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Well thankfully, that's what this post is about. I hope to provide some insights (backed by peer-reviewed empiricism) as to whether spanking really does do your kid good. And if not, then what is it that we can do?
So let's begin...
Listening to Psychology in Everyday Life (as I've mentioned is a great podcast hosted by psychologist Michael Britt) I came across a few great podcasts that detail the use of spanking as a form of discipline compared to time-out. A few episodes focused on this topic, and I found them very informative and decided I could pursue some published peer-reviewed research articles that have this topic as their experimental focus.
The podcast - and I'll only speak about this in summary; if anybody is interested in following up they can do so by clicking the link provided in the previous paragraph - acknowledged the that spanking - in any way, shape, or form - does nothing to rid the child in the long run of their misbehaviour. At the very most, spanking your kid when he or she's naughty rids them of that behaviour at that moment (e.g. when you smack your child's hand for drawing on the wall with his crayons; this may immediately cease his behaviour, but it doesn't prevent him from picking up another yellow crayon next week and going at it again!).
What the alternative then? Some have posited putting your child into time-out. Others have written about the successful "1-2-3 Magic" approach to discipline where timeouts and rewards are implemented with 'problem children' and nagging, yelling, hitting and so on are eliminated from the parental disciplinary repertoire (Bradley et. al., 2003). How's this approach look? Some of you might have guessed it: 'Please don't let me get to three. You know what we agreed happens at three! I'm counting... One. Two!' and POOF, MAGIC! (or so this approach - most time adequately - asserts)
So what do we have? We've very briefly discussed spanking (and it's been argued that this is the least preferred method). We've discussed time-outs (and this is not without its limitations as we'll soon see). And finally, we've discussed the 1, 2, 3 Magic Method.
Let's very briefly turn to some limitations of the time-out method and (by extension) the 1, 2, 3 Magic Method. What some have argued (as Dr. Britt shows in his podcast episodes regarding the various disciplinary methods parents incorporate) is that time-out is undoubtably a better method of discipline than spanking is, however the way it's put into practice might have some negative effects in terms of its efficacy. For example, say little George (who's two) keeps climbing out of bed once his parents have tucked him in and is on the rampage in order to watch his favourite movie, Despicable Me, his parents have a few options. Will they spank him and put him back into bed? Or will they try this new method, time-out? They choose the latter. But this is how they go about it... 'George! I told you not to get out of your bed! Now we're putting you in time out!' They quickly march him off to his room and slam the door, letting him lie there screaming, and pounding his fists on the floor to be taken out.
So what's wrong with this picture?
Well, for one the tone of the parents seems pretty antagonistic. They scream at him, and even though they didn't spank him, they slammed the door and let him go berserk without attending to him.
What could they have done better?
George's parents would have done infinitely better (even for their own sanity) by taking little George in their arms, explaining to him why he must be put into time-out, and explain that they would much rather see him happy than sad - reassuring him that he's cared for rather than combated against.
So what we can see when we briefly assess the process of incorporating the time-out method into the disciplinary practice is that even though time-out seems to be a better way of correcting bad behaviour, it's not without its limitations when carried out in a frustrating manner.
So what's the literature say?
After searching through some relevant literature pertaining to disciplinary measures and their effectiveness on altering kids' bad behaviour I found the following:
1. The frequency of using time-out and spanking in mother depended on their ages (and the presence of the fathers in the parenting relationship) with younger (25 years and under) reporting a higher frequency of the latter disciplinary behaviour when compared to older mothers (over 25 years; Lewin, Mitchell, & Ronzio, 2013).
2. When assessed as to which method (spanking, reasoning, withdrawing privileges, and time-out) is the fairest as in the opinion of over 100 6-10 year-old it was seen that kids preferred being reasoned with most, and spanked least (Vittrup, & Holden, 2010).
3. For children aged between three and seven years, time-out was the best method of employment when dealing with kids that acted out against parents, however, the way time-out was employed was integral in understanding its benefit for these children. For example, time-out must have been preceded by a verbalised reason (e.g. 'Stuart, the reason I have to put you in time-out is because you are not listening to mummy and this makes me sad'), verbalised warning ('Johnny, can you please tell me what daddy told you will happen if you throw the basketball inside rather than outside? I don't want to put you in time-out, but I'll have to if you won't listen.'), physical placement (e.g. walking your child by the hand to the designated place where time-out occurs), location in a chair (in this study, chairs were employed as the time-out tool), short time durations (some put their children in intervals according to age; two minutes for two-year-old, and so on) repeated returns for escape (i.e. taking the child back when they decide to leave the time-out space), and contingent delay release should be considered (i.e. extending the time-out depending on the misbehaviour of the child; e.g. two-minutes and 15 seconds for little George instead of two minutes because he bit his sister; Everett, Hupp, & Olmi, 2010).
I should note that when the contingent delay methodology was used, children increased their compliance to parents' commands more than two times more than those that hadn't been put in the contingent delay release.
What can we make out of this?
I can think of a few things...
1. We shouldn't always run to the easiest method of discipline (usually spanking) given its lack of effectiveness in the long run with in-compliant kids.
2. We shouldn't assume that just because we're not spanking our kids and putting them in time-out, this is necessarily better (in outcome) than spanking - the process must be taken into consideration.
3. We should take into account what our kids would like contribute in how they're disciplined; especially since literature shows that kids generally prefer to be reasoned with rather than discipled in other ways (Vittrup, & Holden, 2010).
4. If we do take to using time-out, take careful consideration as to how we approach this process in terms of warnings, reasons, locations, duration, and so on (Everett et. al., 2010).
5. Finally (and very importantly!), take into consideration the age of your child when deciding on the disciplinary method. A one-year-old will hardly know why they're being put into time-out; a less than one-year-old won't know why they're being spanked; and even some older kids might need more elaboration as to why they're being disciplined!
As parents, we need to know our kids, how they respond to certain types of discipline, and how they can contribute in this process. Once we understand this we can collaborate with them and achieve what we all want in the end.
Bradley, S. J., Jadaa, D., Brody, J., Landy, S., Tallett, S. E., Watson, W., Shea, B., & Stephens, D. (2003). Brief psychoeducational parenting program: An evaluation and 1-year follow-up. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(10), 1171-1178.
Everett, G. E., Hupp, S. D. A., & Olmi, D. J. (2010). Time-out with parents: A descriptive analysis of 30 years of research. Education and Treatment of Children, 33(2), 235-259.
Lewin, A., Mitchell, S. J., & Ronzio, C. R. (2013). Developmental differences in parenting behavior: Comparing adolescent, emerging adult, and adult mothers. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 59(1), 23-49.
Vittrup, B., & Holden, G. W. (2010). Children's assessments or corporal punishment and other disciplinary practices: The role of age, race, SES, and exposure to spanking. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(3), 211-220.
The podcast - and I'll only speak about this in summary; if anybody is interested in following up they can do so by clicking the link provided in the previous paragraph - acknowledged the that spanking - in any way, shape, or form - does nothing to rid the child in the long run of their misbehaviour. At the very most, spanking your kid when he or she's naughty rids them of that behaviour at that moment (e.g. when you smack your child's hand for drawing on the wall with his crayons; this may immediately cease his behaviour, but it doesn't prevent him from picking up another yellow crayon next week and going at it again!).
What the alternative then? Some have posited putting your child into time-out. Others have written about the successful "1-2-3 Magic" approach to discipline where timeouts and rewards are implemented with 'problem children' and nagging, yelling, hitting and so on are eliminated from the parental disciplinary repertoire (Bradley et. al., 2003). How's this approach look? Some of you might have guessed it: 'Please don't let me get to three. You know what we agreed happens at three! I'm counting... One. Two!' and POOF, MAGIC! (or so this approach - most time adequately - asserts)
So what do we have? We've very briefly discussed spanking (and it's been argued that this is the least preferred method). We've discussed time-outs (and this is not without its limitations as we'll soon see). And finally, we've discussed the 1, 2, 3 Magic Method.
Let's very briefly turn to some limitations of the time-out method and (by extension) the 1, 2, 3 Magic Method. What some have argued (as Dr. Britt shows in his podcast episodes regarding the various disciplinary methods parents incorporate) is that time-out is undoubtably a better method of discipline than spanking is, however the way it's put into practice might have some negative effects in terms of its efficacy. For example, say little George (who's two) keeps climbing out of bed once his parents have tucked him in and is on the rampage in order to watch his favourite movie, Despicable Me, his parents have a few options. Will they spank him and put him back into bed? Or will they try this new method, time-out? They choose the latter. But this is how they go about it... 'George! I told you not to get out of your bed! Now we're putting you in time out!' They quickly march him off to his room and slam the door, letting him lie there screaming, and pounding his fists on the floor to be taken out.
So what's wrong with this picture?
Well, for one the tone of the parents seems pretty antagonistic. They scream at him, and even though they didn't spank him, they slammed the door and let him go berserk without attending to him.
What could they have done better?
George's parents would have done infinitely better (even for their own sanity) by taking little George in their arms, explaining to him why he must be put into time-out, and explain that they would much rather see him happy than sad - reassuring him that he's cared for rather than combated against.
So what we can see when we briefly assess the process of incorporating the time-out method into the disciplinary practice is that even though time-out seems to be a better way of correcting bad behaviour, it's not without its limitations when carried out in a frustrating manner.
So what's the literature say?
After searching through some relevant literature pertaining to disciplinary measures and their effectiveness on altering kids' bad behaviour I found the following:
1. The frequency of using time-out and spanking in mother depended on their ages (and the presence of the fathers in the parenting relationship) with younger (25 years and under) reporting a higher frequency of the latter disciplinary behaviour when compared to older mothers (over 25 years; Lewin, Mitchell, & Ronzio, 2013).
2. When assessed as to which method (spanking, reasoning, withdrawing privileges, and time-out) is the fairest as in the opinion of over 100 6-10 year-old it was seen that kids preferred being reasoned with most, and spanked least (Vittrup, & Holden, 2010).
3. For children aged between three and seven years, time-out was the best method of employment when dealing with kids that acted out against parents, however, the way time-out was employed was integral in understanding its benefit for these children. For example, time-out must have been preceded by a verbalised reason (e.g. 'Stuart, the reason I have to put you in time-out is because you are not listening to mummy and this makes me sad'), verbalised warning ('Johnny, can you please tell me what daddy told you will happen if you throw the basketball inside rather than outside? I don't want to put you in time-out, but I'll have to if you won't listen.'), physical placement (e.g. walking your child by the hand to the designated place where time-out occurs), location in a chair (in this study, chairs were employed as the time-out tool), short time durations (some put their children in intervals according to age; two minutes for two-year-old, and so on) repeated returns for escape (i.e. taking the child back when they decide to leave the time-out space), and contingent delay release should be considered (i.e. extending the time-out depending on the misbehaviour of the child; e.g. two-minutes and 15 seconds for little George instead of two minutes because he bit his sister; Everett, Hupp, & Olmi, 2010).
I should note that when the contingent delay methodology was used, children increased their compliance to parents' commands more than two times more than those that hadn't been put in the contingent delay release.
What can we make out of this?
I can think of a few things...
1. We shouldn't always run to the easiest method of discipline (usually spanking) given its lack of effectiveness in the long run with in-compliant kids.
2. We shouldn't assume that just because we're not spanking our kids and putting them in time-out, this is necessarily better (in outcome) than spanking - the process must be taken into consideration.
3. We should take into account what our kids would like contribute in how they're disciplined; especially since literature shows that kids generally prefer to be reasoned with rather than discipled in other ways (Vittrup, & Holden, 2010).
4. If we do take to using time-out, take careful consideration as to how we approach this process in terms of warnings, reasons, locations, duration, and so on (Everett et. al., 2010).
5. Finally (and very importantly!), take into consideration the age of your child when deciding on the disciplinary method. A one-year-old will hardly know why they're being put into time-out; a less than one-year-old won't know why they're being spanked; and even some older kids might need more elaboration as to why they're being disciplined!
As parents, we need to know our kids, how they respond to certain types of discipline, and how they can contribute in this process. Once we understand this we can collaborate with them and achieve what we all want in the end.
References
Bradley, S. J., Jadaa, D., Brody, J., Landy, S., Tallett, S. E., Watson, W., Shea, B., & Stephens, D. (2003). Brief psychoeducational parenting program: An evaluation and 1-year follow-up. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(10), 1171-1178.
Everett, G. E., Hupp, S. D. A., & Olmi, D. J. (2010). Time-out with parents: A descriptive analysis of 30 years of research. Education and Treatment of Children, 33(2), 235-259.
Lewin, A., Mitchell, S. J., & Ronzio, C. R. (2013). Developmental differences in parenting behavior: Comparing adolescent, emerging adult, and adult mothers. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 59(1), 23-49.
Vittrup, B., & Holden, G. W. (2010). Children's assessments or corporal punishment and other disciplinary practices: The role of age, race, SES, and exposure to spanking. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(3), 211-220.
Images retrieved from:
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http://mssparky.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Time-Out.jpg
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