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.
Highlights
The physical punishment of children, defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort” (United Nations, Committee on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC], 2007, p. 4) is a worldwide issue that has attracted considerable attention in recent years
Parental use of physical punishment has been banned in more than 50 countries to date (Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2017). These trends suggest a decrease in attitudes and practices supportive of physical punishment of children and are no doubt due to a number of factors, including empirical research questioning its use, as well as international legislation suggesting that physical punishment violates the human rights of children (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; UNCRC, 2007)
We focus on the USA because the use of physical punishment by parents is very common in the USA, but many of the issues we highlight are relevant to other countries
Summary
The physical punishment of children, defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort” (United Nations, Committee on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC], 2007, p. 4) is a worldwide issue that has attracted considerable attention in recent years. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989, states in Article 19 that member nations should “take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence.”. Parental use of physical punishment has been banned in more than 50 countries to date (Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2017). These trends suggest a decrease in attitudes and practices supportive of physical punishment of children and are no doubt due to a number of factors, including empirical research questioning its use, as well as international legislation suggesting that physical punishment violates the human rights of children (Gershoff & Grogan-Kaylor, 2016; UNCRC, 2007)
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