The Case Against Corporal Punishment

The Case Against Corporal Punishment

Executive Summary

Despite its current lawful status in Australia, corporal punishment of children has consistently been associated with a range of adverse developmental outcomes. These outcomes include: increased aggression, diminished cognitive and moral development and insecure infant attachment. While the correlational design of these studies prevents causal relationships to be established, support for their findings is offered by Bandura, Vygotsky, Kohlberg and Bowlby. As such, it is recommended that legislation prohibiting the use of all forms of corporal punishment with children, in all settings, be endorsed by the Australian Federal Government. This legislation should be made effective immediately and be supported by public media campaigns and positive parenting programs.

Review of the effects of corporal punishment

In this testimonial corporal punishment is defined as "the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child's behaviour (Straus, 2001, p. 4). The link between corporal punishment and aggression is well documented in the literature (Grogan-Kaylor, 2004; Mulvaney & Mebert, 2007; Strassberg. Dodge, Pettit & Bates, 1994). In a longitudinal study of 273 first-grade children and their families, Strassberg, et al. (1994), investigated the effects of no spanking, spanking, and physical violence upon first-graders levels of peer-directed aggression. Findings revealed that children who were spanked engaged in a significantly greater number of aggressive acts towards their peers, than children who were not spanked. This increased aggression occurred regardless of how frequently spanking occurred, suggesting that even minimal use of corporal punishment is predictive of increased aggression in young children.

Corporal punishment has also been associated with reduced cognitive development in children. Straus and Paschall (2009) conducted a longitudinal study using a demographically representative sample of 700 children, aged between 2 and 9 years of age and their mothers. The authors found that children who were not exposed to corporal punishment experienced significantly greater cognitive growth over a four year period, than those who were spanked. The significance of this relationship was maintained after controlling for demographic characteristics, mother's education, cognitive stimulation and emotional support. This indicates that corporal punishment shares a unique association with reduced cognitive development. This relationship was found to vary according to the child's age. While use of corporal punishment was a significant predictor of cognitive development for children aged between 2 and 4, cognitive stimulation was found to be a stronger predictor. However, for children aged 5 - 9, corporal punishment was the strongest significant predictor of cognitive growth, followed by cognitive stimulation (Straus & Paschall, 2009).

Similarly, corporal punishment has been linked to diminished moral development in young children. Konchanska, Coy and Murray (2001) conducted a longitudinal study investigating children's committed and situational compliance with maternal requests at 22, 33 and 45 months of age. Committed compliance refers to following instructions in a self-directed way. Conversely, situational compliance involves the child complying with demands, contingent upon adult control and presence (Konchanska, et al. 2001). Children's internalisation of maternal directives was also examined by investigating whether children complied with requests in the mother's absence. This study revealed that children of mothers who used power-assertive disciplinary techniques, such as physical punishment, displayed significantly lower levels of committed compliance and internalisation of maternal rules, than those whose mothers did not use these discipline strategies. As the internalisation of socially accepted behaviours is central to moral reasoning (Hoffman, 1975), these findings support the notion that corporal punishment impedes children's moral development.

A relationship between parental use of corporal punishment and insecure infant attachment has also been found. In a study involving 169 mothers and their 14 month old infants, Coyl, Roggman and Newland (2002) investigated factors contributing to infant attachment security. These factors included: maternal depression, contextual stress, negative parent-child interaction and spanking. Data was collected via interviews, self-reports, Q-sorts and two questions about spanking from the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment. Findings revealed that children who were spanked had significantly lower levels of infant attachment than non-spanked infants. Furthermore, path analysis indicated a direct path linking frequency of spanking to insecure infant attachment (Coyl, et al. 2002).

Theoretical Interpretations

The reliance on correlational designs and regression analyses in the aforementioned studies prevents a causal relationship between corporal punishment and negative developmental outcomes to be ascertained. As such, it is necessary to interpret these findings in light of developmental theories.

Support for Strassberg, et al's. (1994) supposition that parental use of corporal punishment is a contributor to aggressive behaviour in young children is offered by Bandura's (1973) social learning theory. According to Bandura (1973), social behaviours are acquired by observing models and the positive and negative consequences of their actions. In the case of young children, this learning frequently occurs during disciplinary interactions with their parents. In these situations, parental discipline techniques provide the child with models of how to control and influence the behaviour of others (Bandura, 1973). As a result, children of parents who utilise corporal punishment as a disciplinary method are likely to use physical aggression when involved in problematic social interactions with their peers (Bandura, 1973).

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory also offers insight into the relationship between corporal punishment and inhibited cognitive development in young children. According to Vygotsky (1978), cognitive development occurs via social interactions between the child and a more knowledgeable other, such as a parent, teacher or more capable peer. During these interactions, the more knowledgeable other transmits the knowledge and skills of the culture to the child through verbal exchanges and modeling. This knowledge, mediated by language, is internalised by the child and becomes an internal cognition. The emphasis