The Case Against Spanking

The case against spanking Spanking your child as a form of punishment is very questionable nowadays, a lot of people think it is ok to spank your child and others disagree. There have been many researches done about this and it is a very controversial topic. In the article “The case against spanking”, by Brandan Smith, he talks about the studies that have been researched and the decline in spanking because it could be harmful or not as effective as they grow older. Parents might hit or spank their kids and not know there are other options to handle punishments because they might be upset and tend to take their anger out on the child. Many studies have shown that physical punishment including spanking, hitting and other means of causing pain can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behavior, physical injury and mental health problems for children. Surveys show that two thirds of Americans approve of spanking. Alan Kazdin, a Yale University psychology professor and director of the Yale Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic claims that spanking doesn’t work. “You cannot punish out these behaviors that you do not want,” says Kazdin, who served as APA president in 2008. “There is no need for corporal punishment based on the research. We are not giving up an effective technique. We are saying this is a horrible thing that does not work.” says Kazdin. Over 30 countries worldwide have banned physical punishment of children in all settings, including the home. The legal bans typically have been used as public education tools, rather than attempts to criminalize behavior by parents who spank their children. Elizabeth Gershoff, a leading researcher on physical punishment at the University of Texas in Austin says,” Physical punishment doesn’t work to get kids to comply, so parents think they have to keep escalating it. That is why it is so dangerous.”
A study published last year in Child Abuse and Neglect showed a cycle of violence in homes where physical