Child Abuse Many Parents Believe

Child Abuse

Many parents believe that spanking their children when they misbehave is a normal and acceptable parenting tool, however, much research suggest that corporal punishment may actually increase a child's behavior problems and may increase antisocial behavior in the child later in life (Grogan-Kaylor Pp).

1999 study revealed that the use of physical punishment on a child has an effect of becoming a child's model of their relationship with the parents and that when the child is exposed to harsh discipline during the early years of childhood, the child is more likely to imitate the parent's behavior (Grogan-Kaylor Pp). An earlier study also found that parents who use harsh discipline may "unintentionally promote antisocial behavior in their children through inept discipline practices and erratic expressions of anger toward the child" (Grogan-Kaylor Pp). A 1994 study revealed that rather than reducing inappropriate behaviors in a child, the use of physical punishment taught the child that the use of physical aggression is a normal and appropriate method of solving conflicts (Grogan-Kaylor Pp).

Spanking is one of the most widely used forms of disciplining preschool aged children (Wissow Pp). The May 2004 issue of "Pediatrics" reported that approximately ninety-four percent of three and four-year-old children had been spanked at least once during the past year and a substantial minority of parents reported spanking infants and toddlers (Wissow Pp). According to a national survey by the Commonwealth Fund, eleven percent of parents reported having spanked a child six to eleven month of age, thirty-six percent reported having spanked a child twelve to seventeen months of age, and fifty-nine percent reported having spanked a child eighteen to twenty-three months of age"

Wissow Pp).

For many, this raises concern that spanking a child at these ages could negatively affect developmental transitions that take place before the age of two (Wissow Pp).

It was also reported that white non-Hispanic children who were spanked more frequently before two years of age were more likely to have behavior problems when they entered school, however, for Hispanic and black children, "associations between spanking frequency and behavior problems were not statistically significant and were not consistent across outcome measures" (Wissow Pp).

Among white non-Hispanic children but not among black and Hispanic children, spanking frequency before age 2 is significantly and positively associated with child behavior problems at school age. These findings are consistent with those reported in studies of children older than 2 years but extend these findings to children who are spanked beginning at a relatively early age (Wissow Pp).

In the January 2002 issue of "Journal of Counseling and Development," Lisa Fontes states that Latino parents who engage in harsh physical discipline need help, however, they are far from homogeneous and their needs vary (Fontes Pp). She believes that many are "loving and devoted parents who practice traditional forms of child rearing that may include an authoritarian style and harsh corporal punishment, side by side with high levels of intimacy and support" (Fontes Pp). Fontes states that some Latino parents are often "incorrectly accused of abusing or neglecting their children because non-Latino professionals are puzzled by their unfamiliar yet harmless practices" (Fontes Pp). While other Latino parents, like parents from other groups, punish their children in ways that might be considered abusive in any culture (Fontes Pp). Compared to non-Hispanic whites, Hispanic parents are generally "younger, less educated, employed at lower paying jobs, and financially poorer," all conditions that place their children at greater risk for "negative social, health, and developmental outcomes, including child abuse" (Fontes Pp).