What is Spanking? Who are the Most Frequent Spankers?

Countries that Ban Spanking Arguments In Favor of Spanking Arguments Against Spanking Bibliographies

Spanking is the act of hitting a child with open hand without causing physical injury Studies found that parents commonly use spanking as a method of discipline on their children (Benjet & Kazdin, 2003). In 2008, in a survey of 13,000 children, the National Survey of Families and Households found that 1/3 of fathers and 44% of mothers had spanked their children during the week prior to the interview (Guzzo and Lee, 2008)

Mothers spank more often than fathers (Lamanna & Reidmann, 2012) Younger, less educated parents in households with more children and less social support are more likely to spank their children (Ellison & Bradshaw, 2009) Parents who live in violent neighborhoods are more likely to spank their children (Ellison & Bradshaw, 2009)

In 1979, Sweden was the first country to ban spanking 23 countries have laws prohibiting spanking These countries are: Finland (1983), Norway (1987), Austria (1989), Cyprus (1994), Denmark (1997), Latvia (1998), Croatia (1999), Israel (1999), Germany (2000), Bulgaria (2000), Iceland (2003), Romania (2004), Ukraine (2004), Hungary (2004), Greece (2006), Netherlands (2007), New Zealand (2007), Portugal (2007), Uruguay (2007), Venezuela (2007), Spain (2007), Chile (2007), and Costa Rica (2008) (Fuller, 2009).

Spanking helps children understand which behavior is acceptable and which is not Spanking helps correct the behavior of children Spanking does not lead to child abuse

Children need to learn early on that there is punishment every time they engage in socially unacceptable behavior. They need to know that when they grow up there are consequences for violating the law. Many children learn things differently. There are some children where spanking is effective in enforcing the right behavior. In these children, the right amount of spanking can be more beneficial for them.

With spanking, the children begins to understand which behavior is acceptable and which behavior is not acceptable. It is in the childs best interest for his parents to take an active role in his development by disciplining him In Sweden, teen violence has become a serious problem since the ban on spanking was enforced. According to Fuller (2009), hooliganism, excessive [celebrations], acts of violence with racist and xenophobic motives, squatters actions, street fights between politically opposed groups, violence at school, and recurrent [tumults] between [gangs,] skinheads and groups of young female kickers. (Fuller, 2009).

Opponents of Pro-Spanking try to appeal to emotion by correlating spanking with child abuse. On the contrary, banning spanking only makes the situation of children worse. In Sweden, there has been a lot more child abuse since the law was passed banning spanking. It appears that Sweden has not developed a good alternative for spanking. Since spanking was banned, parents resorted to yelling and screaming at their children, and some believed this was equally, perhaps more, destructive. (Fuller, 2009).

Children who are spanked exhibit anti-social behavior (Strauss, 1996) Spanking may lead to abnormal psychosexual development among children (Johnson) Spanking may lead to aggressive behavior (The Atlantic, 2011) Spanking is morally impermissible (Bartlett)

Strauss (1996) argue that there is a similarity between corporal punishment and murder. Both corporal punishment and murder are carried out to correct a behavior which is perceived as wrong. Individuals who were spanked but who did not display aggressively violent behavior showed three times inclination to limit social interactions, two times more likely to be bullied in school and two times more likely to allow their partners to hit them as compared to other individuals who were not spanked as children

Studies say that the buttocks are highly sexual body parts because of the high concentration of sexual nerve endings in them. Spanking the buttocks, hence, may lead to a certain fixation as the child may learn to derive pleasure from the painful stimulation of the buttocks; a behavior often demonstrated my sadomasochists. These sexual arousal may also lead the child to be embarrassed of the derived pleasure and lead him/her to repress the stimulation, thus, encountering problems of expressing his/her sexuality or incapacity to deprive pleasure from actual sexual stimulation (Johnson).

Studies have shown that children who have had the experience of spanking tend to demonstrate a more aggressive behavior compared to those who have not. The Atlantic (2012) provides that as children who have been spanked become adults, they are more likely to become aggressive themselves since they have seen adults solving problems aggressively (p.1). It is a process of child rearing that can have potential side effects in the future.

Spanking is morally impermissible because it fosters an environment in which corporal punishment is normal and accepted (Bartlett) When parents spank there is always a risk that spanking may escalate into something more serious than corporal punishment (Bartlett)

Bartlett, G. An Argument Against Spanking. Retrieved August 19, 2012 from: http://www.cwu.edu/~bartletg/papers/Spanking.pdf Benjet, C. & Kazdin A. (2003). Spanking Children: The Controversies, Findings and New Directions. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 197-224. Fuller, J. (2009). The Science and Statistics Behind Spanking Suggest that Laws Allowing Corporal Punishment are in the Best Interests of the Child. Akron Law Review, 42, 243-317 Guzzo, K.B. & Lee, H. (2008). Couple Relationship Status and Patterns in Early Parenting Practices. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 44-61 Lamanna, M., Reidmann, A.C. (2012). Marriages and Families: Making Choices in a Diverse Society. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. The Atlantic. (2012). The Long-Term Effects of Spanking. Retrieved August 19, 2012 from: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/02/the-longterm-effects-of-spanking/253425/