The Effects of Different Kinds of Punishment on the Behavior of Children
Punishment is supposed to reduce or eliminate unwanted behavior in a child (Nieman & Shea, 2004). There are many different types of punishment, and each of them is supposed to work in a different way. While different cultures, and different families within a culture, use punishment differently and have different theories of punishment, scientific research has revealed that there are actually better and worse forms of punishment (Nieman & Shea, 2004). Some have positive effects on children's behavior, and others have very negative effects. This paper examines the various forms of punishment, so that their effects can be better understood and they can be compared to determine which forms are more effective and which are less.
Styles of Discipline
Discipline is the means by which a child’s moral, intellectual, and emotional development are set on the right course to enable them to act responsibly, morally, and maturely when they are adults. Discipline involves instructing children in what is morally and socially acceptable. There are many different disciplinary strategies, and they can be broadly classified into positive and negative strategies. Positive disciplinary practices include praising children for good behavior, or rewarding them for stopping a bad habit. Negative disciplinary practices include spanking and yelling at children for doing something wrong. Positive forms of discipline usually involve getting children to understand the reasons why some behaviors are unacceptable. Negative forms of discipline usually focus on children doing what they are told in order to avoid unpleasant consequences.
Generally speaking, there are two forms of negative discipline. Physical punishment is one type, involving the use of physical force as a negative consequence of misbehavior. The other type of negative discipline could be termed emotional punishment. It uses yelling, threats, and demands as negative consequences of misbehavior.
Then there are three forms of positive discipline, broadly speaking. One of them is simple in its approach. It just uses rewards for good behavior, or for ceasing a bad behavior. One of them uses encouragement instead of reward. The other is more complex. This approach involves explaining to the erring child why his or her behavior is inappropriate, and how they should behave in those circumstances, sometimes coupled with punishments such as loss of privileges. This approach is much more intellectually engaging, but requires more out of the child, and so is not of much use for younger children. Both of these approaches aim to teach children to discipline themselves, and internalize the values that their parents approve of.
Physical Punishment
Physical punishment has long been considered an effective means of disciplining and properly socializing children. Physical punishment is defined as causing pain but not injury through use of force for the purpose of correcting a child's behavior. The theory behind physical punishment is that, because pain is such a powerful negative stimulus, its use as a deterrent will be particularly effective in changing a child's behavior, and that this change in behavior will eventually be internalized. Additionally, many people who use physical punishment believe that it will strengthen their children, intellectually and emotionally, making them “toughen up,” and become more able to handle the real world.
Increased Aggression and Other Antisocial Behaviors
Physical punishment results in increased aggression and a variety of other antisocial behaviors that are directed toward siblings, peers, and sometimes parents and other adults. This is because children internalize the social relationships that they experience. Social learning theory says that physical punishment can cause children to learn to use aggressive behavior to deal with most situations via modeling. When parents attempt to modify their children’s behavior through the use of pain, then they are teaching their children to do the same thing to other people when they want to modify their behavior.
Many studies indicate that in the long term there are many negative consequences of relying on physical punishment as a method of child discipline. One of these studies was conducted on 631 children with disruptive behavioral components. Parent interviews were conducted to find out what styles of discipline the parents used. Correlations between the kinds of disruptive behavior the children engaged in and the kinds of punishment their parents used were examined. The researchers found that there was a moderately strong relationship between spanking and aggressive behavior, with an r value of 0.30 (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000). There was a slightly stronger correlation between spanking and hyperactivity, with an r value of 0.32. There was also a weaker correlation between the use of spanking and oppositional, or disobedient, behavior, with an r value of 0.24. This indicates that physical punishment actually increases aggressive, hyperactive, and disobedient behavior in children. In other words, physical punishment seems to achieve exactly the opposite effect that punishment is supposed to achieve.
Another study concentrated on the effects of spanking on preschool children. Preschool children are at a very impressionable age, and tend to internalize the behaviors of the people in their lives, particularly their parents. Researchers carried out an analysis of 2,461 children on the use of physical punishment who were three years of age. Their mothers were questioned about their children's aggressive behavior, and also about their use of physical punishment, which was defined as spanking at least twice in a month. These mothers were then contacted when their children turned five, and asked the same questions again. This analysis found that physical punishment was associated with increased aggressive behavior afterward, with 95% of mothers who used physical punishment reporting greater numbers of aggressive incidents when their children were aged five (Taylor, Manganello, Lee, Rice, 2010). This study indicates that even relatively minor, infrequent use of physical punishment result in increased levels of aggression most of the time.
It could be argued that these findings only show a correlation between physical punishment and aggressive, antisocial behavior, not a cause and effect relationship. It could be argued that these results might be better explained by unexamined traits of these children's families, and that the children of different cultures and races might respond differently to physical punishment. The association between physical punishment and aggressive, antisocial behavior is clearly a cause and effect one, however. The Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, and Lengua study subjected their results to hierarchical statistical analysis (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000). The results suggest that physical punishment is a driver of physically disciplined children’s increased antisocial behavior, not something that just happens to be correlated with it for coincidental reasons.
Poor Cognitive Development
Childhood development theorists say that a child's cognitive development is the result of that child's social interactions. All social relationships influence a child’s learning, no matter how close or distant they are. It is well known that the richer the social relationships a child has, the greater the opportunities that child has for cognitive development. The reason why is simple: conversation and other social interactions provide children with cognitive stimulation, and cognitive stimulation leads to cognitive development.
Because of this, the use of disciplinary measures that rely on reasoning and explanation will provide children with greater cognitive stimulation than the use disciplinary measures that rely on the avoidance of negative consequences. Poor cognitive development can therefore be the result of the use of physical punishment. Additionally, children who are constantly worried about physical punishment may be inhibited from fully exploring their social and physical environments, and therefore end up lacking enough opportunities to develop their cognitive skills.
A meta-analysis of studies on the effects of corporal punishment was conducted in 2010. Seventy studies that were published between 1961 and 2000, involving 47,751 subjects were used for data. The study found a weak to moderate correlation between the use of physical punishment and poor cognitive development, with an r value of 0.33 (Paolucci & Violatto, 2010).
A later study tested the effects of physical punishment on cognitive development. Cognitive ability was assessed for more than 800 children between the ages of two and four, and for more than 700 children between the ages of five and nine (Straus, & Paschall, 2008). The use of physical punishment was determined by observing the behavior of mothers with their children while being interviewed, and also with questions asked during the interview on their use of spanking. A scale for the use of corporal punishment was created using frequency and severity. Cognitive ability was measured using standard tests that were appropriate for children of those age groups and standardized relative to children of the same age. The results of this study showed that for every point on the six point physical punishment scale measurement of a mother's use of physical punishment, there was an average decrease of 0.51 points on the cognitive ability scale. This means that the use of the harshest forms of physical punishment were associated with cognitive outcomes that were nearly one half standard deviation below the norm. Statistical analyses were used to control for demographic variables, so that they would not mask the effects of the physical punishment. The results were clear: the children of parents who used little to no physical punishment developed cognitive ability faster than the children of parents who did use it. In fact, the greater the amount of physical punishment used, the worse the rate of cognitive development as compared to the children in the former group.
Mental Health Issues
Physical punishment also leads to internalizing problems instead of dealing with them in a healthy manner. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. These mental health issues come from the suppression of the anger that comes from being physically hurt by the adults who are supposed to be depended on for nurturing and love. They can become severe, interfering with the quality of life. They can even lead to suicidal ideation, which can sometimes be acted on.
A very thorough study of this phenomenon was published in 2008. More than 1,000 New Zealand infants were noted, and contacted once they turned 18. They were asked about their parents' use of physical punishment. They were also assessed for psychosocial adjustment and mental health issues. The results of the analysis showed that children exposed to physical punishment had increased rates of substance abuse, suicide attempts, and other signs of depression and other mental health problems, some serious enough to be lifelong problems. Specifically, those people whose parents had used physical punishment on them while they were growing up experienced mental health issues at a rate that was 150% of those whose parents had not used physical discipline on them (Fergusson, Boden, & Horwood, 2008). In fact, the authors claimed that 13% of all of the study subjects' mental health issues were the result of the physical punishment that they had experienced as children.
Self Control Issues
The purpose of family discipline is to teach children the values of their family and society so well that they internalize those values. Giving children control over their behavior is the long-term goal of discipline, and it is more important for a child's development than getting immediate compliance with parental rules. The use of physical discipline in a way that just asserts parental power in order to achieve immediate compliance can have counterproductive long-term effects. It does not promote the internalization of values and the development of self-discipline. It merely teaches children not cross people bigger and stronger than they are.
There was a study of to modulating influences of various factors on self control in 21,000 children of kindergarten age (Beaver, Wright, & Delisi, 2007). Data was collected on each child before the entered kindergarten and again six months later. Parents and teachers were interviewed about the child's personalities, learning abilities, and demonstrated level of self control. Only children for whom there was data from both parents and teachers were retained after this point, because reporting from only one source could potentially be unreliable. The parents were further questioned about a number of subjects, including the use of physical punishment. A strong correlation was found between the use of physical punishment and demonstration of a lack of self control, with an r value of 0.55 showing a moderately strong correlation (Beaver, Wright, & Delisi, 2007).
Emotional Punishment
It might seem that emotional punishment would be a better option than physical punishment, as it does not involve the use of physical pain, so it should avoid the worst effects of physical punishment. It would still theoretically have the benefit of being a powerful deterrent, thus reducing the frequency of undesirable behaviors, and it would still theoretically toughen up children who are disciplined with this technique. Emotional punishments are supposed to be negative, just not physically violent. They include yelling, public embarrassment, and specific losses of privileges or possessions in a way that is meant to inflict some form of emotional harm on the child.
The Effect of Yelling on Disruptive Behavior
The effects of yelling, a form of emotional punishment, on the behavior of young school children were studied in a classroom setting. Children with a history of disruptive behavior in class were observed for four months, with their teachers using different forms of reprimands when they misbehaved. At first, the teachers used loud, harsh reprimands that could be heard by the other children. After observing the consequences of this for a time, the teachers switched to using soft reprimands. When the teachers switched to using soft reprimands, the disruptive behavior occurred less often. When the teachers again started using harsh reprimands, the disruptive behavior increased in frequency. When the teachers once again switched to gentler reprimands, the disruptive behavior happened less often once more. On average, when soft reprimands were used, disruptive behavior occurred an average of 83% less frequently when loud reprimands were used. This strongly suggests that the use of yelling and similar harsh reprimands is actually counterproductive. It often increases the frequency of the negative behaviors that it is supposed to reduce (O'Leary, Kaufman, Kass, & Drabman, 1970).
The Effect of Verbal Aggression on Children's Self-Esteem
One hundred and forty four children were given the Harter Self Perception Profile for Children, and also asked questions about their parents' use of verbal aggression as a disciplinary tool. Questions about the use of physical punishment were also asked, so that children whose parents used physical punishment could be screened out. This ensured that there was no chance that the effects of physical punishment could be mistaken for the effects of verbal aggression. The use of verbal aggression as a disciplinary technique was correlated with 50% lower scores on the self-esteem scale (Solomon & Serres, 1999). Verbal aggression, administered separately from physical punishment, lowers self-esteem and impairs academic achievement (Solomon & Serres, 1999).
Reasoned Punishment
Negative forms of punishment teach children that breaking the rules will cause them to suffer unpleasant consequences. This style of punishment does not teach children why there are rules in the first place, why they are important, or how rules work to the benefit of those children. This kind of punishment does not teach responsibility. It does not teach them to care about other people. Using reason as an integral part of discipline, however, helps children to see the big picture, to understand what good behaviors are, and why they are considered to be good behaviors. It teaches children to try to behave in a good fashion, rather than just imitating good behavior. This approach to discipline is a way of teaching children to improve themselves as well as their behavior.
The reasoning approach to discipline involves discussing matters with children who misbehave, trying to get them to understand what wrong behavior is, and why it is wrong. Reason-based discipline may use various forms of punishment, such as grounding, but it is always presented to children in a way that shows them how such punishment is a necessary consequence of misbehavior, and how it will benefit them in the future. This approach is meant to encourage the internalization of the values and rules that parents wish to teach their children by involving the child actively in understanding. It is supposed to increase self-discipline, and improve cognitive development via cognitive stimulation. This approach is designed to help children mature more fully, and to become more self motivated.
The Effects of Reasoning Discipline on Delinquent Behavior
The Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, and Lengua study referenced above examined more than just the effects of physical punishment on children's behavior. The researchers' interviews with parents included an in-depth analysis of their parenting style, whatever it was. The researchers also examined the effects of parents who used the reasoned approach to punishment, in which they limited their children's privileges and monitored them for compliance. They found that this approach was associated with decreased oppositional/defiant behavior, reduced aggression, and reduced hyperactivity (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000). The correlations for these results were weak, but statistically significant, with r values of -0.17, -0.14, and -0.09 respectively. This research suggests that reasoning-based responses to misbehavior can have a powerful effect on children's behavior and the internalization of the relevant values and rules. It makes children engage in good behavior spontaneously, because they want to, and not just because they are scared of the consequences of not doing so.
Conclusion
The Scientific Consensus on Physical Punishment
The overwhelming majority of scientific research on the effects of physical punishment indicates that it has a strongly negative effect on child development and behavior. It is associated with aggression, social maladjustment, disruptive behavior, and crime (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000). Physical punishment leads to impaired cognitive development and impaired academic performance (Straus, & Paschall, 2008). It also causes serious mental health problems, including depression and suicidal thinking, and impairs the child's ability to form healthy attachments (Fergusson, Boden, & Horwood, 2008). Physical punishment actually has an effect that is the opposite of the effect that punishment is supposed to have: it causes children to reject the rules and values that the parents approve of (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000).
There is only one desirable change in child behavior that physical punishment has: immediate compliance with the rules (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000). However, because many other forms of discipline also lead to an immediate compliance with the rules and an end to undesired behavior, there is absolutely no justification for using physical punishment.
The Scientific Consensus on Emotional Punishment
Emotionally oriented negative punishments, such as yelling and public embarrassment, do not do a lot better. Perhaps the negative consequences are not so severe as for physical punishment, but they are still both negative and counterproductive (O'Leary, Kaufman, Kass, & Drabman, 1970). This type of discipline, too, is not appropriate because it causes mostly negative changes in children's behavior. Some parents find that negative forms of punishment like yelling, insulting, threatening, and intimidating can be tempting to use sometimes. In the heat of the moment, it can be easy to want to make a misbehaving child feel bad as a consequence of their bad behavior. However, such punishment accomplishes nothing but teaching the child the rather harmful lesson that the proper response to anger is to try to hurt the object of that anger.
Damaged Parent-Child Relationships
Not only do physical and emotional punishment harm children in a variety of ways, they also harm the relationships between parents and their children. Attachment theory indicates that use of physical punishment harm the relationship between parent and child (Howe, Brandon, Hinings, & Schofield, 1999). Secure, healthy attachments are created by positive, loving interactions between parents and children (Howe, Brandon, Hinings, & Schofield, 1999). Harsh, punitive interactions do not lead to secure, healthy attachments. Healthy, secure attachment is necessary if a child is going to develop feelings of safety and well-being. It is also an important part of the development of a conscience. Physical punishment therefore tends to create children who are insecure, unhealthy, with a poor moral compass, and bad relationships with their parents.
Abuse
Another potential consequence of physical and emotional punishment is that it is easy for it to become abuse. When a parent's approach to discipline is authoritative and based around hurting the child in retaliation for rule breaking, it is all too easy for a bad temper to take physical punishment beyond spanking and into a beating or other forms of physical abuse. Abuse like this is a lot more harmful to children than simple, non-abusive physical punishment like a spanking is.
A Better Way
Children need their parents to set limits for them (AACAP, 2018). There are many ways to get children to change their unacceptable behaviors that do not involve physical and emotional punishment. Taking away privileges, such as going to visit friends, stay up late, watch television, and so forth do not do the harm that physical and emotional punishment do. The evidence shows that, as long as they are applied consistently and with explanations, these techniques are effective at changing children's behavior without harming them.
Positive forms of punishment and discipline work much better (Stormshak, Bierman, McMahon, & Lengua, 2000). By explaining to children why things are the way they are, and how good behavior will benefit them and bad behavior hurt them, while giving them the confidence and motivation they need to feel strong and secure, children internalize the values and rules that their parents approve of. Then, if the child has to endure a punishment such as being grounded or losing other privileges, he or she will understand why they have lost them, and feel that it serves some purpose, and that they have control in the future about whether or not the punishment happens to them again. This will lead to their becoming productive members of society with good values.