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This issue of Early Report is devoted to current research on
the effects of physical punishment of children and promoting
alternatives for parents. As we strive toward the creation of
peaceful, caring communities within which our children can grow
and develop, it is important to provide parent education and
support in order to extend the principles of non-violence to the
home. Positive alternatives for providing children with limits
and consequences are the focus of several statewide initiatives
of the Minnesota Extension Service (MES) at the University of
Minnesota. Minnesota Community Initiatives.
Preventing Family Violence:
Positive Parenting Project
by Ronald L. Pitzer
Many forces shape and influence the development of children
from conception through adolescence. For nearly all children,
parents are the most powerful of these influences --- for better
or for worse. Parents are the first, and most continuous,
teachers and models for most children in our society. The
resources they provide, the climate they create, the nurturance
and guidance they offer powerfully affect the development, the
well- being, the achievement, and the behavior of children and,
hence, of communities and society. The importance of parents in
the protection, support, and socialization of young children is
well documented.
Socialization of children includes nurturance and guidance or
discipline, or what often is referred to as "love and
limits." Parents probably have more concerns and questions
about the discipline than about anything else. One of the most
perplexing aspects of childrearing for parents, and one of the
most controversial issues to the public, is the use of physical
punishment or spanking.
In order to break the cycle of family violence, we need to
help parents become more thoughtful about how they deal with
their children. These matters are what Positive Parenting, a
multi-faceted project of the Minnesota Extension Service is all
about --- to review for educators, family-serving professionals,
and parents what is known about physical punishment and its
consequences; to teach parents alternative ways to nurture and
discipline their children; and to attempt to influence the
attitudes of parents in Minnesota about physical punishment.
Betty Cooke, coordinator of the Early Childhood Family
Education (ECFE) program for the Minnesota Department of
Children, Families, and Learning (formerly Department of
Education), believes the Positive Parenting materials are an
excellent, practical resource. "Teaching parenting skills
and providing alternatives to physical punishment are very
important topics in our society," Cooke says. "This
series is easy to use, based on research, and geared to the
everyday concerns of parents throughout the state. It will be
widely used by ECFE parent educators."
Physical Punishment: Review of
the Research
by Ronald L. Pitzer, Ph.D.,
Family Sociologist, MN
Extension Service, University of Minnesota
Physical punishment is widely accepted in US culture as an
appropriate parental disciplinary technique. It often has been
hailed as a parental right, if not a parental responsibility.
Many studies over the years have asked parents if they agree that
"children sometimes need a good, hard spanking" and in
most cases, an overwhelming majority agree.
Over the last 10 years, Gallop polls show a decline in the
blanket acceptance of spanking as a necessary parenting practice
from a high of 84% in 1986 to 67% in 1994. Below are average data
from national studies reported in the literature, as well as some
comparative data from two Minnesota counties: In this case
spanking means hitting a child one or more times on the buttocks
with the open hand as a disciplinary measure.
The data show that spanking is widely used and highly valued
by parents as a disciplinary tactic. Yet what does research tell
us about the effectiveness and consequences of spanking and other
forms of physical punishment?
While there is nothing in the research literature to support
the notion that spanking or other forms of physical punishment
are effective ways to guide or discipline children, no one study
controls all the variables in the complex process of
socialization. However, based on the mass of research findings
available, two conclusions are warranted:
- Spanking is no more effective, and probably less
effective, than other disciplinary techniques in stopping
or changing misbehavior. Spanking is associated with
other negative outcomes for the parent and child.
- Spanking often lowers self-esteem and morale because it
is humiliating and demeaning to both parent and child.
Spanking, especially when frequent and/or severe, is
associated with a number psychological and behavioral
outcomes in later life, including low self-esteem, anger,
fear, depression, alienation, alcoholism, emotional
instability and unresponsiveness, dependence, and
abusiveness.
Spanking teaches children that hitting is the way to solve
problems. Research consistently shows that children who are
spanked are more likely to use physical force against siblings
and peers, and later against their own spouse and children. This
increase in aggressive acting-out occurs even when spanking is
infrequent or mild.
Spanking can lead to battering and child abuse. It is
estimated that 85% or more of child abuse cases were attempts to
discipline by the use of physical punishment which got out of
control. Spanking in the heat of anger, when a parent has more
strength and less control, can lead to serious injury. Spanking
after the anger has cooled may be less likely to lead to physical
damage, but also is less effective in correcting behavior, since
the punishment is so far removed from the offense.
Children who are spanked may come to resent or fear their
parents. Research studies have found that 40-50% of the
respondents reported they "hated parent" when they were
spanked. These emotions keep them from wanting to change their
behavior and from learning how to do so. Also, each episode of
physical punishment chips away at the bond of affection between
parent and child.
Children who are spanked may not repeat the misbehavior, but
they obey out of fear. Instead of learning to differentiate
between right and wrong, they learn to differentiate only what
does and doesn't result in a spanking. They rarely learn
self-discipline. Spanking hinders development of empathy,
remorse, compassion, and conscience Ê because children spanked
as a disciplinary technique focus on their own pain rather than
considering the effect of their behavior on others.
A complete bibliography is available by calling 612/625-4779.
Parenting Practices in Two Minnesota Counties
The Minnesota Extension Service conducted a study of current
parenting practices in order to provide up-to-date Minnesota data
on parenting practices, including attitudes about as well as the
use of physical punishment, and to establish a baseline for
impact evaluation of statewide efforts to reduce the use of
physical punishment. Murray Strauss, director of the University
of New Hampshire's Family Research Laboratory, conducted a
telephone survey on parenting with a random sample of 1003
parents from Goodhue County (the experimental site) and nearby
Rice County (the control site) in the summer of 1993.
Attitudes toward and use of physical punishment
Some 55 percent of these parents endorsed spanking, slapping
or hitting as being "sometimes necessary" in the
discipline of children. This compares to a 67 percent endorsement
nationally in one of the latest polls available.
Thirty six percent of the southeastern Minnesota parents
reported spanking, slapping, or hitting a child within the past
six months. As children get older, fewer parents report using
physical punishment. Preschool children are most likely to be
spanked, particularly two-year-olds. Very young children, ages
two to three, are reported to be spanked, slapped, or hit many
times when their parents use physical punishment as a
disciplinary method.
Most national data has shown that boys are more likely to be
physically punished than are girls. The Minnesota data from
Goodhue and Rice Counties, however, showed no differences in the
use of physical punishment with boys and girls.
Previous studies have found an inverse relationship between
parent's education and their use of spanking as a disciplinary
technique; the higher the parents' educational attainment, the
less likely they are to employ physical punishment. In the
current Minnesota study, there was not a great deal of
variability among mothers' use of physical punishment across
educational levels. The relationship between education and use of
spanking was higher among fathers. Fathers who were college
graduates or had attended graduate school were appreciably more
likely to report never spanking in the past six months and were
less likely to report frequent spanking.
Annual family income was inversely related to the occurrence
and frequency of spanking. A clear and strong relationship was
found between attitudes toward the use of physical punishment and
its actual reported use.
Conclusion
It appears that as a culture, we are undergoing a modest but
distinct shift away from the endorsement of physical punishment
as a mode of behavior control for children. While results from
two selected counties in the state should be viewed with caution,
it appears that Minnesota is near or at the forefront of this
national trend.
Although spanking is still favored by many parents, its use by
parents in the Minnesota study seems to be largely reserved for
use with preschool children.
prepared by Ronald L. Pitzer
Turn Off the Violence Campaign Beltrami County
Beltrami County Extension, with offices based in Bemidji, MN,
has led a community initiative that has made violence prevention
a priority issue. On October 12, 1995, county residents were
asked to turn off violent TV programs, not to listen to music or
go to movies with violent themes, and not rent videos that were
violent. Celebrating a day of non-violence gave families and
communities the opportunity to reaffirm positive attitudes and
actions. The daily newspapers have published numerous articles on
the campaign; public officials supported the campaign and signed
proclamations; school teachers requested materials to distribute
to their students and families; junior and senior high youth were
involved in narration of radio scripts; faith communities
sponsored family activities and utilized materials from the
campaign. In addition, local businesses, such as restaurants and
roller skating arenas, offered discount coupons for individuals
willing to sign a pledge of nonviolence. Parenting brochures were
distributed offering alternatives to physical punishment,
guidelines for television use, tips for fathers, information on
"bullying" and how to deal with bullies, and preparing
children to be at home alone safely.
The Beltrami County Turn Off the Violence Campaign is part of
a statewide and national coalition of law enforcement ,educators,
social service providers and interested citizens working together
to educate people about violence and encourage people to make
choices to reduce violence in their lives. Reproducible brochures
are available at no cost from the state office:
"Violence...Under My Roof?", "You Can Make a
Difference", "Taking Action", "Media
Violence" as well as reproducible guides including
educational lessons plans and a community action kit.
For further information, contact:
Connie Simenson, Extension Educator,
University of Minnesota
MES-Beltrami County
815 15th St. NW
Bemidji, MN 55601-2501
Ph: 218/759-0038
fax: 218/759-4527
or the MN Office of the Turn Off the Violence Campaign
Box 27558
Minneapolis, MN 55427
612/593-8041
"Stop Hitting Day" Campaign Pine-to-Prairie Cluster
The topic of disciplining children consistently ranks at the
top of the list for parents, teachers, and anyone working with
youth. Physical punishment is prohibited for teachers and youth
workers, yet many families have difficulty imagining how they can
discipline with spanking. How can communities encourage
alternative behaviors that increase trust and nurturing and
alleviate the need for physical punishment?
What started as a "Stop Hitting Day" campaign in
Otter Tail County to educate parents, teachers, and the public
about Alternatives to Physical Punishment, has since expanded
throughout the cluster to Becker, Clay, and Wilkin Counties.
Patterned conceptually after the successful "Don't Smoke
Day" begun years ago in a small community in Minnesota,
"Stop Hitting Day" efforts have been coordinated by
county-wide collaborations of local agency representatives. In
order to make the "Stop Hitting Day" campaign more
effective, the first focus was to heighten awareness and educate
the public about alternative methods of discipline.
Multi-pronged public information approaches utilizing local
resources and knowledge have been developed and used in each
county. Methods have included day long conferences for
professionals who work with families, evening parent education
workshops, extensive use of media, and proclamations from county
boards. Hot pink ribbons were distributed to tie on car antennas
or house doors to support "Stop Hitting Day. Committee
members distributed ribbons, campaign buttons, and refrigerator
magnets with the logo "hands that Love Don't Have to
Hit". Printed information has been distributed at homecoming
parades, grocery store displays, and sent home with elementary
school children and Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE)
participants.
The success of this project throughout the cluster has
supported it expansion into other locations in the state and into
North Dakota. This project has served to increase agency
collaboration, heighten awareness of alternatives to physical
punishment, and empower parents to act collectively to address
this issue. The research base for this project has decreased the
expected amount of resistance to the "no hit"
philosophy of the "Stop Hitting Day" campaign.
For further information, contact:
Angela Berge
Otter Tail County Extension
121 West Junius, Courthouse
Fergus Falls, MN 56537
Ph: 218/739-2271
or Nancy Frosaker Johnson
Clay County Extension
Courthouse
Moorhead, MN 56560
Ph: 218/299-5020
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Winter 1996, Volume 23, Issue 1