do not discipline with the intention of hurting their children.
However good intentioned punishment loses its effectiveness over time. Eventually parents have
to punish more frequently and when doing so likely start to physically punish harder to get the
message across. It does not matter the intention the parent is using to punish their child. The line
between physical punishment and child abuse is very thin and parents can easily ignore it during
times of desperation.
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Work Cited
Herman, Judith. "Goodreads" Quotes about child abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr 2013.
<http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/child-abuse>.
Iannelli, Vincent. "Child Abuse Statistics." About.com:Pediatrics. 15 July 2007. 1 Dec. 2008
Kazdin, Alan E., and Corina Benjet. "Spanking Children: Evidence and Issues." American
Psychological Society 12 (2003): 99-103
Dean, Shannon M. "How Physical Discipline Can Escalate to Child Abuse." Parent.com. Apr.
2007. Genesee Valley. 1 Dec. 2008 <http://www.gvparent.com/articles/2704abuse.html>.
Stirling Jr, John, and Lisa Amaya-Jackson. "Understanding the Behavioral and Emotional
Consequences of Child Abuse." Pediatrics 122 (2008): 667-73. Academic Search Premier.
University of Maryland Libraries, College Park. 2 Oct. 2008.
Smith, Anne B. "The State of Research on the Effects of Physical Punishment." Social Policy
Journal of New Zealand (2006). Ministry of Social Development. 1 Dec. 2008.
(“Discipline”). Durrant, Joan E. "Distinguishing Physical Punishment from Physical Abuse:
Implications." Envision: The Manitoba Journal of Child Welfare 4 (2005): 43-51.