Validity of the Argument and the Counterargument

¶ … validity of the argument and the counterargument for corporal punishment on children and adolescents. The paper furthermore attempts to view this issue from the perspective of the adults administering and questioning this issues as well as from the perspective of the young people on the receiving end of punishment. In this way, the paper aims to provide holistic context by arguing for both sides of the issues from more than one perspective.

Corporal punishment is an issue that is debated often with respect to local and global issues. Corporal punishment is most often applied to children in the home and as part of their formal education. Corporal may be experienced in other institutions, including in situations where adults experience corporal punishment such as in the military, prison, fraternities, and in the home as part of domestic abuse. There is often a spectrum of perspective with regard to the issue of corporal punishment in general, but especially when considering children. There are countries and cultures that advocate its use in moderation (and relative excess), while there are other countries and cultures that are horrified and disgusted at the very idea. Then there are countries with exceptionally diverse populations relative to most countries in the world such as the United States of America, where the opinions regarding the use of corporal punishment on children and in the culture on a wider scale is as multiplicitous as the kinds of people found in New York City, the most diverse city in the country and as of 2012, in the top 10 most diverse cities in the world.

Sweden has a reputation throughout the continent of Europe as well as in the world in being relatively more progressive with regard to social issues and cultural institutions. This reputation holds true with respect to the issue of corporal punishment. At the turn of the 21st century, Sweden banned corporal punishment in parenting practice.

The ban had three primary objectives. First, it was intended to alter attitudes toward the use of physical force with children as a first step toward eliminating its use. It was expected that the law would produce a shift in social pressure such that a "good" parent would be seen as one who does not use corporal punishment. Second, the ban was intended to set a clear guideline for parents and professionals. Professionals now could state clearly to families that physical force was not permitted and could identify at-risk parents early in the cycle of abuse. It was also expected that Swedes would now act promptly upon witnessing or hearing disclosures of physical harm. Third, earlier identification was expected to result in earlier intervention. It was intended that more supportive and less coercive measures would be used than is the case where intervention occurs only after a child has been harmed. (Durrant, 1999, 436 -- 437)

In the case of Sweden, the ban was an experiment. Clearly corporal punishment was in practice because there was something to ban. The country did not institute the ban because corporal punishment was a problem necessarily; Sweden instituted the ban as an experiment and challenge to the parents of the culture to find more innovative and effective ways to discipline their children without the use of physical harm. The ban also was an attempt to curb physical abuse with even earlier interventions by the appropriate family or social service agencies.

In America, corporal punishment is considered by many parents to be culturally normative behavior. Furthermore, as Turner & Finkelhor will contend, the exercise of corporal punishment is critical to the perceptions of parents within parental culture. Meaning this is an issue that polarizes the parental community based on how each parent responds to the question of corporal punishment in the home on the children. It is interesting how in this particular country how corporal punishment is a defining characteristic of a parent within the overall parental culture.

Straus (1991) found that 84% of a national sample of adults agreed that a "good, hard spanking is sometimes necessary." Parents who refuse to use corporal punishment on children are viewed as too lenient and ineffective -- in essence, "poor" parents (Carson, 1986). Consistent with these norms, almost all parents use corporal punishment on their toddlers (Straus, 1991, 1994). While the prevalence of corporal punishment declines with the age of the child, it still remains high even into adolescence. Recently, Straus and Donnelly (1993) found that almost half of the children in early adolescence experience corporal punishment by a parent. Moreover, adolescents report being physically punished at a median frequency of four times per year…A variety of negative health and behavioral outcomes suggests that acts involving physical punishment are stressful for children. (Turner & Finkelhor, 1996, 155)