Taking a step back for a second, I think we've overlooked an important part
of Michael's original question that was beneath the surface of what he
actually asked. Namely, is psychology to blame (in part) for the apparent
increase in teen violence (or something to that effect). The discussion
then rapidly turned to why it is inappropriate (and often unnecessary) to
spank you kids, which is what he asked on the surface. But, I think there
is another angle on this that has at least a little bit of merit.
In my opinion, psychology is, in part, to blame. Is it because we should
support spanking? Not at all. It is because psychology often does a poor
job of relaying its message to the general public (and sometimes our own if
we believe that Michael is a teacher of psychology with training in the
field). There appears to be a misunderstanding among the general public
that when a psychologist says "don't spank your child" it means "don't
discipline your child." As a field I think we have not done a good job of
clarifying this difference for the general public. Similar things have
happened with concepts such as "self-esteem" which has been turned into an
argument against having standards in several cases (in my opinion).
Although we have reached some, there are still misunderstandings about many
issues within psychology by the average person on the street.
My guess is that many do not know of any other method of discipline besides
spanking, and that is where the misunderstanding starts. Remember, the
average person has not necessarily had an intro psych class and they sure
don't read the scientific journals on a regular basis to stay up-to-date on
effective methods of discipline. They use what they perceive to work, but
then panic when they hear a news report on 20/20 talking about how
detrimental spanking is. Now they are left with no means of disciplining
their child, because the only way they know is how they were disciplined.
They might hear of this mystic thing called "time-out" but they have no
idea at all how to implement such a method of discipline and what needs to
be involved and why. Also, some make the argument to themselves that they
turned out okay (or at least they think they are okay) despite the
spankings, so it is okay to treat their children the same way they were
treated growing up. I often wondered if their memories of how they were
treated are actually reflected in their method of raising their child. (I'm
sure there is research on this, but not my area and not of enough interest
for me to find out right now.)
So, in my opinion and speculation (which is all this is really), yes
psychology is in part to blame by not ensuring that our findings are more
accurately and truthfully betrayed in the media. Of course, we could blame
the media, but I think that is just trying to find a scapegoat for some of
our own shortcomings as a field...
- Marc
PS- Michael stated in his original message:
"Is this type of perspective making parents feel guilty and hence avoiding
a well deserved licking(spanking) on the kid? ... We should also be
aware that the authoritarian way of parenting works very well in the
non-Eurocentric world and so does discipline,spanking,and a good licking."
I was wondering what constitutes a "deserved" licking and a "good" licking?
How are these two different, and is there a difference between them? Does
one imply the other? Just trying to get a grip on the different types of
lickings...
G. Marc Turner, MEd
Lecturer & Head of Computer Operations
Department of Psychology
Southwest Texas State University
San Marcos, TX 78666
phone: (512)245-2526
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] or [EMAIL PROTECTED] or ...
