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Spanking

Spanking is a common method of corporal punishment involving the deliberate infliction of physical pain on the buttocks, typically with an open hand, intended to cause discomfort but not injury for the correction or control of behavior, particularly in children.^[1]^[2] Historically rooted in ancient disciplinary practices documented in religious texts and cultural traditions, spanking has been employed worldwide as a parental tool to enforce obedience and moral development, evolving from more severe forms like whipping to milder hand-administered strikes by the 19th century.^[3]^[4] Despite declining approval in high-income countries, empirical surveys reveal its continued prevalence, with approximately 35-45% of U.S. parents endorsing occasional spanking as necessary discipline, and higher rates reported in low- and middle-income regions where past-year exposure exceeds 70% in some areas.^[5]^[6] Research on outcomes remains contentious, with multiple meta-analyses linking spanking to elevated risks of child aggression, antisocial conduct, and later mental health challenges, yet these associations often fail to establish causation amid evidence of bidirectional influences—such as noncompliant children prompting more spanking—and minimal explanatory power for variance in behavior (less than 1% in some models).^[7]^[8]^[9] Legally, spanking by parents is permitted in all 50 U.S. states absent injury, reflecting a tolerance for moderate physical discipline, whereas more than 65 nations have prohibited all forms of corporal punishment against children in homes and institutions, prioritizing non-violent alternatives amid international human rights advocacy.^[10]^[11]

Definition and Terminology

Etymology and Usage

The term "spank" emerged in English around 1727 as a verb denoting a forceful strike with the open hand, particularly on the buttocks, likely imitative of the sharp slapping sound produced by such an action.^[12] Its precise origins remain uncertain, with possible influences from Scandinavian languages, such as Danish or Swedish terms evoking strutting or stamping motions, though the punitive connotation aligns more closely with onomatopoeic formation.^[13] Early attestations, including in Nathan Bailey's 1727 dictionary, emphasize the act's association with correction rather than mere impact, distinguishing it from broader striking verbs like "smack" or "slap."^[12] As a noun, "spanking" referring to the act itself first appears in the mid-19th century, with the Oxford English Dictionary citing 1854 usage in Anne Baker's Northamptonshire Glossary, where it describes the punishment explicitly as blows to the buttocks.^[14] This nominal form derives directly from the verb, solidifying its specialized role in denoting non-injurious, hand-administered discipline, often in parental or educational settings, as opposed to implement-based corporal punishment like caning. Historical texts from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as conduct manuals, increasingly employed "spanking" to advocate measured physical correction for child misbehavior, reflecting a cultural norm of swift, localized chastisement intended to instill obedience without lasting harm.^[15] In contemporary English, "spanking" retains its core meaning of open-handed buttock striking for disciplinary purposes, though usage has expanded to include consensual adult contexts, such as in erotic play, where it connotes rhythmic, controlled slaps for sensory stimulation rather than correction.^[16] Dictionaries like Merriam-Webster define it primarily as punitive, with the verb form dated to circa 1712 in imitative origins, underscoring its auditory roots over etymological ties to unrelated adjectives like "spanking" (meaning brisk or fine, from the 1660s).^[13] The term's prevalence in American and British English correlates with surveys showing 70-80% retrospective parental endorsement of its use in the 20th century, though modern legal and psychological discourse often qualifies it against abuse thresholds based on intent, force, and outcomes.^[17]

Distinction from Corporal Punishment and Abuse

Spanking specifically denotes striking the buttocks, usually with an open hand and often over clothing, as a form of parental discipline aimed at correcting misbehavior without causing injury.^[18] This practice forms a mild subset of corporal punishment, a broader category encompassing any deliberate application of physical force to induce pain for disciplinary ends, such as slapping extremities, using implements like belts or paddles, or more severe methods including whipping.^[19] While spanking is typically limited in force and duration to avoid harm, corporal punishment lacks such inherent constraints and may involve greater intensity depending on cultural or individual norms.^[20] The line separating legitimate corporal punishment from physical child abuse hinges primarily on outcomes like injury, excessiveness, and proportionality to the child's age and offense, rather than solely on intent. In the United States, all 50 states permit reasonable corporal punishment, including spanking, in the home by parents or guardians, provided it remains non-injurious and aligns with community standards of moderation—factors courts evaluate include the child's size, the instrument used (favoring hands over objects), absence of anger-driven repetition, and lack of lasting marks such as bruises or welts.^[21]^[22] Physical abuse statutes, varying by state, classify actions as abusive when they inflict "cruel or inhuman" harm or traumatic condition, such as substantial pain, swelling, or impairment, even if originating from disciplinary motives.^[23] For instance, California Penal Code Section 273d defines child abuse as willfully causing unjustifiable corporal punishment resulting in injury, distinguishing it from non-harmful spanking upheld in case law absent evidence of damage.^[23]^[24] Internationally, distinctions often mirror this injury-based threshold where spanking remains legal; many jurisdictions differentiate physical punishment from abuse by requiring demonstrable physical injury or excessive force for the latter classification.^[18] Critics, including some child welfare advocates, contend the boundary is subjective and prone to escalation, with studies indicating that spanking correlates with elevated risks of subsequent abusive incidents due to blurred gradations in force application.^[25]^[18] However, legal frameworks prioritize verifiable harm over predictive associations, emphasizing that non-injurious spanking does not equate to abuse, though empirical reviews highlight potential long-term behavioral parallels between mild punishment and harsher forms when outcomes like aggression emerge.^[26] This delineation underscores a causal emphasis on immediate physical effects and contextual reasonableness over presumptive equivalence.

Historical Development

Ancient Origins and Early Civilizations

Corporal punishment, encompassing physical beatings intended for correction, has roots in the earliest recorded civilizations, where it served judicial, educational, and familial roles. In Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, cuneiform texts and legal codes from the third millennium BCE reference flogging and other bodily penalties for offenses, though distinctions between punitive whipping and targeted child discipline like spanking remain unclear due to sparse archaeological specificity. Skeletal evidence from New Kingdom Egypt (circa 1550–1070 BCE) at sites like Amarna reveals trauma consistent with corporal enforcement, including beatings for maintaining social order, indicating physical discipline was institutionalized beyond mere abuse.^[27]^[28] Classical Greece provides some of the earliest cultural depictions of spanking as parental correction, notably in mythology where Aphrodite is shown threatening or administering a sandal spanking to her son Eros for disobedience, reflecting a normalized view of maternal physical intervention around the 5th century BCE. Spartan agoge training from the Archaic period (circa 800–500 BCE) incorporated rigorous physical penalties, including lashes, to instill discipline in boys from age seven, prioritizing endurance over leniency. Athenian educational practices similarly involved teachers using rods or straps on students for infractions, as described in surviving philosophical and rhetorical texts, though elite views debated excess, with some like Plato advocating moderation to avoid stifling intellect.^[29]^[30] In ancient Rome, family discipline under patria potestas granted the paterfamilias unchecked authority to inflict corporal punishment on children and dependents, including spanking, whipping, or caning for moral correction, extending into young adulthood as a means of enforcing obedience and virtue. Legal and literary sources from the Republic (509–27 BCE) onward affirm this, with Quintilian (1st century CE) endorsing measured physical correction in education while warning against brutality, evidencing its routine integration into household and schooling norms. Such practices underscored a paternalistic causality: immediate pain as deterrent to vice, rooted in empirical observation of behavioral compliance rather than abstract rights.^[31]^[32]

Biblical and Medieval Influences

In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Proverbs contains several passages that advocate for the use of a rod in disciplining children as an expression of parental love and wisdom. Proverbs 13:24 states, "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them," framing the withholding of physical correction as neglectful indifference rather than mercy.^[33] Similarly, Proverbs 22:15 asserts, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of discipline drives it far from him," portraying the rod as a necessary tool to excise innate folly. Proverbs 23:13-14 further instructs, "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol," linking corporal punishment directly to spiritual preservation.^[34] These proverbs, attributed to King Solomon around the 10th century BCE, reflect ancient Near Eastern wisdom traditions where physical discipline was commonplace, but they emphasize measured application to instill moral order rather than mere retribution.^[35] Interpretations of these verses historically favored a literal understanding of the "rod" as an implement for striking, such as a switch or staff, rather than purely metaphorical references to authority or verbal guidance. Evangelical scholars argue that the Hebrew term shebet (rod) consistently denotes a physical object in disciplinary contexts across Proverbs, countering modern claims of symbolism like a shepherd's crook or divine word alone.^[36] This literal reading influenced Jewish rabbinic traditions and early Christian exegesis, positioning corporal punishment as a divine mandate for child-rearing to curb sinfulness and promote righteousness, as echoed in New Testament affirmations of parental authority in Ephesians 6:4.^[37] During the medieval period in Europe (circa 500–1500 CE), these Biblical injunctions intertwined with ecclesiastical doctrines to normalize corporal punishment in both familial and institutional settings, particularly under Christian monastic and feudal influences. The Catholic Church, drawing on Proverbs, promoted physical discipline as a means of mortifying the flesh and combating original sin, with flagellation serving as a penitential practice extended to children for moral formation.^[38] In monasteries, child oblates—youth dedicated to religious life from as young as age 7—faced routine beatings with rods or birches as prescribed in rules like those of St. Benedict (6th century), where abbots were directed to correct faults "with rods and admonitions" to foster obedience and humility.^[39] Secular households mirrored this, with noble and peasant families alike employing switches or belts for infractions, viewing it as aligning with Proverbs' call to diligent chastisement; historical records from 12th-century England, for instance, describe parents and masters using the rod to enforce labor and piety, often justified by clerical sermons.^[40] This synthesis of Biblical literalism and Church authority entrenched spanking as a corrective mechanism, distinguishing it from excessive abuse by intent to instruct rather than harm, though practices varied by region and class.

Enlightenment to 20th Century Shifts

During the Enlightenment, philosophers began challenging the traditional reliance on corporal punishment for child discipline, advocating instead for methods rooted in reason and natural development. John Locke, in his 1693 treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education, argued that children possess innate rationality from an early age and respond better to praise, examples, and gentle correction than to physical force, warning that beating could instill fear rather than understanding.^[41]^[38] Similarly, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1762 Emile, or On Education promoted a naturalistic approach, urging parents to avoid physical punishments and allow children to learn through self-directed consequences and environmental guidance, viewing such interventions as contrary to the child's inherent goodness.^[38] These ideas marked an initial philosophical pivot from medieval notions of breaking a child's will toward fostering autonomy, though corporal methods like spanking persisted in practice among families and schools.^[42] In the 19th century, while corporal punishment remained prevalent in educational settings—often involving paddling or caning for infractions—growing debates among educators and reformers highlighted its limitations, with some advocating psychological incentives over physical coercion. Usage in U.S. and European schools peaked in the late 1800s, yet progressive voices, influenced by Enlightenment legacies, pushed for alternatives like moral suasion and graded consequences, contributing to localized declines in major cities by the early 1900s.^[43]^[44] Spanking in the home, typically administered by hand for minor misbehavior, continued as a normative parental tool, reflecting slower cultural absorption of reformist ideas amid industrialization and expanding child labor concerns.^[45] The 20th century accelerated shifts through psychological research and child welfare movements, framing physical discipline as potentially harmful to development. Early behaviorists like John B. Watson, in his 1928 Psychological Care of Infant and Child, emphasized strict conditioning to avoid "spoiling" but cautioned against excessive emotion, indirectly supporting measured physical corrections while prioritizing habit formation over affection.^[46] By mid-century, Freudian insights into unconscious trauma and rising child psychology studies—coupled with recognition of abuse patterns—fueled anti-corporal campaigns, leading to school bans in places like New York and Chicago by 1905 and broader U.S. state prohibitions starting in the 1970s.^[47] Parental spanking rates began declining from the 1930s, dropping from near-universal acceptance to about 50% by the 1990s, as empirical surveys linked it to aggression risks, though proponents cited short-term compliance benefits.^[48]^[49] These changes reflected causal pressures from evidence-based critique rather than mere sentiment, yet spanking endured in many households as a last-resort deterrent.^[43]

Cultural and Religious Perspectives

Abrahamic Traditions and Scriptural Justifications

In the Hebrew Bible, shared by Judaism and Christianity, the Book of Proverbs explicitly endorses the use of a rod for disciplining children as an act of love and correction to remove folly and avert spiritual peril. Proverbs 13:24 declares, "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him," portraying withholding physical correction as neglectful.^[50] Similarly, Proverbs 23:13-14 instructs, "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol," emphasizing that such measures prevent eternal harm without causing death.^[50] Proverbs 22:15 further states, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him," framing the rod as a tool to expel inherent childish imprudence.^[51] These passages, attributed to King Solomon around the 10th century BCE, form the core scriptural basis for corporal punishment in these traditions, with the Hebrew term shevet (rod) denoting a literal implement of authority and chastisement rather than mere metaphor.^[52] Jewish interpretations historically align with these texts as mandating timely discipline, though rabbinic sources like the Talmud (e.g., Sanhedrin 71a) qualify its application to avoid excess, viewing it as parental duty to instill moral order.^[53] In Christianity, the Old Testament proverbs retain authority, supplemented by New Testament calls for paternal discipline without provocation, as in Ephesians 6:4: "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline (paideia) and instruction of the Lord."^[54] Hebrews 12:5-11 analogizes God's fatherly correction to human parenting, urging endurance of chastening as evidence of sonship, which some exegetes extend to physical means justified by Proverbs to cultivate righteousness.^[55] Evangelical scholars, drawing on these, argue that sparing the rod equates to hatred, as physical discipline—when measured—aligns with divine parental love modeled in Scripture.^[37] In Islam, the Quran lacks direct verses prescribing physical discipline for children, prioritizing verbal admonition, exemplary modeling, and gentle guidance (e.g., Quran 16:125 urges inviting to faith "with wisdom and good instruction").^[56] Justification derives primarily from hadith, where the Prophet Muhammad instructed, "Command your children to pray when they are seven years old, and beat them for it when they are ten years old, and separate their beds," permitting light smacking (ghadab) on non-vital areas to enforce religious duties without injury or facial blows.^[57] Another narration states, "Hang your whip where the children can see it, for that will restrain them," underscoring visible deterrence as part of tarbiyah (upbringing).^[58] Classical jurists like those in the Hanbali school limit such beating to post-age-of-discernment children (around 7-10 years) for grave disobedience, deeming it educational rather than punitive, with excess forbidden as harm (Quran 2:195).^[59] These traditions collectively frame scriptural corporal discipline as causal intervention to instill self-control and piety, rooted in the belief that unchecked youthful impulses lead to moral ruin.

Variations Across Non-Western Cultures

In many non-Western societies, corporal punishment, including spanking, remains a prevalent and culturally endorsed form of child discipline, often justified by traditional values emphasizing obedience, hierarchy, and communal harmony over individual autonomy. Surveys indicate that in sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 70.6% of children experience violent discipline at home, with parental spanking or beating viewed as essential for instilling respect and moral character.^[60] In the Middle East and North Africa, over 90% of children face corporal punishment, frequently incorporating slaps or strikes with implements like belts, aligned with interpretations of Islamic teachings that permit measured physical correction for behavioral rectification.^[61] These practices contrast with declining acceptance in Western contexts, reflecting deeper cultural priors where physical discipline reinforces social order amid resource scarcity and extended family structures. Across Asian cultures, variations include normative use of spanking in family settings, as seen in Singapore where physical discipline constitutes a common childhood experience, with longitudinal data showing persistence despite legal reforms.^[62] In India, among middle-class professionals, 57% report spanking or slapping children, while 42% employ severer methods like caning, tied to Confucian-influenced or Hindu emphases on filial piety and guru-shishya authority.^[63] Historical Japanese taibatsu involved coercive physical measures in education, evolving from samurai-era rigor but waning post-World War II amid modernization, though parental spanking persists in immigrant communities valuing cultural continuity.^[64] These approaches often prioritize collective discipline over psychological reasoning, differing from Western shifts toward non-violent alternatives. In Latin American cultures, spanking with household items like flip-flops—known as "la chancla" in Mexican-origin families—serves as a culturally specific tool for enforcing boundaries and transmitting values of respect and resilience, with 73% of Latino parents reporting its occasional use.^[65]^[66] African societies exhibit similar implement-based variations, such as whipping or caning, with Afrobarometer surveys from 2021-2022 revealing majority support (up to 90% in some nations) for corporal punishment as a deterrent to deviance, rooted in communal child-rearing norms where elders collectively enforce physical correction.^[67] Despite recent prohibitions in countries like South Africa (2019) and Colombia (2021), empirical data highlight entrenched acceptance, with boys punished more frequently than girls across these regions, underscoring gender-differentiated expectations in discipline.^[68]^[69]^[70]

Influence of Colonialism and Modernization

Colonial administrations in Africa and Asia often institutionalized corporal punishment in educational and judicial systems, adapting European disciplinary methods to maintain order among colonized populations. In British-controlled Kenya, for instance, caning and flogging were formalized in schools and courts from the late 19th century, influenced by missionary emphasis on biblical injunctions like Proverbs 13:24, which colonial educators invoked to justify physical correction as a tool for moral formation.^[71] Similarly, in colonial India, corporal punishment was reintroduced via the Indian Penal Code amendments of 1864, allowing whipping for juvenile offenders as a deterrent, reflecting Victorian-era views on discipline amid rising concerns over "juvenile delinquency" in urbanizing colonial settings.^[72] These practices diverged from some indigenous methods, which in parts of pre-colonial West Africa emphasized communal shaming or verbal rebuke over ritualized beating, though systematic historical records are sparse and claims of total absence remain contested by anthropologists noting informal physical corrections in various tribal contexts.^[73] In contrast, many Asian societies, such as ancient China and Japan, maintained pre-colonial traditions of corporal discipline rooted in Confucian hierarchies and familial authority, where tools like the bamboo cane were used for child rearing to instill obedience, independent of European influence.^[74]^[64] Colonialism in these regions amplified rather than originated such practices; for example, British and Dutch administrators in Southeast Asia incorporated local customs into hybrid systems, permitting parental and school-based spanking while imposing limits on excess to align with imperial humanitarian rhetoric post-1830s.^[75] Missionaries, however, sometimes critiqued indigenous severity—labeling it "barbaric"—while promoting moderated forms aligned with Protestant child-rearing manuals, thus blending influences and perpetuating spanking as a cross-cultural norm under colonial oversight. Post-colonial modernization, accelerated by urbanization, mass education, and exposure to international human rights frameworks, prompted shifts toward restricting corporal punishment in former colonies. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by most nations from 1990 onward, catalyzed legal reforms; for example, Kenya banned school corporal punishment in 2001 and expanded prohibitions in 2010, reflecting elite-driven campaigns against "colonial legacies" amid growing middle-class advocacy for psychological approaches to discipline.^[71] In Asia, South Korea prohibited it in homes and schools by 2020, driven by economic development, feminist movements, and media scrutiny of abuse cases, which highlighted empirical links between physical punishment and long-term behavioral issues like aggression.^[76] Similar patterns emerged in sub-Saharan Africa, where countries like South Africa (1997 for schools, 2019 for homes) and Tunisia (2016 comprehensively) enacted bans, influenced by global NGOs and developmental psychology research emphasizing non-violent alternatives, though enforcement lags in rural areas where traditional views persist.^[77] These changes often faced resistance from conservatives arguing cultural erosion, yet data from longitudinal studies in low-income settings indicate declining approval rates—from over 80% in 1990s surveys to below 50% in urban cohorts by 2020—correlating with higher literacy and GDP per capita.^[78]

Contemporary Practices

Parental Discipline in the Home

Parental corporal punishment, including spanking, remains a common disciplinary practice in many households worldwide, though its prevalence has declined in some regions. In the United States, surveys indicate that approximately 35% of parents reported spanking their children in 2017, down from 50% in 1993, with about 54% of children experiencing it by certain ages. Globally, an estimated 1.2 billion children aged 0-18 years are subjected to corporal punishment at home annually, affecting around two-thirds of children in surveyed countries. Legally, parental spanking is permitted in all U.S. states as long as it does not cause injury, but it is prohibited in the home in 67 countries as of August 2024, representing progress toward universal bans advocated by organizations like UNICEF, though 134 countries still lack such protections.^[79]^[80]^[6]^[81] Practices typically involve open-handed swats to the buttocks or extremities, often for children aged 2-12, as a response to defiance or aggression, with parents citing immediate cessation of misbehavior as the goal. Empirical laboratory studies confirm that mild spanking produces short-term compliance more effectively than verbal reprimands alone, with effect sizes indicating rapid behavioral suppression in controlled settings. For instance, noncompliant children showed higher immediate obedience rates following a single swat compared to timeout or reasoning, though these gains often dissipate without reinforcement. Proponents, including researchers like Robert Larzelere, argue that "conditional" spanking—used as a backup to other methods after age 2—yields better outcomes than non-physical alternatives in longitudinal data, particularly for defiant behaviors, with meta-analyses showing no increased risk of aggression when distinguished from harsher punishment.^[82]^[83]^[84] Long-term effects remain contested, with meta-analyses like Elizabeth Gershoff's 2016 review linking spanking to increased risks of aggression, antisocial behavior, and mental health issues (effect sizes d ≈ 0.10-0.30), based on over 160,000 children across studies. However, these associations are correlational, often failing to isolate spanking from confounding factors such as preexisting child temperament, family stress, or inconsistent parenting, and include severe punishments alongside mild ones, inflating apparent harms. Criticisms highlight methodological flaws, including reverse causation—where aggressive children elicit more spanking—and small variance explained (less than 1% in recent analyses), suggesting cultural normativeness and parental warmth mitigate risks more than spanking itself. Larzelere's reanalyses of longitudinal data indicate that low-frequency spanking (1-2 times per year) post-toddlerhood correlates with outcomes equal to or better than non-spanking in normative families, challenging blanket prohibitions. Academic consensus against spanking, reflected in APA policy, may reflect selection bias in researcher samples favoring non-corporal methods, overlooking evidence from diverse cultural contexts where it aligns with positive child adjustment.^[7]^[7]^[8]^[85]

Institutional Applications in Schools

Corporal punishment in schools, encompassing practices such as spanking or paddling, has historically served as a tool for enforcing discipline under the legal principle of in loco parentis, allowing educators to act in place of parents.^[86] In the United States, such measures were commonplace from the mid-19th century through the early 20th century, with widespread acceptance until gradual reforms began; New Jersey enacted the first state ban in 1867.^[43] Globally, ancient precedents trace to early civilizations, but systematic school applications intensified in Europe and colonial systems, often involving caning or strapping for infractions like tardiness or disobedience.^[29] By the late 20th century, bans proliferated due to human rights campaigns and psychological research emphasizing alternatives; as of 2023, corporal punishment is prohibited in schools across 128 countries, though permitted in 69 others, predominantly in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.^[87] In the United States, it remains legal in public schools in 17 states as of 2024, primarily in the South, where over 110,000 students—disproportionately Black and disabled—were subjected to it in the 2017-2018 school year alone, with practices like wooden paddle swats administered by administrators.^[88]^[89] Recent federal efforts, including a 2025 executive order under President Trump, have sought to preserve local discretion in discipline amid concerns over rising disorder post-2020 policy shifts favoring de-escalation.^[90] Empirical studies on school-specific outcomes indicate short-term deterrence for minor behaviors but limited long-term efficacy, with one review of 53 global studies finding associations with reduced academic performance and increased aggression, though causal links are confounded by factors like socioeconomic status and alternative discipline availability.^[19] A U.S.-focused analysis reported no evidence of improved compliance or reduced recidivism from paddling, alongside risks of physical injury and resentment toward authority.^[91] Counterarguments highlight methodological biases in anti-corporal research, such as reliance on self-reports or failure to isolate moderate applications; a 2024 meta-review of longitudinal data suggested spanking's variance in behavioral outcomes explains under 1% of changes, implying overstated harms relative to family or peer influences.^[8] In contexts where culturally normative, such as certain U.S. regions, proponents cite anecdotal persistence for immediate order restoration absent viable substitutes.^[92] Disparities persist, with Black students receiving corporal punishment at rates three times higher than white peers in permissive states, raising equity concerns independent of efficacy debates.^[91] International data from banning nations show no clear spike in indiscipline post-prohibition, but U.S. districts retaining the practice report stable or improved metrics in high-poverty schools, per administrative logs, though peer-reviewed validation remains sparse.^[93] Ongoing policy tensions reflect causal realism: while physiological stress responses from pain may yield compliance, repeated exposure risks desensitization or escalation, yet blanket bans overlook contexts where non-physical methods fail due to resource constraints.^[6]

Adult and Consensual Contexts

Spanking in adult consensual contexts involves the deliberate striking of the buttocks, typically with the hand or a paddle, for mutual sexual arousal or gratification between partners. This practice often occurs within broader BDSM (bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, masochism) dynamics, emphasizing negotiated boundaries, explicit consent, and safe words to halt activities.^[94] Participants report deriving pleasure from the sensory contrast of pain and endorphin release, which can enhance intimacy through vulnerability and trust. Prevalence data from nationally representative surveys indicate that spanking is a common erotic activity. In a 2017 U.S. study, 32% of adults reported having engaged in spanking as part of sexual encounters, with 15% specifying a dominant role in such acts.^[95] Similarly, a 2016 Canadian survey found that 36% of sexually active adults had participated in spanking at least once, positioning it among moderately prevalent sexual practices. These figures suggest erotic spanking transcends niche subcultures, integrating into mainstream sexual repertoires for many. Psychological research on consensual BDSM, including spanking, reveals no elevated rates of psychopathology among practitioners compared to the general population. A 2024 review noted that individuals engaging in such activities often experience altered states of consciousness promoting relaxation and emotional catharsis, with self-reported benefits like reduced stress and heightened focus.^[94]^[96] Studies emphasize that appeal stems from power exchange and sensory stimulation rather than underlying trauma, though individual motivations vary.^[97] Safety protocols prioritize risk-aware consensual kink (RACK), involving pre-scene negotiations, anatomical knowledge to avoid vital areas, and post-activity aftercare to monitor for bruising or emotional subspace. Peer-reviewed analyses report fatal outcomes in BDSM play, including spanking, as exceedingly rare—far less common than in autoerotic asphyxiation or routine sexual activities—provided guidelines are followed.^[98] Clinical reviews distinguish consensual practices from abuse via markers like revocable consent and mutual satisfaction, underscoring the importance of education to mitigate minor risks such as temporary welts.^[99] In jurisdictions recognizing adult autonomy, such activities remain legally permissible absent coercion or injury exceeding reasonable bounds.^[100]

Ritual and Ceremonial Uses

Asian and Middle Eastern Traditions

In Taiwanese Taoist traditions, a ceremonial spanking ritual occurs annually during the Lunar New Year at the Donglong Temple in Donggang Township, Pingtung County, to invoke good fortune and dispel misfortune. Participants seek divine permission through divination blocks thrown before a deity; approval leads to ritual spanking with selected implements—such as paddles or whips—determined by a drawn flag symbolizing the type and intensity of strikes, often administered over clothing on the buttocks. This "change of luck" ceremony, documented as drawing thousands since at least 2004, is performed to symbolically transfer bad luck to the implements, with participants reporting improved health and prosperity afterward.^[101]^[102] The practice traces to over a century of folk Taoist customs in southern Taiwan, blending animistic beliefs in luck manipulation with temple mediation, where the physical act serves as a cathartic offering to gods like Mazu or local deities for ritual purification. While not universally observed across Chinese New Year festivities, it persists as a localized expression of ceremonial corporal intervention for existential renewal, distinct from everyday discipline. No peer-reviewed anthropological studies quantify its efficacy, but participant testimonies and temple records affirm its cultural endurance amid modernization.^[101]^[103] In broader Asian contexts, such as historical Chinese imperial or scholarly traditions, corporal methods like stick-beating (zhang) featured in penal rituals but lacked the luck-altering ceremonial focus seen in Taiwan; these were punitive rather than auspicious. Middle Eastern traditions, influenced by Islamic hudud prescriptions, emphasize flogging (jald) in judicial or penitential rites—typically on the back for offenses like adultery—but documentation of buttocks-specific spanking in ceremonial luck or purification contexts remains absent, with practices aligning more toward disciplinary enforcement than festive symbolism.^[104]^[105]

European and Folk Customs

In Central European folk traditions, particularly in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and parts of Hungary, Easter Monday features the pomlázka ritual, where males wield braided willow switches to lightly strike females on the legs or posterior. This practice, rooted in pre-Christian pagan customs symbolizing spring renewal and fertility, is intended to impart vitality and health, with the willow's association with flexibility and life believed to transfer youthfulness.^[106]^[107] Participants decorate the switches with ribbons, and in exchange for the symbolic whipping, women traditionally offer painted eggs, sweets, or small monetary gifts, reinforcing communal bonds during the holiday.^[108] A related custom, known as śmigus-dyngus or wet Monday, prevails in Poland and extends to some Ukrainian and Lithuanian communities, combining the switching with dousing women with water or perfume to invoke purification and fertility blessings. Originating from Slavic folklore tied to seasonal rebirth, the ritual persists predominantly in rural areas, though urban observance has waned amid modern sensitivities. Historical accounts trace these practices to medieval times, with documentation in 15th-century Polish chronicles describing similar Easter Monday switchings as communal rites.^[109] In northern Germany, the island of Borkum maintained the Klaasohm festival until 2024, involving young men striking women's buttocks with inflated cow horns during a procession honoring a folk saint, a custom dating back centuries but discontinued following complaints of discomfort and evolving social norms. Such ceremonial uses of light corporal contact underscore a broader European folk motif of ritual switching for warding off misfortune or ensuring prosperity, distinct from disciplinary spanking, though both draw from shared cultural reservoirs of physical symbolism in rites of passage.^[110]

Indigenous North American Practices

In traditional Indigenous North American societies, child discipline typically eschewed corporal punishment such as spanking, favoring methods that preserved relational bonds and encouraged self-regulation through observation, storytelling, and natural consequences. Anthropological accounts indicate that parents and extended kin modeled desired behaviors, allowing children to learn via imitation and community feedback rather than physical correction, as physical force was believed to foster rebellion or disrupt harmony.^[111]^[112] Extended family members often handled discipline to avoid straining parent-child attachments, employing verbal guidance, shaming within the group, or withdrawal of privileges instead of hitting. For instance, among many tribes, oral traditions and narratives served as primary tools for imparting moral lessons, reinforcing values like interdependence and autonomy without resort to pain infliction.^[113]^[114] Ritual contexts, such as vision quests or initiation rites, occasionally involved physical endurance tests for adolescents—enduring fasting, isolation, or communal challenges—but these were not punitive spankings aimed at correction and lacked the domestic, parental character of spanking. No ethnographic evidence supports spanking as a ceremonial practice; pre-colonial sources describe discipline as holistic and non-violent, contrasting sharply with European-introduced corporal methods in boarding schools post-1879.^[115]^[116] Variations existed across tribes; while some Plains or Woodland groups reportedly tolerated mild physical redirection in extreme cases, the predominant pattern across North American Indigenous cultures prioritized non-physical approaches, viewing physical punishment as counterproductive to communal resilience and individual agency.^[63]

Empirical Effects on Children

Evidence Supporting Short-Term Compliance and Behavioral Correction

Laboratory experiments and randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that spanking, when used as a disciplinary tactic for defiance in children aged 2 to 6 years, significantly increases immediate compliance rates. In studies by Roberts, spanking raised compliance from 23% to 70%, comparable to room isolation (21% to 72%) and superior to restraint (18% to 52%) or child-release techniques (24% to 57%), with effect sizes of d = 1.73 against no backup discipline and d = 3.39 against no-treatment controls.^[9] Meta-analyses of disciplinary outcomes further support spanking's short-term efficacy for behavioral correction, particularly when applied conditionally as a backup after milder tactics like reasoning or time-out fail. Larzelere's review of 38 studies found that nonabusive spanking led to immediate desistance of punished behaviors in all 10 relevant experiments, with better outcomes than 10 of 13 alternative tactics for reducing noncompliance and antisocial behavior in defiant toddlers and preschoolers.^[117]^[9] A 2005 meta-analysis by Larzelere comparing physical punishment to alternatives across 26 studies confirmed equivalent or superior short-term effects on compliance for this age group, though benefits diminish with predominant or severe use.^[82] Even reviews emphasizing long-term risks acknowledge spanking's capacity for prompt behavioral suppression. Gershoff's 2002 meta-analysis of 88 studies reported a large effect size (ES = 1.13) for immediate compliance following corporal punishment, based on consistent findings of children desisting from misbehavior in the moment, though three studies noted subsequent increases and two decreases in compliance. Parent-training research, such as Day and Roberts (1983), similarly showed physical punishment effective for instant obedience in oppositional children when integrated into broader programs.^[83]^[117] These effects align with operant conditioning principles, where the aversive stimulus of spanking rapidly suppresses targeted defiance, especially in high-distress scenarios like safety violations, outperforming verbal methods alone for short-term correction. Optimal results occur with limited swats on clothed buttocks, avoiding anger or escalation, and prioritizing verbal reinforcement of rules.^[9]^[83] Such targeted application minimizes risks while leveraging spanking's immediacy for scenarios where delay could reinforce misbehavior.^[82]

Longitudinal Studies on Potential Harms and Their Limitations

A 2016 meta-analysis by Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor, synthesizing data from over 160,000 children across 75 studies including multiple longitudinal designs, reported small but consistent associations between spanking and 13 adverse outcomes, such as increased aggression, antisocial behavior, mental health issues, and lower cognitive ability in later years, with no positive effects identified.^[118] Similarly, a 2022 longitudinal analysis using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, tracking over 3,000 U.S. children from birth to age 9, found that spanking at ages 3 and 5 predicted poorer social competence at age 9, even after adjusting for some covariates like maternal education and prior child behavior.^[119] A 2024 longitudinal study of kindergarteners, following 1,068 children from ages 5-6 to 7-8 using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten data, linked spanking to declines in approaches to learning, including attentiveness and task persistence, attributing this to potential modeling of aggression.^[120] These studies often rely on parent or teacher reports of spanking frequency and outcomes, with effect sizes typically small (e.g., odds ratios around 1.1-1.5 for behavioral risks), and they frequently aggregate mild spanking with harsher corporal punishment without distinguishing severity or context.^[121] Critics, including Larzelere and colleagues, contend that such designs suffer from endogeneity bias, where defiant or aggressive children elicit more spanking, inflating apparent causal links without proper controls for bidirectional influences or child-specific traits.^[122] Reanalyses using fixed-effects models on longitudinal datasets, which account for unobserved child and family heterogeneity, show that spanking's associations with externalizing problems (e.g., from age 18 months to 11 years) largely attenuate or reverse when conditioning on prior behaviors, suggesting no net harm—and potential benefits in normative, conditional use—compared to alternatives like non-physical punishment alone.^[123] Methodological limitations extend to reliance on retrospective self-reports prone to social desirability bias, especially post-anti-spanking policy shifts, and failure to parse spanking from abusive physical discipline, which conflates distinct practices.^[85] A 2024 review reconciling contradictory meta-analyses of controlled longitudinal studies emphasized that while some early reviews claimed universal harms, refined causal inference methods reveal spanking's effects explain minimal outcome variance (often under 1%), overshadowed by confounders like socioeconomic status and parenting warmth.^[8] Larzelere and Baumrind further argue that injunctions against all spanking lack support from evidence isolating customary, non-abusive applications, where outcomes align with or exceed those of spanking-avoidant groups when integrated with reasoning.^[124] These critiques underscore the need for culturally sensitive, context-specific analyses, as cross-national longitudinal data (e.g., from Sweden post-1979 ban) show no clear reductions in youth violence attributable to bans alone.^[125]

Role of Cultural Normativeness and Confounding Factors

Cultural normativeness refers to the hypothesis that the effects of spanking on children depend on its prevalence and acceptance within a given society or subgroup, such that children in normative contexts may interpret parental physical discipline as corrective rather than indicative of rejection or hostility, potentially mitigating adverse outcomes.^[63] Early studies, including those examining differences between European American and African American families in the United States, provided some support for this idea, finding weaker associations between spanking and externalizing behaviors among Black children, where spanking rates were higher (e.g., 85% vs. 50% in White families).^[126] Similarly, cross-national research in countries like China, India, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, and Thailand indicated that perceived normativeness moderated links between physical discipline and child adjustment, with fewer negative effects in higher-prevalence settings.^[63] However, subsequent and more comprehensive analyses have challenged the robustness of the cultural normativeness hypothesis. A 2025 meta-analysis of 69 studies across 92 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), encompassing over 180,000 children, found that spanking was linked to exclusively negative outcomes—such as increased aggression, antisocial behavior, and mental health issues—regardless of cultural prevalence, contradicting predictions of attenuation in normative contexts.^[127] Longitudinal data from diverse samples, including U.S. cohorts, similarly showed consistent associations between spanking and poorer executive functioning or behavioral problems across racial groups, with effect sizes unaffected by ethnic normativeness (e.g., odds ratios for aggression around 1.2-1.5 in both Black and White children).^[80] Critics of the hypothesis argue that apparent moderation often stems from unmeasured confounders rather than true cultural buffering, and that anti-spanking biases in Western academia may undervalue evidence from non-Western contexts where physical discipline aligns with communal child-rearing norms.^[128] Confounding factors further complicate causal inferences in spanking research, as studies frequently fail to fully disentangle spanking from co-occurring variables like socioeconomic disadvantage, parental stress, preexisting child temperament, or overall harsh parenting styles. For instance, families using spanking often exhibit lower maternal education (e.g., <20% college-educated in high-spanking U.S. subgroups) and higher rates of domestic conflict, which independently predict child aggression and cognitive delays.^[129] Analyses controlling for these—via propensity score matching or fixed-effects models—often reduce or eliminate spanking's apparent effects; a 2024 review highlighted residual confounding in standard ANCOVA approaches, where unadjusted odds ratios for behavioral problems (e.g., 1.5-2.0) shrink to near-null after accounting for baseline child conduct issues.^[8]^[83] Additional confounders include parental warmth and consistency, which meta-analyses show interact with spanking: isolated, mild instances in otherwise supportive homes (prevalent in 70-80% of normative U.S. spanking cases) correlate with short-term compliance without long-term harm, whereas frequent or angry applications—often conflated in aggregate data—amplify risks.^[48] Cross-cultural studies underscore this, noting that in Singapore, where 80% of parents report normative physical discipline, associations with adjustment problems weaken when controlling for family cohesion and child age at first exposure (typically under 5 years).^[62] Failure to stratify by these factors, as seen in many longitudinal designs, likely overestimates causality, with simulations indicating up to 50% of observed links attributable to omitted variables like genetic heritability of aggression (estimated at 40-60%).^[130] Rigorous designs emphasizing instrumental variable approaches or twin studies are needed to isolate spanking's independent role amid these confounds.

Legal and Policy Landscape

Global Bans and Reform Movements Since 1979

Sweden became the first country to explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children, including by parents in the home, on July 1, 1979, through an amendment to its Children and Parents Code stating that "children are entitled to care, security and a good upbringing" and "children may not be subjected to corporal punishment or any other humiliating treatment."^[131]^[132] The legislation was accompanied by public information campaigns and brochures aimed at shifting parental attitudes toward non-violent discipline.^[133] Following Sweden's lead, other Nordic countries enacted similar prohibitions: Finland in 1983, Norway in 1987 (building on earlier implicit restrictions), and Denmark in 1997.^[77] By the 1990s, bans spread across Europe, with Austria in 1989, Italy in 1996, and Germany in 2000, often influenced by recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which interpreted the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as requiring the elimination of all corporal punishment.^[134] As of April 2025, 68 states worldwide had achieved full prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings, including the home, with Europe leading at nearly universal coverage among Council of Europe members.^[135] Reform movements gained momentum through international advocacy, including the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children launched in 2001, which coordinates NGOs, UN agencies, and governments to promote legal bans and positive parenting alternatives.^[136] In Latin America, countries like Venezuela (2007) and Brazil (2016) adopted prohibitions amid regional human rights commitments, while African nations such as South Africa (2019) and recent adopters like Zambia (2022) and Mauritius (2022) reflect growing momentum, though progress remains uneven with only sporadic bans in Asia until Thailand's full prohibition in 2025.^[77]^[137] In November 2024, eight countries including Panama, Kyrgyzstan, and Uganda pledged to enact total bans, signaling continued diplomatic pressure via forums like the UN Human Rights Council.^[138] Despite these advances, over 120 countries retained legal allowances for parental corporal punishment as of late 2024, highlighting persistent cultural and sovereignty-based resistance to universal reform.^[139]

Retention in Common-Law Countries and Parental Rights Defenses

In common-law jurisdictions including the United States, Canada, Australia, and England and Northern Ireland, parental corporal punishment such as spanking remains legally permissible when deemed reasonable and non-abusive, distinguishing these systems from the outright prohibitions enacted in many civil-law countries since 1979.^[140]^[141]^[142] This retention stems from longstanding common-law precedents affirming parents' authority to administer moderate physical correction for disciplinary purposes, provided it does not cause actual bodily harm, as interpreted through statutes and judicial rulings.^[143]^[144] In the United States, no federal law bans parental spanking, and all 50 states permit it in the home as a form of reasonable discipline, with legal boundaries defined by state child abuse statutes that prohibit injuries like bruises, welts, or lacerations but allow transient discomfort from open-hand methods.^[145] Courts have upheld this practice under the constitutional protection of parental rights to direct child-rearing, as recognized in Supreme Court precedents emphasizing family autonomy absent clear evidence of harm.^[140] Defenses invoke the 14th Amendment's due process clause, arguing that criminalizing non-injurious spanking infringes on fundamental liberty interests without sufficient empirical justification for state intervention, particularly given surveys showing majority adult support for the practice in moderation.^[146] Canada's Criminal Code Section 43 explicitly provides a defense for parents and teachers using "reasonable force" for correction, a provision upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004, which clarified limits such as prohibiting objects, facial blows, or force on children under two or over twelve to prevent degradation or injury.^[141]^[147] This retention reflects judicial balancing of parental authority against child protection, with the Court reasoning that limited, non-trifling force aligns with societal norms and avoids over-criminalizing traditional discipline absent proven long-term detriment.^[148] Reform efforts to repeal Section 43 have failed, citing risks to family privacy and the lack of causal evidence linking moderate spanking to broader harms when culturally normative.^[149] Australia maintains legality across all states and territories via common-law allowances for "reasonable" chastisement, supplemented by statutes in some jurisdictions like New South Wales, where parental force is defensible unless it constitutes assault causing harm.^[142]^[150] Parental rights defenses emphasize the federated system's deference to family decision-making, arguing that bans overlook evidence of short-term behavioral benefits and could disproportionately burden low-income or culturally diverse households reliant on physical correction.^[151] In England and Northern Ireland, the common-law defense of "reasonable punishment" permits smacking without wounding or grievous harm, a doctrine preserved despite bans in Scotland and Wales since 2019 and 2022, respectively, as parliamentary votes have rejected full prohibition to safeguard parental discretion.^[143]^[152] Advocates for retention highlight the absence of randomized controlled trials proving bans reduce abuse rates, positing that eroding this defense invites subjective prosecutions undermining family sovereignty, a concern echoed in 2004 House of Lords rejection of a smacking ban by a 250-75 margin.^[153] Across these jurisdictions, defenses pivot on first-principles of subsidiarity—resolving discipline within families before state involvement—and empirical critiques of anti-spanking studies, which often confound correlation with causation due to unmeasured variables like pre-existing behavioral issues.^[154] Retention persists amid international pressure, as common-law systems prioritize evidentiary thresholds over precautionary bans, with no observed spikes in child maltreatment post-attempted reforms elsewhere.^[155]

Recent Developments and Enforcement Challenges (2020-2025)

Between 2020 and 2025, several countries enacted comprehensive bans on corporal punishment of children, including spanking in the home, advancing a global trend initiated by Sweden in 1979. Japan prohibited all forms in 2020, South Korea followed in 2021, Zambia and Mauritius in 2022, Laos in 2023, and Tajikistan in 2024, with Thailand becoming the 68th nation to impose a full ban in March 2025. In November 2024, eight additional countries—Burundi, Czechia, Gambia, Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Uganda—pledged to eliminate corporal punishment entirely, targeting reforms in schools and homes. These developments reflect commitments under international frameworks like the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, though implementation varies by jurisdiction.^[77]^[156]^[138] In the United States, where parental rights to mild physical discipline remain protected under common-law traditions in all 50 states for home use, school-level policies showed mixed evolution. As of 2024, corporal punishment remained legal in public schools across 17 states and practiced in 14, primarily in the South, with disproportionate application to Black students and those with disabilities documented in federal data. Florida enacted a law in August 2025 permitting parental opt-in for school-administered spanking where districts allow it, positioning the state among 14 permitting such measures. Federally, the Protecting Our Students in Schools Act, introduced in 2025, sought to prohibit corporal punishment in schools receiving federal funds, including acts like paddling, but faced opposition amid debates over local autonomy. A April 2025 executive order under President Trump rescinded prior guidance addressing racial disparities in discipline, emphasizing "common-sense" policies without altering corporal punishment's legal status, which critics claimed indirectly bolstered its retention despite no explicit authorization.^[88]^[157]^[158]^[159] Enforcement of bans, particularly in private homes, has proven challenging across jurisdictions due to the concealed nature of family discipline and reliance on self-reported data or third-party complaints. In countries with longstanding prohibitions like Sweden, prosecution rates for violations remain low—fewer than 10 cases annually in recent decades—despite heightened public awareness and mandatory reporting laws, with child abuse mortality rates stable but not demonstrably reduced by the ban alone. WHO analyses indicate that post-ban prevalence of corporal punishment either declines modestly, stabilizes, or increases in some nations, attributing persistence to entrenched cultural norms where up to 55% of adults in surveys endorse physical discipline for compliance. Studies highlight confounding factors, including socioeconomic stressors and alternative reporting biases, which inflate perceived abuse without distinguishing mild spanking from severe harm; for instance, Canadian data post-1990s reforms show no clear decline in substantiated maltreatment linked to bans. In the U.S., where home spanking is unregulated federally, enforcement hinges on child protective services investigations, often triggered by anonymous tips, leading to resource strain and accusations of overreach in low-risk cases amid cultural divides—only 18% of adults perceive broad support for federal school bans.^[6]^[160]^[161]^[162]

Alternatives and Comparative Effectiveness

Non-Physical Discipline Techniques

Non-physical discipline techniques encompass strategies such as time-outs, positive reinforcement, and logical consequences, which seek to modify child behavior through removal of privileges, rewards for compliance, or outcomes directly tied to the misbehavior, respectively, without employing physical force. These methods emphasize teaching self-regulation and accountability, drawing from behavioral principles where contingencies shape conduct. Empirical support varies by technique, with randomized trials and meta-analyses indicating short-term efficacy in reducing disruptive behaviors, though long-term outcomes depend on consistent application and parental training.^[163] Time-outs involve temporarily isolating a child from reinforcing stimuli following misbehavior, typically for one minute per year of age, to interrupt the action and allow reflection. A meta-analysis of 24 studies, including six randomized controlled trials, found strong causal evidence for time-outs in decreasing noncompliant and aggressive behaviors, with effect sizes demonstrating immediate compliance gains comparable to or exceeding other interventions. This holds across diverse populations, including those with adverse childhood experiences, where time-outs integrated into parent training programs yielded no evidence of harm and sustained behavioral improvements over 6-12 months. However, effectiveness diminishes without clear implementation, such as consistent duration and calm enforcement, and some observational data suggest overuse may foster avoidance rather than internalization of rules.^[163]^[164] Positive reinforcement entails providing immediate praise, tokens, or privileges contingent on desirable actions to increase their frequency, rooted in operant conditioning paradigms. Systematic reviews of classroom and home-based applications report moderate to large effect sizes in enhancing prosocial behaviors and reducing disruptions, with behavior-specific praise alone boosting engagement by 20-30% in controlled settings. Parent training programs incorporating reinforcement, such as those evaluated in over 77 studies, show sustained reductions in conduct problems when combined with antecedent strategies like clear expectations. Limitations arise in high-need children, where inconsistent delivery or preference for negative attention can undermine gains, necessitating tailored intensity.^[165]^[166]^[167] Logical consequences impose outcomes logically linked to the infraction, such as cleaning up a mess after destructive play, to illustrate cause-effect without adult-imposed unrelated penalties. Experimental studies with children aged 4-8 indicate these are perceived as fairer and more effective than arbitrary punishments for deterring repetition, with self-reports showing higher acceptance and behavioral adjustment rates. Unlike natural consequences, which occur independently (e.g., hunger from refusing food), logical ones require parental structuring but lack large-scale longitudinal trials confirming superiority over other non-physical methods; small-scale evaluations suggest they promote empathy when explained, yet fail in severe defiance without reinforcement pairings.^[168]^[169] Comparative analyses of non-physical tactics reveal no consistent edge over mild spanking in curbing antisocial behavior in community samples, with one study of 26 reports finding equivalent effect sizes after covariate adjustment, highlighting that efficacy hinges more on parental warmth and consistency than technique type alone. In clinical contexts, integrated programs blending these methods achieve 50-70% reductions in externalizing problems, but real-world adherence challenges limit population-level impacts.^[170]

Empirical Comparisons with Spanking Outcomes

A meta-analysis of 26 studies examining child outcomes found that conditional spanking—defined as mild physical punishment administered only after a child defiantly resists milder disciplinary tactics—produced effect sizes favoring it over 10 of 13 alternative tactics, including time-out, reasoning, and grounding, particularly in reducing immediate noncompliance and antisocial behavior.^[82] In randomized controlled trials comparing back-up spanking (used for persistent defiance) to non-physical responses like child-release timeouts, spanking resulted in significantly lower rates of noncompliance, with effect sizes indicating greater effectiveness in 2- to 6-year-olds.^[170] These comparisons controlled for within-study variations, revealing spanking's short-term advantages in enforcing compliance where alternatives alone failed, though long-term data remained limited in these designs.^[9] Longitudinal comparisons adjusting for confounders such as family socioeconomic status and baseline child behavior showed no significant differences in outcomes like aggression or mental health between customary spanking and non-physical methods like privilege removal or verbal reprimands.^[125] A 2024 review reconciling prior contradictory findings emphasized that studies isolating normative, non-abusive spanking from harsher punishment reported comparable or superior behavioral corrections with spanking versus alternatives, attributing discrepancies in anti-spanking literature to methodological issues like retrospective self-reports and failure to distinguish spanking types or sequences.^[8] For instance, in defiant children unresponsive to initial non-physical tactics, adding conditional spanking reduced antisocial behavior more than escalating non-physical measures alone, without evidence of elevated long-term risks when frequency was low (e.g., less than twice weekly).^[123] Critiques of broader anti-spanking meta-analyses highlight their aggregation of spanking with abusive corporal punishment and neglect of direct comparisons, inflating apparent harms while overlooking efficacy data from controlled designs.^[85] Recent variance partitioning analyses indicate spanking accounts for under 1% of variance in externalizing or internalizing problems, suggesting minimal causal impact relative to unmeasured familial factors, though this does not preclude comparative benefits in targeted use.^[171] In high-defiance scenarios, alternatives like positive reinforcement showed weaker compliance gains without physical backup, underscoring spanking's role as a conditionally effective escalator rather than a standalone or inferior method.^[84] Overall, evidence from comparative studies supports spanking's noninferiority—and occasional superiority—for behavioral correction when integrated judiciously with non-physical approaches, challenging blanket assertions of universal detriment.^[172]

Critiques of Alternatives in High-Risk Environments

In environments characterized by high child defiance, low socioeconomic status, or elevated risk of antisocial behavior—such as single-parent households or those with parental stress—non-physical discipline alternatives like time-outs and verbal reasoning often demonstrate limited efficacy due to children's impaired impulse control and inconsistent parental implementation. Studies indicate that defiant preschoolers, prevalent in such settings, frequently refuse to comply with time-outs, resulting in prolonged confrontations or escalation rather than behavioral correction; for instance, compliance rates post-time-out hovered around 60% in controlled evaluations of disruptive youth.^[173]^[174] Empirical comparisons reveal that mild, conditional spanking used as a backup to ineffective non-physical tactics outperforms many alternatives in reducing noncompliance among 2- to 6-year-olds exhibiting defiance, a demographic overrepresented in high-risk families. A 2010 randomized trial found backup spanking led to lower antisocial behavior than 10 of 13 non-physical methods, including time-outs and privilege removal, particularly when initial milder tactics failed, as defiance undermines self-regulated responses required for alternatives to succeed.^[170]^[123] This approach conditions cooperation with less intrusive disciplines over time, reducing overall spanking frequency, whereas standalone non-physical strategies in chaotic environments falter from inconsistent enforcement amid parental fatigue or resource constraints.^[85] Children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or ADHD, conditions correlating with high-risk backgrounds, further challenge non-physical methods, as these youth exhibit heightened resistance to reasoning or isolation tactics without immediate, tangible consequences. Research on pathologically defiant children underscores that verbal reprimands or positive reinforcement alone yield marginal results, often necessitating structured escalation to enforce boundaries, where backup physical correction has shown superior short-term compliance gains without the relational rupture of unchecked escalation to harsher measures.^[175]^[9] In low-income contexts, where spanking persists at higher rates due to perceived immediacy, alternatives' reliance on sustained parental vigilance proves impractical, potentially exacerbating cycles of defiance absent viable enforcement mechanisms.^[176]

Debates and Controversies

Child Welfare vs. Family Autonomy

The debate over spanking centers on the tension between safeguarding child welfare through restrictions on physical discipline and upholding family autonomy, which prioritizes parental authority in child-rearing decisions free from undue state interference. Advocates for child welfare argue that spanking, even when mild, correlates with adverse outcomes such as increased aggression, antisocial behavior, and mental health problems, positioning it as a form of harm warranting legal limits or bans to protect vulnerable children.^[121] This perspective draws from meta-analyses aggregating decades of data, which report small but consistent associations between spanking frequency and negative developmental effects across cultures, though causation remains debated due to reliance on correlational designs.^[118] Critics of expansive child welfare interventions, emphasizing family autonomy, contend that reasonable corporal punishment—defined as open-handed swats on clothed buttocks for defiance in young children—does not equate to abuse and can enhance compliance when used conditionally alongside other methods, without long-term harm.^[8] Longitudinal reviews highlight methodological shortcomings in anti-spanking research, including failure to distinguish disciplinary spanking from harsh or abusive practices, same-source reporting biases where parent and child perceptions overlap, and confounding factors like pre-existing family dysfunction that may drive both spanking and poor outcomes.^[85] Recent analyses of controlled studies, including randomized trials, indicate near-zero net effects on externalizing behaviors or cognitive development when spanking is implemented judiciously, challenging blanket harm narratives and suggesting overgeneralization risks policy overreach.^[171] In the United States, family autonomy prevails legally, with parental spanking permitted in all 50 states provided it constitutes reasonable discipline rather than abuse causing injury, reflecting a tradition rooted in common-law parental rights and substantiated by surveys showing 70-80% of parents view occasional spanking as acceptable.^[177] This stance contrasts with international trends influenced by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which frames physical punishment as a rights violation, yet proponents argue such conventions undermine subsidiarity—the principle that families, not distant bureaucracies, best assess child needs—and could erode privacy in the home.^[178] Empirical support for autonomy includes evidence from high-risk environments where non-physical alternatives alone fail to curb severe misbehavior, implying selective physical correction may serve welfare when tailored by informed parents.^[179] Philosophically, the debate invokes causal realism: while aggregate data flags risks, individual-level factors like parental intent, child temperament, and cultural context mediate effects, favoring decentralized decision-making over uniform prohibitions that ignore heterogeneous family dynamics.^[180] Source credibility plays a role, as much anti-spanking scholarship emerges from institutions predisposed against traditional discipline, potentially amplifying weak associations while downplaying null findings or positive compliance data from pro-autonomy studies.^[8] Ultimately, unresolved evidentiary gaps underscore the need for nuanced policy respecting empirical limits, lest child welfare pretexts justify intrusive surveillance eroding familial sovereignty.

Methodological Flaws in Anti-Spanking Research

Critics of anti-spanking research, including developmental psychologist Robert E. Larzelere, argue that prominent studies often confound mild disciplinary spanking—typically defined as open-handed swats on the buttocks—with more severe forms of physical punishment, such as beatings or face-slapping, thereby overstating risks associated with the former.^[85] For instance, Elizabeth Gershoff's 2002 meta-analysis included measures of overly severe corporal punishment from seven studies on face-slapping and three on beatings, which Larzelere contends distorts conclusions about normative spanking practices used for immediate compliance in defiant children aged 2-6.^[181] This lumping ignores contextual differences, where disciplinary spanking is brief and conditional on prior non-physical tactics failing, unlike abusive acts that lack such boundaries.^[9] A second prevalent issue is the failure to adequately control for preexisting child behavior problems, leading to spurious correlations misinterpreted as causal harm from spanking. Longitudinal studies frequently observe that parents spank more in response to ongoing defiance or aggression, yet anti-spanking analyses rarely adjust for these baseline traits, resulting in reverse causation where child misbehavior predicts both spanking and later outcomes.^[85] Larzelere's meta-analyses of conditional spanking, which statistically control for prior noncompliance, find it more effective than alternatives like timeouts for high-defiance cases, with randomized trials showing increased compliance without long-term detriment.^[8] In contrast, uncontrolled designs in Gershoff's work attribute outcomes like antisocial behavior to spanking without disentangling whether dysfunctional family environments or unmeasured confounders drive both.^[121] Additional flaws include same-source bias, where parents or children report both discipline methods and behavioral outcomes, inflating associations due to shared perceptual errors, and overreliance on retrospective self-reports from adults, which are susceptible to memory distortion and current ideological influences.^[9] Cross-sectional studies exacerbate this by lacking temporal order to infer causality. Effect sizes in these reviews are typically small—correlations around 0.10-0.13, explaining less than 2% of variance in outcomes—insufficient to warrant blanket prohibitions when compared to stronger predictors like socioeconomic status or parenting consistency.^[20] Recent multi-method meta-analyses reconciling divergent reviews confirm that methodological rigor, such as propensity score matching for confounders, diminishes or eliminates spanking's purported negative effects on externalizing problems.^[8] These shortcomings contribute to contradictory literature reviews: Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor's 2016 analysis reported uniform harms, while Larzelere's controlled comparisons highlight benefits in specific contexts, underscoring how unadjusted correlations perpetuate policy advocacy despite causal ambiguities.^[182] Such biases may stem from institutional pressures in academia favoring anti-corporal punishment narratives, as evidenced by selective citation patterns in advocacy-oriented syntheses over balanced empirical scrutiny.^[183]

Societal Impacts of Declining Acceptance

The prohibition of parental spanking in Sweden, enacted in 1979 as the world's first national ban on all corporal punishment, has been associated with substantial increases in reported child maltreatment and youth violence rather than the expected declines. Official statistics reveal a 22-fold rise in alleged child abuse cases and a 24-fold increase in criminal assaults committed by minors from 1981 to 2010, trends that persisted despite heightened public awareness campaigns against physical discipline.^[125] These escalations occurred alongside a failure to reduce severe or frequent physical punishment, as parental attitudes toward milder spanking showed minimal change post-ban.^[184] Comparative analyses indicate Sweden's physical child abuse rates were 49% higher than in the United States during the 1980s, challenging claims that bans inherently curb familial violence.^[184] Such patterns suggest that declining acceptance of spanking may erode effective disciplinary tools, contributing to elevated juvenile delinquency. Longitudinal reviews of criminal records from jurisdictions with spanking bans find that youth raised without legal parental options for physical correction exhibit higher involvement in crime compared to peers in permissive environments, potentially due to reliance on less authoritative alternatives that fail to instill long-term compliance.^[185] In Sweden, assaults against minors by other minors surged five- to six-fold following the ban, correlating with broader societal shifts toward state-mediated child welfare interventions over family autonomy.^[186] This has led to expanded social services caseloads, with investigations of maltreatment allegations rising dramatically, though mortality from abuse remained low, indicating possible over-reporting or displacement of unreported discipline into criminalized categories.^[187] Broader societal repercussions include strained family structures, as bans often coincide with intensified monitoring by child protection agencies, fostering dependency on external authority and diminishing parental confidence in boundary-setting. Empirical critiques note that while anti-spanking advocacy emphasizes harm reduction, bans have not demonstrably lowered intergenerational violence transmission, instead correlating with persistent or worsening behavioral outcomes in high-risk households where non-physical methods prove insufficient.^[188] These developments underscore methodological challenges in attributing causality solely to spanking's absence, as confounding factors like cultural attitude shifts predate legislation, yet the data highlight unintended costs in youth socialization and public safety.^[125]

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Spanking - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Originating in the 1660s with uncertain roots, the word means very large or fine and later also refers to a quick, springing movement; as a verb, it denotes ...
[18]
The association between spanking and physical abuse of young ...
Spanking is a form of physical punishment that involves hitting or slapping ... A focus on the definition of corporal punishment. Child Abuse & Neglect ...
[19]
What does the evidence tell us about physical punishment of children?
A meta-analysis involving over 160,000 children found that physical punishment can carry the risk of physical abuse (causing a physical injury) and can have ...
[20]
[PDF] Spanking, corporal punishment and negative long-term outcomes
As noted in the first lines of this paper spanking and CP are not syn- onymous. Spanking generally is used to refer to relatively mild physical punishment ...
[21]
When Does Discipline Become Abuse? - LawInfo.com
Dec 21, 2023 · Corporal punishment (spanking) is legal in all 50 states as long as it not excessive. Factors used to determine excessiveness include the ...Is Corporal Punishment Legal? · What Do State Laws Say...
[22]
Corporal Punishment | Texas Law Help
Nov 2, 2022 · Physical discipline of a child is legal in Texas and does not necessarily constitute child abuse. It is not unusual for parents to disagree on how to ...
[23]
Can You Legally Spank Your Child in California? - Eisner Gorin LLP
Sep 28, 2023 · Under California Penal Code 273d PC, child abuse is defined as inflicting on a child "any cruel or inhuman corporal punishment or an injury ...
[24]
Is Spanking Child Abuse? - Family Law Attorney
The courts can find that spanking, even with a belt, is reasonable discipline if there's no evidence of physical injury or harm.
[25]
Spanking and Child Development: We Know Enough Now To Stop ...
Spanking, which in this article means hitting a child on the bottom with an open hand, is a common parenting practice around the world. Half of the children in ...
[26]
Corporal Punishment One-pager | Prevent Child Abuse America
In fact, findings indicate that children who are physically punished (i.e., spanked) have similarly negative outcomes to children that are physically abused.
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Ancient Egyptian police and punishment - The Past
Stab wounds found on Ancient Egyptian skeletons suggest corporal punishment was used at the New Kingdom site of Amarna. The excavations in the desert at ...
[28]
Judicial Corporal Punishment: An Update Research Paper - IvyPanda
Mar 13, 2024 · Wilson (1999) found that instances of educational and judicial corporal punishment may be found in the earliest annals of human civilization, in ...
[29]
The Evolution Of Corporal Punishment In Education
Oct 29, 2021 · This paper explores the subject of how corporal punishment within schools has evolved over the past 2500-3000 years with a focus on Ancient Greece, Ancient ...<|separator|>
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Corporal Punishment in the Ancient School - ResearchGate
The sketch of corporal punishment within the ancient school presented in this chapter describes briefly the various ways that physical pain was inflicted upon ...Abstract · References (21) · Recommended Publications
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Corporal Punishment, Authority, and Obedience in the Roman ...
Oct 31, 2023 · The Roman family and household of the Republic and early Principate were units bounded not by affection, but by the limits of the father's power.
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Family Values in Ancient Rome - The Fathom Archive
Some Romans argued for the positive effect of corporal punishment of children, but in the surviving texts the more common view is that children should not be ...
[33]
Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but ... - Bible Hub
Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.
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Proverbs 23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child - Bible Hub
New International Version Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. New Living Translation<|separator|>
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What does it mean to “spare the rod, spoil the child”? - Got Questions
Feb 19, 2025 · Spare the rod, spoil the child is not found in Scripture, but Proverbs 13:24 expresses a similar thought: “He who spares the rod hates his son, ...
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Is the Rod of Proverbs Literal or Metaphorical? - The Cripplegate
Sep 11, 2019 · God has prescribed the rod of discipline. It's a great favor to the child itself (for years to come) and to that society in which the child lives.
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Is Spanking Biblical? - Focus on the Family
Sep 17, 2025 · It's a misquote of Proverbs 13:24 which states “whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
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[PDF] the impact of Enlightenment theories on child discipline
Aug 8, 2019 · In medieval Europe, obedience was commonly enforced with brutality and children were subjected to harsh discipline (Stone, 1977 p.193).
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Corporal Punishment In Medieval Monasteries, Part 1: Oblates
Dec 6, 2021 · In this article, I will discuss how monastic rules instructed abbots and novice masters to use corporal punishment on oblates.
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Historical Essays: Childhood in Medieval England
The Church led the way in making distinctions between childhood and adulthood. It came to regard children under the age of puberty as too immature to commit ...<|separator|>
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[PDF] LOCKE AND ROUSSEAU: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
This paper will explore John. Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's thoughts on early childhood education, first by considering each philosopher separately, then.
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childhood in the enlightenment - The Bildungsroman Project
Until the Enlightenment period, the “primary goal of parenting was to discipline and break the will of a child via physical means” (Foyster and Marten 3).
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[PDF] Changes in society's perception of corporal punishment
Dec 16, 2022 · Corporal punishment, once seen as normal, is now viewed as cruel. The 20th century saw an anti-corporal punishment campaign, leading to its ...
[44]
[PDF] The American School Discipline Debate and the Persistence of ...
Most nineteenth-century Americans accepted corporal punishment in their schools but some educators, parents, and jurists doubted its effectiveness. In his ...
[45]
History and Mystery | Spanked - Oxford Academic
The history of children and how spanking was influenced by historical perspectives on children reveal seeds of spanking justifications.
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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON PARENTING - Sage Publishing
He also warned parents of the dangers of coddling (giving too much affection to) infants, because he was convinced it resulted in “learned invalidism.” Watson ...
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Chapter 12 History of and Progress in the Movement to End ... - Brill
Nov 5, 2018 · By 1905, the reliance on corporal punishment in the classroom had declined. Several major cities, such as New York, Chicago, Baltimore, ...
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Physical punishment of children: lessons from 20 years of research
In one such study, an average of eight spankings in a single session was needed to elicit compliance, and there was “no support for the necessity of the ...
[49]
Navigating the spectrum of child discipline through the generations
According to a Monitoring the Future study, spanking has declined in the United States from 50% to 35% between 1993 and 2017.
[50]
What Does the Bible Say About Corporal Punishment?
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.
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Is corporal punishment biblical? | Verse By Verse Ministry International
Jul 25, 2023 · PROV. 23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die. PROV. 23:14 You shall strike him with ...
[52]
HEBREW WORD STUDY – SPARE THE ROD - Chaim Bentorah
Jul 3, 2018 · Proverbs 13:24: “He that spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him early.” Proverbs 23:13: “Withhold not correction from the child.
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Does Judaism advise spanking a disobedient child?
The Bible says yes. The "rebellious son" is to be put to death by stoning (Deut. 21:18-21), and Proverbs (13:24) teaches: "He who spares the rod hates his son."Missing: interpretation | Show results with:interpretation<|separator|>
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How should Christians discipline their children? - Got Questions
Feb 19, 2025 · They won't die if you spank them. Physical discipline may well save them from death” (Proverbs 23:13-14; see also 13:24; 22:15; 20:30) ...
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27 Bible Verses about Physical Punishment - OpenBible.info
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 10 helpful votes. Helpful
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What Does The Quran Say About Hitting Your Child?
Sep 29, 2024 · While the Quran doesn't explicitly address physical punishment, Islamic teachings strongly encourage parents to guide their children with love, patience, and ...Hadith About Hitting Children · How to Discipline a Child in...
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How to Smack Children to Make Them Pray? - Islam Question ...
Jan 29, 2009 · With regard to smacking a child for not praying, it is stipulated that the smacking should be light and should not be painful and should not ...Missing: references | Show results with:references
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How to Discipline Children in Islam - Islam Question & Answer
Oct 4, 2002 · Here is how to discipline children: 1- bring them up to love Allah and His Messenger and to love the teachings of Islam; 2- tell them that Allah has a Paradise ...
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Hitting Children - Discipline or Abuse - IslamicTeachings.org
Feb 19, 2015 · Islam considers hitting the child as a form of discipline and not a form of punishment and show of resentment. 2. If one happens to use physical ...
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Corporal punishment as a public health concern - AfricLaw
Sep 25, 2025 · The report shows that corporal punishment is especially widespread in Africa. In sub–Saharan Africa, 70.6% of children are exposed to it at home ...
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Middle East/North Africa: End Violent Punishment of Children
May 10, 2021 · The MENA region has some of the highest levels of corporal punishment in the world. Surveys have found that more than 90 percent of children ...
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Physical discipline as a normative childhood experience in Singapore
Jun 29, 2023 · This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Singaporean children experiencing parental physical discipline, longitudinal changes in this prevalence,
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Physical Discipline and Children's Adjustment: Cultural ... - NIH
In a separate middle-class sample of professionals in India, 57% reported spanking or slapping their children, and 42% reported engaging in more severe forms of ...
[64]
[PDF] Taibatsu: 'corporal punishment' in Japanese socio-cultural context
Apr 15, 2010 · Hori argues that 'corporal punishment and coercion were formerly part of school education in both Japan and the West but since World War II, ...
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'La Chancla': Flip Flops As A Tool of Discipline : Code Switch - NPR
Nov 4, 2014 · The secret is Hispanic culture, which emphasizes boundaries, developmental growth, and a traditional technique known as La Chancla.
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Commonalities and Differences in Social Norms Related to Corporal ...
Jan 2, 2019 · Survey findings revealed that 63% of parents spanked, albeit the majority seldom or sometimes. Spanking was most frequent among Latinos (73%) and lowest among ...
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Day of the African Child: Afrobarometer survey shows majority ...
Jun 16, 2023 · Support for corporal punishment is the majority view in 28 of 36 African countries surveyed in 2021/2022, approaching nine out of 10 citizens ...
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Africa - End Corporal Punishment of Children
States prohibiting all corporal punishment ; 2022 - Zambia, Mauritius ; 2020 - Seychelles, Guinea ; 2019 - South Africa ; 2015 - Benin ; 2013 - Cabo Verde.
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Colombia prohibits all corporal punishment of children
Aug 17, 2021 · Colombia becomes the 11th Latin American state to prohibit all corporal punishment of children. The Law 2089 of 14 May 2021 amends article ...
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Corporal Punishment of Children in Nine Countries as a Function of ...
Sep 23, 2010 · Overall, boys were more frequently punished corporally than were girls, and mothers used corporal punishment more frequently than did fathers.
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[PDF] Examining the Colonial and Missionary Implications of Corporal ...
Corporal punishment in Kenya, linked to colonial and missionary influences, is defined as physical force to control behavior, and includes caning, slapping, ...
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The reintroduction of corporal punishment in colonial India, 1864 ...
Feb 3, 2020 · Archaic Sovereignty and Colonial Law: The reintroduction of corporal punishment in colonial India, 1864–1909 - Volume 54 Issue 5.
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In a Warning Against Spanking, Some Pediatricians See an Attack ...
Apr 17, 2020 · As I described in my book, there's no evidence of any form of ritualized physical punishment of children in precolonial West African societies ...
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Healing the Trauma of Corporal Punishment in Chinese Families
Jan 9, 2023 · The tradition of corporal discipline has been pervasive across centuries in Chinese households, glorified as some traditional wisdom, and ...
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The 'Rod of Empire': The Debate Over Corporal Punishment in the ...
Jan 22, 2009 · The British Colonial Office sought to limit the severity of corporal punishment and to regulate more closely its use in the colonies.
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MORE HARM THAN GOOD: A SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC ...
By contrast, a consistent body of evidence reveals that more corporal punishment by parents is associated with less long-term compliance and pro-social behavior ...
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Countdown - End Corporal Punishment of Children
Only 15% of the world's children are fully protected in law from all corporal punishment; Governments of 105 states are not currently committed to law reform ...
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Corporal Punishment of Children in Nine Countries as a ... - NIH
Overall, boys were more frequently punished corporally than were girls, and mothers used corporal punishment more frequently than did fathers.
[79]
Spanking has declined in America, study finds, but pediatricians ...
Jul 27, 2020 · Large sample of parents Some 50% of parents reported spanking a child in 1993; By 2017 that number was down to 35%. While excellent news, that ...
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Spanking and executive functioning in US children: A longitudinal ...
This study provides evidence that spanking is associated with lower executive functioning in children, although the associations varied by different EF domains.
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[PDF] Committee of experts on the prevention of violence (ENF-VAE)
Jun 27, 2024 · As of August 2024, 67 states worldwide have achieved prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings, including within the family and 26 more ...
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Comparing child outcomes of physical punishment and alternative ...
This meta-analysis investigates differences between the effect sizes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics for child outcomes in 26 ...
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[PDF] Corporal Punishment by Parents and Associated Child Behaviors ...
Ten of the 11 meta-analyses indicate parental corporal punish- ment is associated with the following undesirable behaviors and experiences: decreased moral ...
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Comparing Child Outcomes of Physical Punishment and Alternative ...
This meta-analysis investigates differences between the effect sizes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics for child outcomes in 26 q.
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Research on Disciplinary Spanking is Misleading
Jan 17, 2017 · Children who were defiant at home and spanked were more likely to get into trouble and fights at school during the next year than those who ...<|separator|>
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V. Prevalence of Corporal Punishment in US Public Schools
Corporal punishment was widely accepted in US public schools in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century. While New Jersey banned corporal ...
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School Corporal Punishment in Global Perspective - PubMed Central
Mar 1, 2018 · Corporal punishment is legally prohibited in schools in 128 countries and allowed in 69 (35%) (Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment ...
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Corporal Punishment in Schools Still Legal in Many States | NEA
May 20, 2024 · As of 2024, corporal punishment is legal in 17 states and practiced in 14. An additional six other states have not expressly prohibited it.
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Secretary's letter to Governors and Chief State School Officers about ...
Jul 23, 2025 · According to the Department's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), over 110,000 students were subject to corporal punishment in school during ...
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Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies
Apr 23, 2025 · The 2023 guidance thus effectively reinstated the practice of weaponizing Title VI to promote an approach to school discipline based on discriminatory equity ...<|separator|>
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Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools: Prevalence, Disparities ...
This decline occurred in large part because 25 states banned corporal punishment from public schools between 1974 and 1994. Yet this pattern of state policy ...
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[PDF] Everything in Moderation: Why Corporal Punishment Can Still Be an ...
Corporal punishment is an effective form of discipline both in the home and in the school. It is important to punish juveniles in a swift and effective way that ...
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Global progress - End Corporal Punishment of Children
Prohibited in all settings; Government committed to full prohibition; Prohibited in some settings; Not fully prohibited in any setting ...
[94]
What Is So Appealing About Being Spanked, Flogged, Dominated ...
Jun 2, 2020 · The main goal of this study was to determine the origins of and reasons for engaging in sexual masochism or submissive behaviors.
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The Association Between Sexual Victimization History and ... - NIH
In a nationally representative U.S. sample, Herbenick et al (2017) found that about 32% of adults reported engaging in spanking during sex, and 15% engaged in ...
[96]
The Psychology of Pain and Pleasure: Understanding BDSM Play
Mar 15, 2024 · Research has found that BDSM practitioners showed no significant differences in levels of psychological distress compared to the general ...
[97]
An Evolutionary Psychological Approach Toward BDSM Interest and ...
May 20, 2024 · Experimental studies on pain administration have found that sexual arousal appears to increase one's threshold for pain (Paterson et al., 2013; ...
[98]
How safe is BDSM? A literature review on fatal outcome in BDSM play
Aug 12, 2021 · Fatal outcomes of BDSM plays are rarer than autoerotic fatalities and natural deaths related to sexual activities.Missing: peer- | Show results with:peer-
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[PDF] Clinical Considerations in Treating BDSM Practitioners: A Review
Jozifkova (2013) provides a useful guideline on how to identify abuse in BDSM rela- tionships. In brief, markers distinguishing BDSM from violence include ...
[100]
Safe, Sane and Consensual: Contemporary Perspectives on ...
This review examines the relevant literature on consent in BDSM, including discussions on safety precautions, consent violations, North American laws ...
[101]
WATCH: Spanking for good luck! Century-old custom draws crowds
Jun 2, 2025 · The ritual, believed to drive away bad luck, has become increasingly popular as the Lunar New Year begins.
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Ring in the new year with a spanking for luck - Corpun
Jan 26, 2004 · Thousands of Taiwanese people have been flocking to a Taoist temple in southern Taiwan during the Chinese New Year holidays to be spanked and whipped to get ...
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Ring in the new year with a spanking for luck - IOL
Taipei - Thousands of Taiwanese people have been flocking to a Taoist temple in southern Taiwan during the Chinese New Year holidays to be spanked and whipped ...
[104]
zhang 杖, beating with the heavy stick (www.chinaknowledge.de)
Aug 26, 2016 · Beating with the heavy stick (zhang 杖) was a common means of corporal punishment in ancient China and belonged to the five capital ...
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Understanding Sharia: The Intersection of Islam and the Law
Dec 17, 2021 · Among them are the hudud punishments, which include stoning, lashing, and amputation. (The Quran never mentions stoning, which is a punishment ...
[106]
The Czech Easter tradition of whipping girls
Apr 2, 2018 · Boys get willow branches, braid them together into whips and decorate them with ribbons to whip girls with for luck and fertility. The word for ...
[107]
Czech Easter Tradition of Pomlázka Explained
Apr 18, 2019 · Well, the pomlázka is really a celebration of fertility. The spanking prevents the women from “drying up” during the rest of the year - that's ...<|separator|>
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Pomlázka: The Most Controversial Czech Easter Tradition - Brno Daily
Apr 19, 2025 · The quaintest and most controversial Czech Easter tradition is without a doubt Pomlázka (from the verb pomladit, “make younger”), which involves the whipping ...
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Coronavirus lockdown spares Czech women an Easter whipping
Apr 13, 2020 · It is an Easter Monday ritual of pagan origin, popular in rural areas. Men go door-to-door, singing a ditty and whipping women's legs and ...Missing: folk | Show results with:folk
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German island to end ritual of spanking women with cow horn - DW
Dec 2, 2024 · A centuries-old tradition in Germany's Borkum in which young men hit women on the buttocks with a cow horn during the Klaasohm festival will be discontinued.
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Pre-Contact education (Native American history) | Research Starters
Discipline was generally marked by an absence of corporal punishment. ... Native American cultureNative American womenVisions and vision quests (Native American ...
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[PDF] Chapter 3 AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE ...
Traditionally, American Indian/Alaska Native children were raised and disciplined not only by their parents but also extended family members and kin, which ...
[113]
Disciplinary and parenting practices among Native American families
Results indicate that despite experiencing historical oppression, NAs still report many disciplinary and other parenting practices contributing to family ...
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[PDF] Native Perspectives on Child Development - NICWA
Indigenous communities throughout the world have always had traditional ways of child-rearing, teaching, and learning that support healthy child development ...
[115]
Physical Punishment and Child Externalizing Behavior
Jul 13, 2019 · While some tribes view spanking a child as falling within the normative practice of discipline, most tribal cultures prefer nonphysical ...
[116]
[PDF] Punishment in Pre-Colonial Indigenous Societies in North America
The sophisticated law ways of indigenous groups in North America is slowly displaced but not replaced by mutated forms of Western law and punishment.
[117]
[PDF] Spanking children: the controversies, findings, and new directions
Corporal punishment by American parents: national data on prevalence, chronicity, severity, and duration, in relation to child and family characteristics.
[118]
Risks of Harm from Spanking Confirmed by Analysis of Five ...
Apr 25, 2016 · The more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents and to experience increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health ...
[119]
Spanking and children's social competence: Evidence from a US ...
Preliminary analyses for the current study showed that about 11 % of children had experienced frequent spanking by the parent respondent, if “frequent” were ...
[120]
Spanking and Children's Approaches to Learning: Estimates from a ...
The harm posed by spanking, considered a non-abusive form of physical punishment, suggests that it is not a harmless practice and adds to the growing evidence ...<|separator|>
[121]
The Strength of the Causal Evidence Against Physical Punishment ...
Gershoff ET, & Grogan-Kaylor A (2016a). Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses. Journal of Family Psychology, 30, 453–469 ...
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Improving Causal Inferences in Meta-analyses of Longitudinal Studies
The methods are illustrated by assessing the impact of spanking on subsequent externalizing problems (child age: 18 months to 11 years).
[123]
Do nonphysical punishments reduce antisocial behavior more than ...
Feb 22, 2010 · On the other hand, Larzelere and Kuhn's meta-analysis[9] found that child outcomes of physical punishment were more adverse than those for ...
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(PDF) Are Spanking Injunctions Scientifically Supported?
Aug 7, 2025 · Robert E. Larzelere and Diana Baumrind Abstract This article summarizes the scientific evidence against spanking bans from the conditional ...
[125]
[PDF] An update on the scientific evidence for and against the legal ...
Jan 19, 2024 · In 2004, the Canadian Supreme Court upheld the right of Canadian parents to use open-handed swats to a child's buttocks to correct.Missing: short- | Show results with:short-
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[PDF] The Special Problem of Cultural Differences in Effects of Corporal ...
Oct 12, 2010 · So corporal punishment is not consistently associated with behavior problems in the same way across all cultural groups; understanding the ...
[127]
Spanking and Other Physical Discipline Lead to ... - NYU Steinhardt
May 6, 2025 · Spanking and Other Physical Discipline Lead to Exclusively Negative Outcomes for Children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. In line with ...Missing: modernization | Show results with:modernization
[128]
[PDF] The Research on Spanking and Its Implications for Intervention
In a study of mothers and their children in China,. India, Italy, Kenya, Philippines, and Thailand, we found that spanking predicted higher aggression.<|control11|><|separator|>
[129]
Physical punishment and child, adolescent, and adult outcomes in low
Dec 20, 2022 · Developmental and educational theories and empirical evidence indicate that physical punishment can compromise children's, adolescents', and ...
[130]
The State of Research on the Effects of Physical Punishment
The other problems are confounding variables (other variables that are associated with punishment and difficult to separate from it), limited outcome measures ...
[131]
On this Day: 40 Years of Prohibition on Disciplinary Corporal ...
Jul 1, 2019 · On this day, July 1, 1979, Sweden became the first country in the world to explicitly prohibit disciplinary corporal punishment of children by their parents.
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Sweden's Children and Parent Code - futurepolicy.org
In 1979, Sweden became the first country in the world to explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment and other humiliating treatment of children.
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The first anti-spanking law in the world. Historical background to the ...
In 1979, Sweden became the first country to prohibit all physical punishment of children, with an information campaign and brochure.
[134]
Timeline of corporal punishment policies. Including international...
Studies conducted in Sweden and Finland, the first two countries to ban corporal punishment in 1979 and 1983 respectively, have shown significant decrease in ...
[135]
Ending corporal punishment of children
To date [April 2025], 68 States worldwide have fully prohibited all corporal punishment of children, with additional member states in the process of legislating ...
[136]
Home - End Corporal Punishment of Children
End Corporal Punishment acts as a catalyst for progress towards universal prohibition and elimination of corporal punishment of children.
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Thailand prohibits all corporal punishment of children!
Mar 31, 2025 · Thailand has achieved full prohibition of corporal punishment of children with the amendment of Section 1567 (2) of the Civil and Commercial Code.
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Eight countries pledge to ban corporal punishment in 'fundamental ...
Nov 7, 2024 · Jordan will create a national action plan on violence against children for 2025-2030; the Gambia will pass a Children's Act and Tanzania has ...
[139]
Eight countries pledge to ban corporal punishment to protect ...
Nov 19, 2024 · Currently only 67 of the 193 UN member countries fully prohibit corporal punishment. Sweden was the first country to ban it in 1979. In the UK, ...
[140]
USA - End Corporal Punishment of Children
Aug 13, 2024 · (Reported in “New state data: Nearly 6,000 students paddled in ... In about 15% of these families, bilateral aggression or violence between the ...
[141]
The “Spanking” Law: Section 43 of the Criminal Code
Feb 1, 2023 · As a result of that decision, it is illegal to use physical force to discipline teenagers or children under the age of two, to use objects – ...Supreme Court of Canada... · Proposals for Reform · Legal Effects of Repealing...
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Is it legal to smack my kid? - CODA Criminal Law
Apr 16, 2025 · It is currently lawful for parents in all states and territories to use 'reasonable' physical punishment to discipline their children.
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The law on smacking children - childlawadvice.org.uk
It is unlawful for a parent or carer to smack their child, except where this amounts to 'reasonable punishment'.What is the law on smacking... · Can a parent be charged with...
[144]
Physical punishment - Law Handbook
Sep 9, 2024 · The common law permits parents and persons in loco parentis to administer moderate and reasonable physical punishment to children in their care.
[145]
Child Discipline Laws by State 2025 - World Population Review
Law > Child Discipline Laws by State 2025. Laws by State. Child Discipline ... Spankings are one form of punishment that is considered exceptional among states.
[146]
Corporal Punishment in America: Most Adults in US Support ...
Apr 21, 2025 · However, leaving evidence of hitting, such as welts, bruises, swelling or lacerations, is illegal and considered child abuse in all states.
[147]
Canada 2004 Supreme Court judgment - End Corporal Punishment
The Court stated that section 43 justifies “minor corrective force of a transitory and trifling nature”, and that it rules out corporal punishment of children ...
[148]
Family – Corporal Punishment - Justice for Children and Youth
Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada allows the use of some physical force if the purpose is for disciplining a child under the age of 18.
[149]
Study of Bill S-251: An Act to Repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code
Dec 1, 2024 · However, Section 43 of the Criminal Code allows parents, caregivers, and teachers to use reasonable force against a child for correction.
[150]
Is smacking your child illegal in Australia? - Lawpoint Lawyers
Rating 5.0 (100) In New South Wales, you are not allowed to assault a child even if you are disciplining that child. Section 61AA of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) contains a ...
[151]
It's time to ban corporal punishment of kids in Australia - Pursuit
May 3, 2023 · In Victoria, South Australia, and Australian Capital Territory common law applies through the courts to permit reasonable corporal punishment. ...
[152]
Doctors back total ban on smacking children in England - BBC
Mar 6, 2025 · Smacking is legal in some cases in England and Northern Ireland, but is banned in Scotland and Wales.
[153]
What are the smacking laws in the UK and could they change?
Oct 14, 2025 · The laws state that punishment which amounts to physical wounding, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or child cruelty is not legal.
[154]
UK - End Corporal Punishment of Children
Corporal punishment is prohibited in Scotland and Wales, but not yet in all settings in England and Northern Ireland, including homes, some alternative care, ...
[155]
Corporal punishment of children in Australia: The evidence-based ...
Beliefs about the acceptability of corporal punishment may vary by religious identification or ethnicity and, therefore, result in different levels of corporal ...Missing: variations | Show results with:variations
[156]
Thailand Becomes 68th Country to Ban Corporal Punishment
Mar 27, 2025 · BANGKOK (March 27, 2025) – Thailand became the 68th country to ban the use of corporal punishment this week, but it will still take 60 years ...Missing: 2020-2025 | Show results with:2020-2025
[157]
New Florida law lets parents opt in to spanking in schools - WCJB
Aug 14, 2025 · A new state law allows families to opt into the practice, but only if their school district permits it.
[158]
Protecting our Students in Schools Act of 2025
Aug 26, 2025 · - The Bill unequivocally bans corporal punishment in schools receiving federal financial assistance, encompassing acts like spanking, paddling, ...
[159]
Fact Check: No, Trump did not legalize corporal punishment in schools
Apr 25, 2025 · U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on April 23, 2025, permitting teachers to use physical force to discipline students.
[160]
Evaluating the success of Sweden's corporal punishment ban
Results: Public support for corporal punishment has declined, identification of children at risk has increased, child abuse mortality is rare, prosecution rates ...
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Levels of support for legislative bans to end physical punishment in ...
Only 39% reported attitudes supportive of physical punishment. This finding was lower than the latest General Social Survey finding that 55% of US adults agreed ...Missing: developments | Show results with:developments
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Robert Larzelere | Scholarly & creative works
Privilege removal had the most significantly effective results, followed by grounding. Sending children to their room and spanking significantly reduced ...
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Causal Evidence for Exclusively Positive Parenting and for Timeout
Feb 6, 2020 · We offer the first known meta-analysis of the overall effectiveness of timeout, based on 24 studies with strong causal evidence for its effectiveness.
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Using Time-out for Child Conduct Problems in the Context of ...
Sep 1, 2022 · Question Are parenting programs that include time-out less effective or even harmful for children exposed to adverse childhood experiences?
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[PDF] Evidence-based Classroom Behaviour Management Strategies - ERIC
Evidence-based strategies include antecedent strategies to minimize problematic behaviors, positive consequences for appropriate behaviors, and teacher ...
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A meta-analytic review of components associated with parent ...
This component analysis used meta-analytic techniques to synthesize the results of 77 published evaluations of parent training programs.
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Behavior-specific praise: empowering teachers and families to ...
Feb 28, 2023 · In this article, we introduce behavior-specific praise as a portable, feasible strategy for teachers and families to increase student engagement.
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Effectiveness and acceptability beliefs regarding logical ...
Children believed that logical consequences and mild punishments were equally effective and more effective than no BLIMIT, but they rated logical consequences ...
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Effective discipline for children - PMC - NIH
Effective discipline is teaching, not just punishment, and should be consistent, fair, and self-enhancing, fostering respect and teaching self-discipline.Missing: systematic | Show results with:systematic
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Do nonphysical punishments reduce antisocial behavior more than ...
Feb 22, 2010 · No alternative disciplinary tactic was associated with significantly lower antisocial behavior, even after improving the covariate measures.Missing: techniques | Show results with:techniques
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Does spanking harm child development? Major study ... - PsyPost
Oct 14, 2024 · New research indicates that spanking has minimal effects on children's development, explaining less than 1% of behavioral outcomes.<|separator|>
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Comparing Child Outcomes of Physical Punishment and Alternative ...
Aug 7, 2025 · This meta-analysis investigates differences between the effect sizes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary tactics for child outcomes in 26 ...
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233: Time Outs: Helpful or harmful? Here's what the research says
Jan 12, 2025 · Time outs are promoted as an effective, evidence-based parenting ... Time-out with parents: A descriptive analysis of 30 years of research.
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AN EVALUATION AND COMPARISON OF TIME-OUT ... - NIH
Results demonstrated that both time-out procedures were effective at reducing problem behavior outside time-out, problem behavior occurred in time-out during ...
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https://www.additudemag.com/slideshows/how-to-deal-with-a-child-with-odd-and-adhd/
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Household economic hardship as a moderator of the associations ...
Research shows that spanking is more commonly used in low-income households. ... However, a second hypothesis is that spanking may be less problematic in poorer ...
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[PDF] Parental Entitlement and Corporal Punishment
Oct 12, 2010 · according parents a right to spank is necessary to serve children's welfare. Why these differences in the emphasis on and moral basis for ...
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[PDF] Parental Physical Punishment: Child Outcomes and Attitudes
Immediate compliance is held up as a short term benefit of physical punishment by some but evidence on this is inconsistent (Gershoff, 2002).<|control11|><|separator|>
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An update on the scientific evidence for and against the ... - PubMed
These researchers also emphasize four randomized clinical trials in which spanking increased compliance in defiant preschoolers. Other issues discussed in ...Missing: critiques anti- flaws
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Corporal punishment and violent behavior spectrum: a meta-analytic ...
Feb 6, 2024 · A meta-analysis concluded corporal punishment predicts higher childhood aggression regardless of baseline levels (Gershoff and Grogan-Kaylor, ...
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Dr. Larzelere featured in spanking stories | Newsroom
Jun 28, 2002 · Gershoff's conclusions, the best research shows that nonabusive spanking is effective with 2- to 6-year-old children when used to back up milder ...
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Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta ...
Whether spanking is helpful or harmful to children continues to be the source of considerable debate among both researchers and the public.
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[PDF] The Science and Statistics Behind Spanking Suggest that Laws ...
103 Indeed, the idea that spanking is harmful is contradicted by much of the research, and by the data on existing spanking bans. III. THE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED ...
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Evaluations of the effects of Sweden's spanking ban on physical ...
A recent Swedish report suggested that the spanking ban has made little change in problematic forms of physical punishment.
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The Science and Statistics Behind Spanking Suggest that Laws ...
Mar 12, 2009 · Criminal records suggest that children raised under a spanking ban are much more likely to be involved in crime than other children.Missing: juvenile delinquency
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[PDF] Sweden's smacking ban: more harm than good - The Christian Institute
Their rates of physical child abuse and criminal assaults by minors against minors have increased at least five- or six-fold since the smacking ban.
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Swedish Trends in Criminal Assaults against Minors since Banning ...
Aug 6, 2025 · This study uses Swedish trends in alleged criminal assaults against minors to investigate whether societal violence has decreased since their spanking ban in ...
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Evaluations of the Effects of Sweden's Spanking Ban on Physical ...
Some unpublished evidence suggests that Swedish rates of physical child abuse have remained high, although child abuse mortality rates have stayed low there. A ...