Physical punishment of children by US parents: moving beyond debate to promote children’s health and well-being

Abstract

Physical punishment remains a common practice in the USA despite significant empirical evidence of its potential harm and ineffectiveness, arguments that its use violates children's human rights, and professional recommendations against its use. The purpose of the current paper is to offer explanations as to why, in the face of a worldwide movement to protect children from violence, the USA continues to support physical punishment of children. The paper also summarizes the various debates engaged in by experts that stem from these explanations for physical punishment and argue that the time has come to move beyond these debates and eliminate the physical punishment of children. We offer suggestions for changing attitudes and practices related to physical punishment of children in order to promote their health and well-being. We conclude by suggesting that the burden of proof in debates about physical punishment, which has typically fallen upon those who argue children should never be physically punished, should shift to those who continue to promote its use despite evidence of its harm and ineffectiveness.

Cultural Differences in the Association of Harsh Parenting with Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis

“…About 83% of Western European countries, 67% of Eastern European countries, 27% of Central and South American countries, 18% of Subsahara African countries, 11% of North African countries/the Arabian Peninsula, and 6% of Asian countries have legally banned all physical punishment of children by their parents (Global Initiative to End Corporal Punishment of Children, 2020). Nonetheless, physical punishment that does not cause harm or injury is still allowed in many countries, such as the United States (Global Initiative to End Corporal Punishment of Children, 2020;Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2018). In sum, physical punishment of children tends to be least normative in Western Europe and most normative in Africa, the Arab Peninsula, and Asia (see also, Dwairy et al, 2006; As physical punishment and negative verbal behavior of parents towards their children often cooccur, many studies use combined measures of overall harsh parenting (Hinnant et al, 2015).…”

Childhood Experiences and Attitudes toward Corporal Punishment: The Mediating Role of Perceived Efficacy of Alternative Discipline Strategies among Low-income Black, Hispanic, and White Parents

“…Scholars identify four major reasons explaining the persistence of CP in the US (Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2018). The first is the argument about the Fourteen Amendment that protects parental rights to control children, which serves as a basis for parents to protest institutional interventions on parental rights and freedoms (Miller-Perrin & Perrin, 2018). The second is Americans’ adherence to religious teaching about “spare the rod, spoil the child” (Ellison, 1996; Greven, 1991; Petts & Kysar-Moon, 2012).…”