Focus on Meta-Analysis
Over 300 relevant research works, including peer-reviewed material, dissertations, and books
88 studies presented detailed data
36,309 participants
1938-2000
Corporal Punishment
“The use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain but not injury for the purposes of correction or control of the child’s behavior”
Continuum of physical acts
Corporal Punishment Outcomes
Immediate compliance
Decreased moral internalization
“Does not teach children the reasons for behaving correctly, does not involve communication of the effects of children’s behaviors on others, and may teach children the desirability of not getting caught”
Decreased quality of relationships
Fear, anxiety, and anger
Decreased child (and later adult) mental health
Harsh punishment associated with depression
Increased aggression (as a child and adult)
Increased criminal and antisocial behavior (as a child and adult)
Increased risk of abusing own child or spouse
Increased risk of being a victim of physical abuse
Immediate Compliance
Depends on goals of parent
May be necessary when a child is in immediate danger
Not associated with moral internalization
However children are more likely to accept if used consistently and children believe it is used in their best interest
Critiques
Can only prove correlation, not causation
Inconsistent styles of punishment
Few studies ask parents about both frequency and severity
Rarely occurs in isolation
Parent Characteristics
Same characteristics as abuse
Age - 20s to 30s
Gender - women or same
Parent temperament
Use by warm parent more likely to achieve positive outcomes
Parent psychological functioning
Parent beliefs
Family Characteristics
As family size increases
Unhappy partnership
Single parents
Race
Higher in Black homes, lowest in Asian homes
As socioeconomic status declines
World-Wide
Sweden (1979) among 35-40 other countries to ban corporal punishment
Decrease in negative teenage behaviors following this change
Child Abuse and Maltreatment
The infliction of physical injury on a child
Punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child
Sometimes an unintentional result of over-punishment
One in seven children
Types of Child Maltreatment
Neglect - 60%
Multiple - 13%
Physical abuse - 11%
Sexual abuse - 8%
Emotional & psychological abuse - 4%
Other - 4%
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE)
Traumatic childhood events
10 types: physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect; a parent who’s an alcoholic, a mother who’s a victim of domestic violence, a family member in jail, a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, and the disappearance of a parent through divorce, death or abandonment
Higher risk: children younger than 4, special needs
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Outcomes
Health (obesity, diabetes, depression, suicide attempts, STDs, heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPD, broken bones)
Behaviors (smoking, alcoholism, drug use)
Life potential (graduation rates, academic achievement, time lost from work)
Increases likelihood of crime
Juvenile arrest - 59% increase
Adult arrest - 29% increase
Violent crime (black children) - 30% increase
Sexual Abuse
Behavioral problems
More likely to set fires and abuse animals
More likely to be violent adults
95% of teenage prostitutes sexually abused
More likely to occur within a family than outside the family
Sexual Abuse Signs
Aversion to particular person
Change in eating, trouble sleeping, bed wetting
Sudden lack of interest in school
Sudden desire for privacy, or separation from family
Irritation of genitals