Beating the devil out of them - Corporal punishment in American families

Based on his studies of over nine-thousand families, Murray A. Straus, the foremost researcher on family violence in the world, describes in this long-awaited book the extent to which parents in the United States use corporal punishment (such as spanking and slapping) and its effects on their children. The question of whether corporal punishment is an effective method of discipline is hotly debated by parents, teachers, and childrearing experts. In his most important book ever, Straus contends that this believed-to-be-"minor" form of physical violence is the precursor to much of the violence that plagues our world. Children who are spanked quickly learn that love and violence can go hand in hand. Since spanking is generally done by loving, caring parents - for the child's own good - a child can learn that hitting is "morally right". Straus shows us what he has learned through two decades of research: that children who are spanked are from two to six times more likely to be physically aggressive, to become juvenile delinquents, and later, as adults, to use physical violence againts their spouses, to have sadomasochistic tendencies, and to suffer from depression. Parents do not realize that they put their child at risk of theses serious side effects when they spank. Straus alerts parents to these risks, and reveals that spanking is a form of violence that adversely affects not only the children who are subjected to it but society as a whole. This groundbreaking book is a must read for all parents as well as teachers, lawyers, judges, and professionals in fields such as social work, child protection, delinquency and criminology, psychology, and politics. Putting an end to spanking, Straus concludes, is one of the most important steps that can be taken in our quest for a less violent world. Cover......Page 1 Inner flaps......Page 2 Contents......Page 10 Preface......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 20 Part I - Spanking - The virtuous violence......Page 24 1 - The conspiracy of silence......Page 26 What is corporal punishment?......Page 27 Is corporal punishment violence?......Page 30 Physical abuse versus corporal punishment......Page 31 Importance of corporal punishment......Page 32 A conspiracy of silence......Page 33 Trivialisation, anxiety, and moral opposition......Page 34 Lack of research......Page 35 Misleading research......Page 36 Child-rearing advice books......Page 37 Plan of the book......Page 39 The virtuous violence......Page 42 Attitudes toward corporal punishment......Page 43 How much corporal punishment?......Page 44 Corporal punishment in two nationally representative samples......Page 45 How age affects corporal punishment......Page 46 Severity and frequency of corporal punishment......Page 47 Changes in prevalence......Page 48 Changes in frequency......Page 50 Differences between boys and girls......Page 52 Cultural discontinuity in corporal punishment......Page 54 Conclusions......Page 55 How real are the changes?......Page 56 Corporal punishment and interpersonal violence......Page 57 3 - Hitting adolescents......Page 58 Two measures of corporal punishment......Page 59 How often?......Page 60 Difference between generations in hitting adolescents......Page 61 Cultural norms supporting corporal punishment of adolescents......Page 62 Gender of parent and child......Page 63 Social-class differences......Page 67 Conclusions......Page 70 4 - Who spanks the most?......Page 72 Cultural norms and attitudes......Page 74 Age and sex of parent......Page 77 Race and ethnic group......Page 79 Parents’ childhood experiences with corporal punishment......Page 80 Marital violence......Page 82 Conclusions......Page 84 Part II - The price of virtue......Page 88 Depression......Page 90 Men and women......Page 94 Corporal punishment and suicidal thoughts......Page 95 Another statistical approach......Page 98 Summary......Page 100 Why does corporal punishment produce depression?......Page 101 6 - Physical abuse......Page 104 Another conspiracy of silence......Page 105 Corporal punishment by abusive parents......Page 106 Corporal punishment in the childhood of parents......Page 107 Non-compliance and escalation......Page 108 Evaluating the evidence......Page 109 Reasons for ignoring corporal punishment......Page 110 Contradicts deeply embedded cultural norms......Page 111 Absence of linking processes theory......Page 112 Depression......Page 113 Characteristics of abusing parents......Page 114 Corporal punishment and physical abuse......Page 115 Conclusions......Page 118 7 - Violence and crime......Page 122 Corporal punishment and family violence......Page 124 Assaults on siblings......Page 125 Assaults on spouses......Page 126 Effects of hitting children on parents......Page 128 Corporal punishment and street crime......Page 130 Corporal punishment and violence in schools......Page 133 State-to-state difference......Page 135 Corporal punishment in schools and homicide......Page 137 Differences between nations......Page 138 Socio-cultural context......Page 139 Conclusions......Page 140 8 - The fusion of sex and violence......Page 144 Lovemaps......Page 147 Sexual scripts and other influences......Page 148 Masochistic sex among college men and women......Page 149 Corporal punishment and masochistic sex......Page 153 Conclusions......Page 157 9 - Alienation and reduced income......Page 160 Corporal punishment and achievement......Page 163 Alienation......Page 165 Conclusions......Page 167 Part III - The future......Page 170 Myth 1 : spanking works better......Page 172 Myth 3 : spanking is harmless......Page 175 Myth 5 : parents can’t stop without training......Page 178 Myth 6 : if you don’t spank, your children will be spoiled or run wild......Page 180 Myth 8 : by the time a child is a teenager, parents have stopped......Page 183 Myth 10 : it is unrealistic to expect parents to never spank......Page 184 The myth of effectiveness......Page 185 The myth of harmlessness......Page 187 How solid is the evidence?......Page 188 Corporal punishment in historical perspective......Page 192 A moral passage......Page 193 Expansion of human rights......Page 196 Transition to a post-industrial economy......Page 197 Legitimating role of social science......Page 200 Lessons from the Swedish no-spanking law......Page 202 Individualism, punitiveness, and fear......Page 205 Fundamentalist opposition......Page 206 Cultural rights and family privacy......Page 207 A society without corporal punishment......Page 209 Appendix A - A theoretical model......Page 212 Appendix B - Samples and measures of corporal punishment......Page 222 Appendix C......Page 240 Appendix D - Books on child abuse searched for discussions of corporal punishment......Page 278 Notes......Page 284 References......Page 290 Index......Page 308 Back of cover......Page 324 The question of whether corporal punishment is an effective method of discipline has been hotly debated by parents, teachers, and child-rearing experts. Based on studies of over 9,000 families, this book describes the extent to which parents in the United States use corporal punishment (such as spanking and slapping) and its effects on their children. Distinguishing corporal punishment from child abuse as physical punishment not intended to cause injury, the book contends that this believed to be "minor" form of physical violence is the precursor to much of the violence exhibited in today's world, and that children who are spanked learn quickly that love and violence can go hand in hand and that hitting is morally right. The book explores two decades of research--including cultural, gender, and socioeconomic factors--indicating that children who are spanked regularly are from two to six times more likely to be physically aggressive, to become juvenile delinquents, and later as adults, to use physical violence against their spouses, exhibit sadomasochistic tendencies, and to suffer from depression. The chapters of the book are: (1) "[Spanking] The Conspiracy of Silence"; (2) "Everyone Does It, But Less Now"; (3) "Hitting Adolescents"; (4) "Who Spanks the Most?"; (5) "Depression and Suicide"; (6) "Physical Abuse"; (7) "Violence and Crime"; (8) "The Fusion of Sex and Violence"; (9) "Alienation and Reduced Income"; (10) "Ten Myths that Perpetuate Corporal Punishment"; (11) "Social Evolution and Corporal Punishment. Four appendices include a theoretical model of causes and effects of corporal punishment, and books on child abuse searched for discussions of corporal punishment. Contains 200 references. (HTH) The author suggests that spanking children is a form of violence and that such treatment not only adversely affects the children who experience it, but society as a whole. Argues that spanking, even when done by loving parents who do not desire to be cruel, only encourages children to believe that problems can be solved by violence