I have a colleague (not in psychology) who is not from North America or
Europe. I asked him about spanking when he was a child and we had quite an
interesting discussion. This post is purely anecdote, but I believe it has
some interesting ideas anyway.
First, he did say that he was spanked quite a lot as a youngster. It was a
common form of childrearing that reinforced the father (who did almost all
of the spanking) as absolute ruler of the family. When I asked him if he
thought that the spanking was a reasonable practice he at first, said yes.
But I then asked him if he was raising his own children that way. Again, at
first he said yes, but then he backed away a little. He said he would only
spank his children as a last resort, when all else fails. In fact, he said
he would spank in such a way that "it would hurt him more than it hurt the
child." He even reported that one of his children did not even remember
being spanked. He next said that his father did not spank that way. He
spanked hard and often, although not in an abusive (physically) way. I
asked him why he did not use spanking the same way his father did. He said
that being in the United States made him revise some of his disciplinary
practices. Not much social support for some of them. He also did not think
all of the spanking he received was justified.
Second, I asked if he saw his children suffering in some way because of his
only minimal use of corporal punishment. He said no and we discussed the
difference between students in his homeland and here in the U.S. He
suggested that the autocratic family structure that the spanking he received
was a part of, reflected, and probably even supported the structure of the
society at large. The family, the schools, and the government were all
autocratic structures, they all supported each other. Students in school
where he lived often studied hard and learned what was expected but asked
few questions and were not trained nor expected to think critically.
Interetingly, given our struggles to teach critical thinking, he finds that
American students are much better at questioning ideas than those from his
home country.
So when Michael says that spanking works in nonEurocentric countries, maybe
he is correct. Maybe it works to produce well behaved youngsters who fit
into an authoritarian form of government. And perhaps a more democratic
form of discipline is more appropriate for countries that have more
democratic forms of government.
Some interesting empirical hypotheses in this discussion, I think.
Thanks for your indulgence.
Jeff Nagelbush
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ferris State University
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