This paper examines the effectiveness of corporal punishment—particularly spanking—as a disciplinary tool for children. Drawing on studies by researchers such as Marjorie Gunnoe and Murray Straus, the paper argues that spanking fails to address the underlying causes of misbehavior and may actually reinforce negative conduct. Key findings indicate that children who are spanked are more likely to exhibit antisocial behavior, including lying, bullying, and physical aggression. The paper also considers how factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic stress influence corporal punishment practices and outcomes. Alternative disciplinary strategies, such as the timeout method, are presented as more effective long-term approaches.
The paper uses the technique of concession and rebuttal: it introduces studies that appear to complicate the thesis (e.g., cases where corporal punishment did not increase aggression) and then provides researcher-supplied explanations for why these exceptions actually support the broader argument. This moves the analysis beyond simple assertion and into nuanced argumentation.
The paper opens with a framing introduction that narrows its scope to the effectiveness question. It then defines key terms, presents the core research on behavioral effects, examines socioeconomic and stress-related variables, and closes with a recommendation of alternative disciplinary strategies. Each section builds logically on the last, moving from definition to evidence to context to solution.
Perhaps no topic generates as much heated debate among parents and child development experts as corporal punishment. While defenders argue for the continued necessity of the practice, new research more clearly demonstrates the benefits of avoiding corporal punishment altogether.
These studies cite numerous reasons against corporal punishment, from increasing aggression in children to the practice's moral repugnance. This paper, however, focuses on studies that show corporal punishment as an ineffective way to address misbehavior. Numerous studies have shown that practices like spanking or slapping do not address the reasons behind a child's unwanted behavior. In fact, a parent who spanks a child may unwittingly reinforce that child's bad behavior.
Part of the difficulty in addressing this issue lies in the lack of a common definition of spanking or corporal punishment. Some school districts, for example, equate corporal punishment with paddling and nothing else. Generally, however, corporal punishment practices like spanking are broadly defined as "hitting a child with an open hand without causing physical injury" (Gilbert 1997).
Aside from spanking, common forms of corporal punishment include grabbing a child and hitting a child with a variety of objects (Straus and Donnelly, qtd. in Spurgeon 1997). However, the most common form of corporal punishment is spanking a child's buttocks with an open hand. One survey found that 90% of adults today received this form of spanking as a child (Spurgeon 1997).
Experts remain divided on whether such practices cause other unseen injuries. Most studies, however, show a positive link between spanking and antisocial behavior in children. Children who were spanked were also more likely to lie, cheat, or bully other children (Gilbert 1997).
One study by Marjorie Gunnoe, for example, examined the link between corporal punishment and a child's antisocial behavior and tendency to get involved in school fights. After following her subjects for five years, Gunnoe found that children who received corporal punishment at home also reported a greater incidence of fighting at school (Gunnoe, qtd. in Gilbert 1997). This study is consistent with the prevailing theory that, in the long run, corporal punishment is counterproductive.
However, Gunnoe's results were also affected by factors such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The opposite effect was observed among toddlers and African-American children. Gunnoe explains this anomalous result by theorizing that parents who do not practice corporal punishment in these instances often fail to employ other disciplinary techniques as well, resulting in undisciplined and largely unsupervised children.
Experts have also theorized on why, despite conventional wisdom, spanking tends to encourage rather than discourage aggressive behavior. Parents who spank want to encourage good behavior by instilling a fear of punishment. However, the more common result is that the child learns to deal with conflicts through physical violence (Larzelere, qtd. in Spurgeon 1997). As a result, children who are spanked may get into more fights when they encounter conflicts on the playground.
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