Spanking has been used as a form of discipline since many years and till this date, there are many parents who believe that this method is quite right and acceptable. I selected this topic because it will be interesting to know that why parents still use this technique for disciplining their children. With the help of qualitative analysis it can be observed that how spanking has affected a child in his childhood and adolescent life, whether the affects of it were positive or negative. It will also be observed that what influences people belonging to different culture and lifestyles to opt spanking as a method of disciplining their children.
Through extensive research over the internet and other sources I found out that many parents still believe that spanking is a parental right. But on the other hand, researches show, any individual who is being spanked in his early years of childhood or adolescence do have a very low self esteem and often have extremely anti-social behaviour. Mostly I found out data regarding negative effects of spanking on children and their life afterwards. During the course of field study, it will be interesting to know that how many parents still believe that their child’s life can be carried towards betterment with the help of spanking. How parents distinguish between spanking and beating and what they think are the positive or negative consequences of it.
This field study would help in addressing questions regarding all the positive and negative effects of spanking. The best way to gain information about spanking being used as a disciplinary tool is by doing surveys and door to door interviews with parents and getting data regarding whether they think it is a good way of establishing a good behaviour within your children or it is mere child abuse. The information that I gathered from my research suggest that spanking does have an impact and at the same time it has long lasting effects on the particular individual. If spanking is negatively used, it can badly hinder the psychological, social and sometimes physical development of a child.
Most studies suggest that spanking as a form of discipline is very hazardous and many writers claim it to be a form of beating. This field study would help in determining what adults think about being spanked if they are put in the place of their children and are punished the way they punish their young ones if they do something wrong. There are certain situations when adults find themselves trapped and are unable to settle their problems with each other but still, they are not spanked by each other. Therefore, why should a child suffer such an abuse? Also, I found out that there are certain groups or communities within the society who strongly believe that it is the duty of a parent to remain strict and teach children a lesson when they are being naughty and the best way to do that is by causing them minor physical harm like spanking.
A study conducted by University of New Hampshire which was lead by Murray Straus and his colleagues a few years back, was focused on determining the relationship between spanking and increased level of domestic violence. According to this research spanking might not look harmful but it does have very negative and long lasting effects on children’s psychological and social requirements. Parents need to realize that even too much discipline can make a child more aggressive in behaviour. There should be a balance between punishment and reward and most importantly, punishment should be harsh enough to make a child understand what he or she has done wrong but at the same time not extremely harsh as it may make the child feel scared, stressed and exhausted.
Before conducting out the field study, it is important to determine what sort of question I would be asking during the survey and interviews. Firstly, data needs to be collected regarding, how many parents still use this technique for disciplining their children, and if one uses, how many times he has spanked his child, what is the level of it and in return what sort of behaviour children usually portrait when their parents use this technique for discipline. While conducting research, it was revealed that when parents use spanking as a disciplinary tool, it usually ends up in making a child’s attitude even more worse and aggressive. Mostly, children who suffer such treatment end up spanking their own children when they become adults. As early childhood is the period of growth and development not only physically, but also in terms of their interaction with the outside world therefore what they see and experience makes a very strong impact on their future life.
Another factor that came under attention while doing research was that people belonging to different cultures, societies and religions have different attitude towards spanking. Also, a parent’s personal preferences conclude the fact that whether they think if spanking is a tool or just a mere unhelpful punishment. This field study aims at examining different variables that make parent to ignore or adopt spanking as a disciplinary tool, these variables are considered to be determinant factors. Also, it is important to determine and establish what a child goes through if he or she is being a victim of such disciplinary method, how they interact with other adults and their peers. Children’s point of view towards spanking is important to determine. Whether they feel intimidated or feel like they have been given a severe punishment and what they feel about their parents afterwards.
Moreover, it is also important to analyse the level and frequency of spanking that an average child has to bear. Some parents believe in spanking their kids very rarely while others use it very frequently. Research shows that an excessive amount of spanking can deteriorate a child’s confidence and self esteem. Some of them become consciously anti-social in their adulthood while others impose a very negative and aggressive attitude with their family relations. Mostly, children do not respect their parents the way they should and the only feeling they get when their parents are around is being scared which is quite alarming.
The central theme of this case study is to analyse all the goods and all the bad things regarding spanking as a mode of discipline. It has to be realized that this method is not an appropriate one to teach your kids how to act obediently. Although a little bit of spanking will not affect anyone at all but it is always better to go for other methods of punishment. But still spanking is not an effective form of setting standards and making your children understand. Instead, it is a kind of torture and abuse especially for the young children. Spanking is not even close to what beating is but still, frequent use of this disciplinary method would leave your kid feeling insecure and in confident throughout his life.
This field study would be conducted while taking into consideration some important and useful data. Firstly, the requirement is to interview parents and children separately to get an insight of what they both think about spanking and whether it is a right form of disciplining your child or not. Also a record of their interaction with each other, inside the home as well as outside the house to determine the type of relationship they have with each other. The field study would be covering the interaction of parents and their children from the beginning and till an extended period of time. The type or methods of discipline being used by the parents at different occasions and their affect on children is important to analyze.
Lastly, the conclusion that I get is, spanking is something that should be avoided by every single parent because such punishment can sometimes very badly affect the self esteem and moral of a child. There are different types of punishments other than spanking which an individual can adopt to teach their children some sort of respect and discipline. During my research I came up with very interesting methods of analyzing different disciplinary techniques and their impact on both the child and parents. My field study would comprise of interviewing at least 10 people, the objective is to identify and determine what these individuals think about spanking as a form of discipline and whether it is an effective disciplinary tool or not. I would be using all the data I gathered through my research to interview those individuals and assess the reasons that makes parents to use such techniques for bringing up their children.
Bibliography
Day, Randall, Introduction to Family Processes, Ogden Ut: 2000.
Dollahite, Gavid C. Strengthening Our Families.
Journal of Marriage and the Family, v. 60 (Fec. 1998): 74-94
Corporal Punishment of Children (Spanking) All points of View .Web. http://www.religioustolerance.org/spanking.htm
