Smacking, Parenting Style & Prisons Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is corporal punishment?
Any punishment intended to inflict physical paint (smacking, hitting, beating, etc.)
The Gershoff (2002) meta-analysis indicates that corporal punishment is associated with what outcomes for children? Are the outcomes generally desirable or undesirable?
Undesirable outcomes like moral internalisation, aggression, delinquent & antisocial behaviour, worse parent-child relationship & mental health even in adulthood.
may become abusers themselves
The Paolucci and Violato (2004) meta-analysis focused on affective, cognitive and behavioural outcomes. Which outcomes had the largest effects?
Affective and behavioural outcomes had the largest effects, though cognitive outcome (academic impairment) had some.
Is there any evidence that smacking, on its own, can produce undesirable outcomes in children? If so, what are the outcomes?
Taylor et al., 2010: Pediatrics
- Spanking (more than twice in a month at 3 years) –> child more
aggressive at age 5 after controlling for child’s aggression at age 3,
maternal child physical maltreatment, psychological maltreatment, neglect, intimate partner aggression victimization stress, depression, substance abuse, consideration of abortion
- Mothers who smacked
children > 2x per month were 1.4x likely to have a child
with higher aggression at age 5 compared to mothers who smacked 2x or less
How do children experience corporal
punishment and what does it teach them?
Are taught that attention is only given when you’re being punished = more acting out
Discuss why Māori are more likely to end up in care after child abuse in Aotearoa. Explain by discussing the link to poverty. Where relevant bring in data linking poverty and child homicides in NZ. Also link poverty and corporal punishment in the United States.
Racism, inter-generational fracture of family
poverty
- stress –> likely to abuse
- lack of ambition & knowledge on how to escape poverty (education, job ladder, etc.)
- accept lifestyle that others are living as the norm
child homicides increase with social deprivation index scores
higher US child abuse fatality rates & corporal punishment in areas where poverty in more concentrated (> 20% living in poverty)
Is corporal punishment only bad in countries where it is relatively uncommon? If not, what are the negative outcomes for children in countries where it is common?
No. Whilst perceptions of its normality in countries where it is common mediates child aggression and anxiety to a small extent, they still increase overall.
Describe the four parenting styles, using the key attributes warmth and control.
Authoritative: high warmth, high control
Authoritarian: low warmth, high control
Permissive: high warmth, low control
Uninvolved: low warmth, low controk
Outline the outcomes associated with each type of style.
Authoritative:
- children self-confident & controlled
- better success in school
- greater social functioning
- less problems with the law
Authoritarian:
- poorer self-reliance & esteem
- may be anxious, withdrawn, and unhappy
- may be angry and defiant
Permissive:
- poorer school performance
- greater deviance
- good social competence
- self-confident
- greater difficulties with impulse control
Uninvolved:
- poorer school performance
– greater deviance
– poorer social competence & self-esteem
Describe how child characteristics can influence parenting
style.
- parenting of identical twins is more similar than parenting of fraternal twins
- parents of difficult children may become more controlling & less warm due to the challenges their child offers
- children at genetic risk for antisocial behaviour elicit more -ve parenting than those not at risk (adoption study)
- child’s temperament affects maternal sensitivity
Describe how parenting style is related to the style of one’s own parents and also to certain kinds
of stressors in life.
- predicted by how parents feel about themselves, which is often predicated on the quality of relationship with own parents
- predicted by parents’ roles in their families of origin
stressors:
- poverty
- unemployment
- divorce
Describe how authoritarian parenting is related to delinquency as well as many other
outcomes. (Note there are a long list of outcomes in addition to delinquency.)
+ve correlations of with delinquency versus authoritative parenting’s -ve correlations
- obesity / unhealthy eaters
- insecure attachment
- smoking
- aggression
- worse coping & greater anxiety
What kinds of parenting helps children? Provide specific examples rather than just the general characteristics of authoritative parenting.
- induction methods that include explanation & child involvement in
setting goals and consequences; increase in morality, cooperativeness - time out, removal of reinforcers (e.g., losing access to computer)
- distraction (especially for younger children)
- model positive behaviours and reinforce them in children
- ignoring some negative behaviours (e.g., scatalogical talk at the dinner
table) - anger management for parents
- helping children take responsibility for their actions (punishment versus
responding to consequences – e.g., pay for breaking a window) - reasonable expectations: parents often use extreme measures because they assume too much of their children
To what extent can parenting behaviour be taught and what are the long-term outcomes of such teaching?
Cowan and Cowan (2001): 16-week discussion group on
effective parenting (children 5 years)
positive effects in 6-
year follow-up (school adjustment and academic achievement)
Does harsh corporal punishment affect the brain structure? (Tomoda et al., 2009)
Yes - 15 to 19% reduction in gray matter volume in frontal areas at 18 - 25 years
Decline in IQ scores
How does harsh corporal punishment affect the fronto-limbic circuit?
Reduce ability to socialise, affects processing and regulation of emotions.
- Consists of orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, insula & limbic regions like amygdala & hippocampus (affective network)
What is the relationship b/w school shooting fatalities & corporal punishment (Arcus, 2002)?
Significantly more school shooting deaths in US states allowing corporal punishment (.44 effect size; medium magnitude), after controlling for poverty rates & conservative religions
What is ironic about how adults respond to children’s misbehaviour versus good behaviour?
Parents are 5 - 6x more likely to pay attention to children when they are misbehaving vs well-behaved
Teachers spend more time with misbehaving children
