A review of the literature on corporal punishment in The Bahamas, with an emphasis on its use in schools

Abstract

This review of the literature concerning corporal punishment arising from The Bahamas enables us to identify several strands: (1) corporal punishment is an historically accepted method of controlling children which only recently has been called into question; (2) school teachers have typically seen corporal punishment as a useful classroom management tool; (3) there has been unease about its use in schools which has resulted in its regulation; (4) more recently, there has been evidence of the awareness of the long-term negative effects of corporal punishment; and (5) the rise of social media has made corporal punishment and its potential abuses visible to a wider audience. These strands appear to have woven together to move the country in a direction of outlawing corporal punishment, at least in schools.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Corporal Punishment in Bahamian Homes

“…Social expectations appear to value the supposed outcomes of corporal punishment: well-behaved children. Overall, this is consistent with the use of corporal punishment in schools, which emphasizes behaviour rather than learning as the rationale for using corporal punishment (Fielding & Ballance, 2020). In both school and home settings, the emphasis is on the immediate behaviour of the child rather than longer-term outcomes, including whether the use of violence actually changes the behaviour of the child in the long term.…”

“…A review of the literature on corporal punishment in The Bahamas, focusing on its use in schools (Fielding & Ballance, 2020), indicated that it has a long history both in The Bahamas and the Caribbean region. Its use continues today (Sutton & Álvarez, 2016) even though The Bahamas signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 1989), which aims to protect children from violence, in 1991, and despite the increasing evidence that corporal punishment is harmful to children (e.g., Gershoff, 2010).…”

“…Support for corporal punishment in The Bahamas is widespread (Fielding & Ballance, 2020). Otterbein and Otterbein's (1973) study in the 1960s pointed to its enduring use and its association with religious belief.…”

“…Our study was undertaken to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices with respect to corporal punishment in the Bahamian context. Although attitudes and practices have been previously studied in this community (Fielding et al, 2016;Fielding & Ballance, 2020), less is known about the knowledge that Bahamians have about the consequences various disciplining methods might have on children. It is this latter aspect that this study sought to address, recognizing that attitudes and practices are not independent of knowledge.…”

The Bahamian Justification for Using Corporal Punishment Within the Home: A Christian Habit?

“…It is apparent that the results from this study support the conjecture that those who live their lives more closely aligned with the TCBs are more supportive of corporal punishment than others. As such, this study supports the findings of Fielding andBallance (2021a and2021b) which noted the role that pastors can play in forming attitudes (Fielding & Ballance, 2020); so any successful attempt to encourage residents of The Bahamas to change their outlook towards the use of corporal punishment can be expected to benefit from the support of pastors from a diverse group of Christian denominations.…”