A further element of a cultural context is the term “child abuse” which suggests extreme physical harm. People struggle with where the line is between “discipline” and “abuse.” Physical punishments are not necessarily abusive, depending on the age of the child and the severity of the act. In contrast, spanking is not the preferred disciplinary activity and some say they use this option rarely. With the information received from sources outside the home the children use the word “abuse” against the parent when disciplining, adding to the reluctance to use a form of corporal punishment. Joan E. Durrant from the Department of Family Social Services, University of Manitoba, states: “this contradiction contributes to many professionals’ uncertainty about advising parents about physical punishment.” The issue then becomes where certain physical punishment can be viewed as a normative, relatively harmless and justifiable act of discipline that can be distinguished from physical abuse.
Distinguishing physical punishment from physical abuse can be determined by the presence or absence of physical injury. (e.g. National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information, 2000) It can be argued that the intent can determine abuse from normative discipline, that parents who discipline their children intend not to harm them, but to learn a lesson and teach them. (Gil, 1970; Kadushin & Martin, 1981, Troce’ et al. 2001). (Vasta, 1982,p.135; Gil, 1970; Peltoniemi,1983) conclude, that parental intent can not be used as useful criteria for distinguishing normative discipline from physical abuse. In reality, no such normative objective exists. Our own experiences become our definitions of what is normative, and construct them from our own parent’s behavior as the standard.
Suggesting to parents that slapping a child in the face is not acceptable but spanking them on the buttocks is acceptable suggests physical force is an appropriate means of behavior change. This is old school behavior. In contrast, today, the use of physical force with children is an inappropriate way of managing behavior. Changing the attitudes of parents is critical to resolving and preventing harm to children. “It has been demonstrated that the more corporal punishment is approved of by the parents, the more likely they are to use and more harshly they administer it (Moore & Straus, 1987).
Externalization of a child’s behavior and the severity of the behavior has some association with the propensity to spank. Findings indicate the use of corporal punishment may be better understood as part of a group of behaviors relating to parenting style. Further, findings indicate that easier to predict the incidence of corporal punishment than to predict its frequency of use. ()
Parents reported their use of spanking with children under three, including five other disciplinary practices, and four nurturing interactions. Using cluster analysis four groups of parents were defined with distinct patterns of discipline and nurturing. Two groups with above-average use of spanking shared high prevalence of parent depressive symptoms and low levels of nurturing but had markedly different demographic profiles and use of nonphysical punishment. Parents who used average levels of spanking made frequent use of nonphysical disciplinary strategies and high levels of nurturing interactions. Parents who reported below-average spanking had relatively low levels of both disciplinary and nurturing interaction. ().
The conflict between the nonphysical proponents and the one’s who use corporal punishment rages. Clearly the boundaries have yet to be clearly defined. The use appears to diminish with the age of the child.
Reference:
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www.calib.com/nccanch/pubs. (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse)
Gil, D.G. (1970). Violence against children: Physical child abuse in the United State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kadushin, A., & Martin, J.A. (1981). Child abuse: An international event. New York: Columbia University Press.
Moore, D.W., & Straus, M.A. (1987). Violence of parents toward their children: New Hampshire. Durham, NH: Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire.
Trocme’, N., MacLaurin, B., Fallon, B. et al. (2001). Canadian incident study of reported child abuse and neglect: Final report. Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2001.
Vasta, R. (1982). Physical child abuse: A dual-component analysis. Developmental Review, 2, 125-149
