Michael Sylvester wrote:
....my students tend to agree that psychology's negative and
unfavorable attitude towards punishment,spanking and rigid discipline of
children may be one of the reasons that some of our youth have grown
problematical in behavior and social civility.
Although I don't have time to dig up the appropriate references at the
moment, I cannot let this post go unanswered. This is the kind of poor
thinking that we would like to counter, not encourage in students.
There is a large literature documenting the negative effects of punishment.
In a nutshell, punishment does not teach acceptable behavior, produces
negative emotional side effects, and models aggressive behavior as an
appropriate response.
Authoritarian parenting need not include physical punishment. Certainly in
some cultural contexts authoritarian parenting is more acceptable and
perhaps more effective, but as far as I know there is no evidence that
physical punishment contributes to effectiveness.
There are complex societal/cultural reasons for the level of inappropriate,
aggressive, some might say disrespectful behavior that seems more prevalent
in (some of) today's youth. We perhaps should share in the blame, but not
for failing to support the use of spanking and other physical punishment.
Kris Lewis
Saint Michael's College
Colchester VT
who would respond at more length but she has to write an exam for History of
Psych, and who would welcome references to back her up if anyone as them at
hand.
