In an anonymous survey conducted in 2008, which focused on mothers with children under the age of 18 years, they concluded that the likelihood of physical abuse increased by 3% with every additional instance of spanking since the intensity of spanking needed to increase with each instance to remain effective. Furthermore, when parents used objects, such as belts or switches, to spank their children they were nearly nine times more likely to report physically abusive behaviors. (Frechette p.137) It wasn’t until the 1960’s that experts began to examine the effects physical discipline had on children’s social, emotional and behavioral well-being, especially in regards to the long-term side effects. Even in today’s society, there exist various opinions in regards to corporal punishment. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages care-givers to rely on other approaches when correcting their children’s behavior to ensure the decreased likelihood of the “ten negative outcomes.” (Terri-combs-Orme …show more content…
(Gershoff, E T) Furthermore, they often have unrealistic expectations of their child’s cognitive ability which causes them to attribute their child’s behavior as being difficult or problematic compared to that of other children. (Zohreh) Spanking is often used to punish misbehavior and to reduce the occurrence of undesirable behavior in the short term but the long-term effects of spanking must be considered as well. In one study with over 3,000 preschoolers showed that increased spanking in 1-3 year old’s resorted in increased aggressive behavior through 3-5 years. Further studies involving children aged five through early adolescence, have shown significant effects on children’s level of aggression. (Gershoff, E T) Therefore, it becomes clear that spanking to decrease a child’s aggressive behavior remains ineffective and often brings about the reverse outcome by triggering further aggression in the