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RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

  • 1.  RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-02-2019 05:24 PM

    Even though most people-82% by a recent survey-still believe in corporal punishment (hitting) of children, most early childhood caregivers have come to understand that all punishment of children damages their sense of worthwhileness and doesn't teach the lesson that is intended. Now neurobiological sciences-studies of how the genes in the brain work-is suggesting that even pushing children to learn-called invasive and interruptive education compared to synchronous education-damages children's sense of worthwhileness and limits their development. It will be important for us to think about this new information.



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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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  • 2.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 08:39 AM
    Can you direct me to that research regarding invasive and interruptive education? I'm very interested in learning more about that.

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    Brandy Mattson
    Anoka-Hennepin ISD #11
    Anoka MN
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  • 3.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 09:51 AM
    Corporal Punishment
    For an extensive bibliography and a solid review of the research literature on the subject of corporal punishment, See:

    Gershoff, Elizabeth T.  (2002). Corporal Punishment by Parents and Associated Child Behaviors and Experiences: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 128, No. 4, 539–579  
    DOI: 10.1037//0033-2909.128.4.539

    Lawrence Balter, PhD
    Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology
    New York University

    http://www.DrLawrenceBalter.com
    https://www.routledge.com/products/9781848724839
    https://www.routledge.com/psychology/posts/9895
    Who's In Control?  Dr. Balter's Guide to Discipline Without Combat

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    Lawrence Balter
    Dr. Lawrence Balter
    New York NY
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  • 4.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 01:39 PM
    Lawrence, that's an excellent paper. I hadn't seen it yet. Thank you.  Jack

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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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  • 5.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 05:36 PM
    Hi
    You are quite welcome.  Thanks for the acknowledgment.  Gershoff has written many scholarly papers.  I highly recommend her work.  
    Discipline is such a misunderstood term and its conflation with corporal punishment is troubling.  There are so many constructive alternatives to corporal punishment that are humane and based on empirical work yet physically hurting children continues to be a preferred method by many parents despite its long-term ineffectiveness and often negative consequences.  
    BTW, educators are part of the equation as well.  Many states still allow corporal punishment in the schools.  
    Best wishes,

    Lawrence Balter, PhD
    Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology
    New York University
    http://www.DrLawrenceBalter.com
    https://www.routledge.com/products/9781848724839
    https://www.routledge.com/psychology/posts/9895



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    Lawrence Balter
    Dr. Lawrence Balter
    New York NY
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  • 6.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 06:35 PM
    The research article brought to my attention by Dr. Balter has led to me needing to not sound so sure of myself as I was presenting on this punishment topic. There are many confusions and further things to research, but it remains clear that all forms of punishment often have negative effects on children that often lead to negative effects in adulthood. I'm asking that we keep thinking about punishment in early childhood education.

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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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  • 7.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 08:11 PM
    Carrots and Sticks
    Briefly, one can say that positive outcomes promote desirable behavior, while punishments are often employed to deter undesirable actions.   Even so, punishments are not terribly effective: e.g., consider the high rates of recidivism.  IMHO, Incentives are the way to go.




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    Lawrence Balter, PhD
    Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology
    New York University
    http://www.DrLawrenceBalter.com
    https://www.routledge.com/products/9781848724839
    https://www.routledge.com/psychology/posts/9895
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 12:19 PM
    Brandi, the I think the best reference for this issue is in Developmental Psychology 2017, Vol.53, No. 1, 13-27. "Maternal Behavior Predicts Infant Neurophysiological and Behavioral Attention Processes in the First Year," is authored by Margaret Swingler, Nicole Perry, Susan Calkins, and Martha Bell. I remembered one thing incorrectly, they used "intrusive" not "interruptive" (see p. 16). I've pleased that you are interested. Tyson Barker is doing post-doctoral research at the university of Oregon on these issues of maternal influence. He studied with the same person these author's studied with, but 20 years later. Jack

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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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  • 9.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-04-2019 07:29 PM
    Mr. Wright,
    I'm interested in reading more about what you called, "invasive and interruptive education compared to synchronous education." I'm sure there are many early childhood educators who would like to be more informed about this topic. Could you point us to any resources or articles on the subject? My limited search yielded references to technology encroachments in schools, but I'm not finding anything you have described.

    Thanks,
    James Greenwald


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    James Greenwald
    K Teacher
    WSUSD
    Healdsburg, CA
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  • 10.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-06-2019 09:04 AM

    My agency has spent the past decade compiling research and crafting training opportunities on corporal punishment and parenting styles for educators, edu-carers and parents/caretakers. Here are a few additional resources (as mentioned, Gershoff's meta-analysis is a wonderful place to start): Durant & Ensom's Physical Punishment of Children;  www.nospank.net/main-.htm; Perry's The Neurodevelopmental Impact of Violence in Childhood; APA's Parent's Use of Physical Punishment Increases Violent Behavior Among Youth; Cornell Ed's Why Spanking Should be Discouraged; Child Trend's Bullies in the Block Area (The Early Childhood Origins of "Mean" Behavior) and, importantly, Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment : Summary of Research on the Effects from www.endcorporalpunishment.org/research/impact-corporal-punishment.html.  There are many, many more wonderful resources, Luckily, there are also increasing sources  - from curricula to a great Vanderbilt University on-line program, pod-casts and more that promote positive (a.k.a. authoritative, attachment, compassionate, et al) There are also faith-based resources that I'm happy to share.

    The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a treaty that has been signed by all but one member nation: The United States of America. Importantly, the UN defines corporal punishment as anything against the body (corporal) and this includes verbal and emotional assaults on our little ones, too. The American Pediatric Association has finally formalized its position against spanking, and there are efforts to list spanking as an Adverse Childhood Experience (A.C.E.), which would be a good turn toward protecting our children and building up our parents!



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    Shari Doherty
    Program Director
    Child Find of America, Inc.
    New Paltz NY
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  • 11.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-06-2019 10:03 AM
    Thanks.  
    I would also like to add:

    Gershoff, E, et al. (2018). The strength of the causal evidence against physical punishment of children and its implications for parents, psychologist and policymakers, 73, 626-638 

    Zolotor, A. et al (2011).  Corporal Punishment and Physical Abuse: Population-based Trends for Three-to- 11-year-old Children in the United States, Child Abuse Review Vol. 20: 57–66 

    Published online 18 June 2010 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/car.1128

    Lawrence Balter, PhD
    Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology
    New York University
    http://www.DrLawrenceBalter.com
    https://www.routledge.com/products/9781848724839
    https://www.routledge.com/psychology/posts/9895



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    Lawrence Balter
    Dr. Lawrence Balter
    New York NY
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  • 12.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-07-2019 06:35 AM
    I would like to add:
    1. Jacobson, T. "Everyone Needs Attention: Helping Young Children Thrive." St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press
    2. Szalavitz, M., & Perry, D. B. (2010). Born for Love: Why Empathy is Essential and Endangered. New York, NY: William Morrow: An Imprint of Harper Collins 
    3. Sigsgaard, E. 2005. Scolding: Why it Hurts More than it Helps. Teachers College Press: New York, NY


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    Tamar Jacobson, Ph.D.
    Professor
    Rider University
    Lawrenceville, New Jersey
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  • 13.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-07-2019 04:21 PM

    I'd like to thank faculty folks for sharing information that caregivers who weren't their students may not have known about. I also want to warn teachers that we need to remember that we're not perfect, get frustrated at times, and don't always follow our own rules. It's good to remember as we discuss things that can go wrong in the lives of children, that we can only try to do our best; we're not perfect.

    There is an interesting "Brief Report" in the Journal of Family Psychology (2014, Vol. 28, No. 3, 401-406): "Eavesdropping on the Family: A Pilot Investigation of Corporal Punishment in the Home." Parents were recruited who acknowledged that they spank their child a couple of time per week, but only for major offenses and never in anger. They agreed to wear an audio device when they got home from work until their child was in bed. It sounded like they were angry when they hit their children, hit them the most for refusals, and sometimes spanked for a second refusal within ten minutes.

    Sometimes caregivers are tired and frustrated like these parents. I take that to mean that we need to try to take good care of ourselves if we are going to take good care of the children we serve.

     






  • 14.  RE: RETHINKING PUNISHMENT

    Posted 06-09-2019 11:44 PM
    Good point!

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    Tia Gallo-Pickett
    Maggie123
    Tulare CA
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