Research on physical punishment: what it needs.

A recent symposium on child development research has moved me to think even more about the issue of corporal punishment and its effects on children. This particular symposium was entitled Physical discipline and children's development: a cross-cultural perspective. Listening to the research papers presented and the discussion that followed led to some thoughts of my own.

1.It seems that researchers interested in the issue of corporal punishment and its effects on children are missing out some of the other effects of corporal punishment. Emphasis has been on effects associated with aggressive and/or disruptive behavior, anxiety disorders and to some extent academic performance. But I question the other effects of corporal punishment and the need to study those also-: what the victim of corporal punishment is internalizing ,i.e. how does he/she feel about himself?, what is his/her level of happiness or joy with life?, what about his/her self-confidence or sense of empowerment, or potential to do well academically?

What is the acceptable level of academic performance that tells us that the effect of corporal punishment is not significant? Are we sure that the child has reached his/her full potential? Or is he/she capable of doing even more and better?

2.The effects of corporal punishment are usually measured in children in elementary and perhaps the first few years of secondary school. In other words we are only studying the short term effects of corporal punishment. The effects of corporal punishment are long-term. They can in fact affect the victim for the rest of his life. We need to study the effects of corporal punishment on adults. A child who is physically punished internalizes a deep hurt that has many facets in addition to the physical pain. The emotional pain includes disappointment, (this was someone the child was depending on to love him unconditionally and teach him about loving and caring), loss of sense of safety, fear of adults, confusion about what has happened and why, etc.

This emotional pain is stored in our system since most times following the physical punishment the child is not given the opportunity and support to work through these painful emotions accompanying the physical punishment. We now know a lot about how these stored painful emotions block our intelligence and flexible thinking. They prevent us from functioning rationally and appropriately in even unrelated circumstances.We also know how these emotions can act as triggers to inappropriate behavior for as long as they remain unresolved and stored up. Thus much of what we see in adults who are unable to cope with life- have difficulty building and maintaining good relationships, inability to develop and maintain a career, or even settling for less than what their full potential, talent and skills could produce- may all be results of emotional blocks resulting from the unresolved effects of physical punishment in early childhood.

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