They were asked: "Sometimes parents spank [smack] their children as a form of discipline. While you were growing up during your first 18 years of life, how often were you spanked? Smacking was defined as "yes" if the person said they were smacked a few times a year, many times a year, weekly or more.
They took account of potential confounders like age, gender, ethnicity, educational level, and marital status. About half of the sample reported having been smacked. Researchers noticed certain trends in the data. For example, women were more likely to report being smacked than men, and black participants more often than white. People who reported smacking were more likely to report having symptoms of depression, moderate to heavy drinking, street drug use, or having attempted suicide than those who didn't report having been smacked as a child.
The researchers tried to adjust their analysis with smacking for reports of physical or emotional abuse to try to isolate the effect of smacking alone. They found smacking was still independently linked to an increased likelihood of reporting moderate to heavy drinking, street drug use and attempted suicide, but there was no longer any link with symptoms of depression. The researchers said that, "Spanking [smacking] is empirically similar to physical and emotional abuse, and including spanking with abuse adds to our understanding of these mental health problems.
This study found that smacking can be linked to mental health difficulties in adulthood, just as more recognised forms of physical or emotional child abuse can be. But it's very difficult to prove a direct relationship and be able to say that smacking causes adverse health outcomes with this sort of study.
It's very difficult to isolate the effect of a single factor, such as smacking. For example, the parent or carer may have had alcohol or substance use problems, which may have both increased the risk they would smack the child and increased the risk the child would develop these problems themselves.
Or children with poor impulse control, who may be more likely to be smacked as a child, may also be more likely to go on to have drug or alcohol problems. People who were smacked as children are likely to have experienced widely varying degrees of smacking in intensity and frequency, ranging from a mild tap to an injury associated with bruising.
Adults were asked to remember childhood experiences. This means reports of how often they were smacked may be inaccurate. It's also possible that adults with mental health problems are more likely to recall adverse experiences, particularly if they're trying to identify possible causes.
The study hasn't linked smacking with clear mental health diagnoses. It only asked a few simple questions, and hasn't properly assessed whether the person had a valid diagnosis of depression or alcohol or substance use problems.
The sample may not be representative. Other parts of the Bible, especially the New Testament, suggest that respect, authority, and tenderness should be the prevailing attitudes toward children among people of faith.
In the New Testament, Christ modified the traditional eye-for-an-eye system of justice with His turn-the-other-cheek approach. Christ preached gentleness, love, and understanding, and seemed against any harsh use of the rod, as stated by Paul in 1 Cor.
There are parents who should not spank and children who should not be spanked. Are there factors in your history, your temperament, or your relationship with your child that put you at risk for abusing your child? Are there characteristics in your child that make spanking unwise?
If the answer to any of these queries is yes, you would be wise to develop a no-spanking mindset in your home and do your best to come up with noncorporal alternatives. If you find you are unable to do this on your own, talk with someone who can help you. Children often perceive punishment as unfair. They are more likely to rebel against corporal punishment than against other disciplinary techniques.
Children do not think rationally like adults, but they do have an innate sense of fairness—though their standards are not the same as adults. This can prevent punishment from working as you hoped it would and can contribute to an angry child.
Oftentimes, the sense of unfairness escalates to a feeling of humiliation. When punishment humiliates children they either rebel or withdraw. While spanking may appear to make the child afraid to repeat the misbehavior, it is more likely to make the child fear the spanker. In our experience, and that of many who have thoroughly researched corporal punishment, children whose behaviors are spank-controlled throughout infancy and childhood may appear outwardly compliant, but inside they are seething with anger.
They feel that their personhood has been violated, and they detach themselves from a world they perceive has been unfair to them.
They find it difficult to trust, becoming insensitive to a world that has been insensitive to them. Parents who examine their feelings after spanking often realize that all they have accomplished is to relieve themselves of anger. This impulsive release of anger often becomes addicting—perpetuating a cycle of ineffective discipline. We have found that the best way to prevent ourselves from acting on the impulse to spank is to instill in ourselves two convictions: 1. That we will not spank our children.
That we will discipline them. Since we have decided that spanking is not an option, we must seek out better alternatives. People are more likely to recall traumatic events than pleasant ones. I vividly remember the willow branch scenes. After my wrongdoing, my grandfather would send me to my room. He would tell me I was going to receive a spanking. I remember looking out the window, seeing him walk across the lawn and take a willow branch from the tree.
He would come back to my room and spank me across the back of my thighs with the branch. The willow branch seemed to be an effective spanking tool. It stung and made an impression upon me— physically and mentally. Research has shown that spanking may leave scars deeper and more lasting than a fleeting redness of the bottom. Here is a summary of the research on the long-term effects of corporal punishment:. The evidence against spanking is overwhelming.
Hundreds of studies all come to the same conclusions:. The more physical punishment a child receives, the more aggressive he or she will become. The more children are spanked, the more likely they will be abusive toward their own children. Spanking plants seeds for later violent behavior. Many studies show the futility of spanking as a disciplinary technique, but none show its usefulness.
Our general impression is that parents spank less as their experience increases. Your subscription will end shortly. Please update your billing details here to continue enjoying your access to the most informative and considered journalism in the UK. Accessibility Links Skip to content. Menu Close. Log in Subscribe. How harmful is smacking your child? What the experts say A new study has found that hitting children makes their behaviour worse.
0コメント