Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl
the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects,
then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and
observations.
Today's article examines the long term effects of spanking children. Before I go any further with explaining this study, it's important to note that this study, and this post, define "spanking" carefully. Spanking, in this context, is "using physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, to correct or control the youth's behavior." In short, spanking as defined here is not simply an excuse to hit or abuse a child, it is specifically only for disciplinary measures, and only wielded carefully and with precision.
So all that said... even if you narrow it down to that careful definition, the end results of spanking a kid are bad. The study correlates this definition of spanking with illegal drug use, alcoholism, suicidal thoughts, and depression. Right alongside other forms of physical and emotional abuse, like neglect, whacking the kid with a belt, and routinely insulting or cursing at the kid. The category for such things is called ACE, which stands for Averse Childhood Experiences.
The researchers suggest, given the results of their study, that spanking be added to this category. That would, in my opinion, be a step in the right direction. In the world of special education, in this very state (but not my county, at least), it is legal and acceptable to spank, beat, or otherwise physically abuse a child in the name of discipline. Some school districts are in court proceedings, fighting against concerned and outraged parents, over this precise subject.
My bias is likely pretty clear from my writing already... but I'd just as soon see spanking be added to the list of things that constitute child abuse. I am not a parent, and may never be, but I do feel like if you've had to resort to spanking your kid, especially if you have to do so often... you should be seeking out help and trying to figure out why your parenting style isn't working.
You can likely guess why I have strong feelings about the subject. Well, apart from the philosophical disgust with the concept of child abuse. I was spanked as a child, a few times. I had been behaving badly for quite awhile, as I recall, and none of their punishments made them feel I'd gotten the point. So, despite being pretty decent parents overall, they were at their wits' end. And that was what they resorted to. The experiences cowed me (briefly) and humiliated me (much longer term), but considering the fact that I resent those experiences to this day (having forgiven many other, debatably more important failings), I doubt it was a good call on their part. I would much rather have had them consult a professional like my current doctor, who might've been able to explain why I was misbehaving so badly. (That didn't happen for various reasons, not all of which were my parents' fault. Raising a kid is brutally hard, requiring a lot of judgement calls and "do your best and hope for the best" decisions. And it's not like they knew I was special needs. Not to mention their specific circumstantial difficulties, which I won't go into here.)
Mentality-wise, I feel like mostly what the spanking taught me was that I was small, weak, and unable to fight back. It didn't reinforce the rules they'd set down. It didn't make me feel better, or even more compliant for a moment longer than it took the shock to wear off. It deeply humiliated me and made me angry. It made my parents seem like bullies, just like the kids at school, only unimaginably more powerful. Hypothetically, if I was normally a problem child, I suspect the shock of being spanked would wear off very fast, leaving only the resentment, fury, and humiliation. That's a bad recipe, and it suggests to me that special education and even regular education (ahem, Texas and most of the Deep South) would do better without it on the table, tempting frustrated teachers, paraprofessionals, substitutes, etc. toward child abuse.
Today's article examines the long term effects of spanking children. Before I go any further with explaining this study, it's important to note that this study, and this post, define "spanking" carefully. Spanking, in this context, is "using physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain, but not injury, to correct or control the youth's behavior." In short, spanking as defined here is not simply an excuse to hit or abuse a child, it is specifically only for disciplinary measures, and only wielded carefully and with precision.
So all that said... even if you narrow it down to that careful definition, the end results of spanking a kid are bad. The study correlates this definition of spanking with illegal drug use, alcoholism, suicidal thoughts, and depression. Right alongside other forms of physical and emotional abuse, like neglect, whacking the kid with a belt, and routinely insulting or cursing at the kid. The category for such things is called ACE, which stands for Averse Childhood Experiences.
The researchers suggest, given the results of their study, that spanking be added to this category. That would, in my opinion, be a step in the right direction. In the world of special education, in this very state (but not my county, at least), it is legal and acceptable to spank, beat, or otherwise physically abuse a child in the name of discipline. Some school districts are in court proceedings, fighting against concerned and outraged parents, over this precise subject.
My bias is likely pretty clear from my writing already... but I'd just as soon see spanking be added to the list of things that constitute child abuse. I am not a parent, and may never be, but I do feel like if you've had to resort to spanking your kid, especially if you have to do so often... you should be seeking out help and trying to figure out why your parenting style isn't working.
You can likely guess why I have strong feelings about the subject. Well, apart from the philosophical disgust with the concept of child abuse. I was spanked as a child, a few times. I had been behaving badly for quite awhile, as I recall, and none of their punishments made them feel I'd gotten the point. So, despite being pretty decent parents overall, they were at their wits' end. And that was what they resorted to. The experiences cowed me (briefly) and humiliated me (much longer term), but considering the fact that I resent those experiences to this day (having forgiven many other, debatably more important failings), I doubt it was a good call on their part. I would much rather have had them consult a professional like my current doctor, who might've been able to explain why I was misbehaving so badly. (That didn't happen for various reasons, not all of which were my parents' fault. Raising a kid is brutally hard, requiring a lot of judgement calls and "do your best and hope for the best" decisions. And it's not like they knew I was special needs. Not to mention their specific circumstantial difficulties, which I won't go into here.)
Mentality-wise, I feel like mostly what the spanking taught me was that I was small, weak, and unable to fight back. It didn't reinforce the rules they'd set down. It didn't make me feel better, or even more compliant for a moment longer than it took the shock to wear off. It deeply humiliated me and made me angry. It made my parents seem like bullies, just like the kids at school, only unimaginably more powerful. Hypothetically, if I was normally a problem child, I suspect the shock of being spanked would wear off very fast, leaving only the resentment, fury, and humiliation. That's a bad recipe, and it suggests to me that special education and even regular education (ahem, Texas and most of the Deep South) would do better without it on the table, tempting frustrated teachers, paraprofessionals, substitutes, etc. toward child abuse.
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