Spanking as a Changing Norm
Chelsea Hall
SOC/CJST 405
Dr. Brian Monahan
30 November 2012
Ever-changing Viewpoints on Spanking
As a world population, evidence shows that children were not valued in general throughout history until the twentieth century. Children were known as parental property and were treated as such. Children did not have rights of any kind; they could be sold, beaten, used as slaves, etc. for their parents’’ purposes. Several overlapping perspectives for conceptualizing and dealing with deviant child behavior emerged, including the religious, the legal, the medical, the social, and the educational (Mash & Barkley). In ancient Greek and Roman societies, child behavior disorders were believed to be ““a result of imbalance, and children with handicaps, disabilities or deformities were viewed as sources of economic burden and/or social embarrassment.”” With this being said, these children were usually ““scorned, abandoned or put to death.”” This mistreatment continued on into the Middle Ages. In colonial America, ““as many as two-thirds of all children died prior to the age of five years, and those who survived continued to be subjected to harsh treatment by adults (Mash & Barkley).”” In 1654, the Massachusetts’’ Stubborn Child Act was passed which ““permitted a father to petition a magistrate to put a 'stubborn ' or 'rebellious ' child to death;”” basically parents can kill their children if they wish/make a case to an official. If the child was unruly, seen as demented or unwanted, parents could dispose of him/her. In Massachusetts and elsewhere, deviant, unwanted, and mentally ill children were kept in cages and cellars into the mid-1800s (Mash & Barkley).
One prominent group of people known for their harsh ways with children were the Puritans. In 1692, children were expected to behave under the same strict codes as the adults. They were expected to attend church, do chores and ““repress individual differences.”” If children displayed emotions
SOC/CJST 405
Dr. Brian Monahan
30 November 2012
Ever-changing Viewpoints on Spanking
As a world population, evidence shows that children were not valued in general throughout history until the twentieth century. Children were known as parental property and were treated as such. Children did not have rights of any kind; they could be sold, beaten, used as slaves, etc. for their parents’’ purposes. Several overlapping perspectives for conceptualizing and dealing with deviant child behavior emerged, including the religious, the legal, the medical, the social, and the educational (Mash & Barkley). In ancient Greek and Roman societies, child behavior disorders were believed to be ““a result of imbalance, and children with handicaps, disabilities or deformities were viewed as sources of economic burden and/or social embarrassment.”” With this being said, these children were usually ““scorned, abandoned or put to death.”” This mistreatment continued on into the Middle Ages. In colonial America, ““as many as two-thirds of all children died prior to the age of five years, and those who survived continued to be subjected to harsh treatment by adults (Mash & Barkley).”” In 1654, the Massachusetts’’ Stubborn Child Act was passed which ““permitted a father to petition a magistrate to put a 'stubborn ' or 'rebellious ' child to death;”” basically parents can kill their children if they wish/make a case to an official. If the child was unruly, seen as demented or unwanted, parents could dispose of him/her. In Massachusetts and elsewhere, deviant, unwanted, and mentally ill children were kept in cages and cellars into the mid-1800s (Mash & Barkley).
One prominent group of people known for their harsh ways with children were the Puritans. In 1692, children were expected to behave under the same strict codes as the adults. They were expected to attend church, do chores and ““repress individual differences.”” If children displayed emotions
Cited: Gates, Sara. "Spanking Children & Mental Health: Punishment Linked To Disorders Later In Life."The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 July 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. 0] disorders_n_1643422.html[->1]> Mash, Eric J., and David A Mash, Eric J., and Russell A. Barkley, eds. Child Psychopathology. 2nd ed. New York: Gilford, 2003. Print. McMahon, Matthew Oswalt, Angela, Natalie Staats, and Mark Dombeck. "Spanking in Early Childhood." Mental Health Care, Inc. Center Site, LLC, n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. . Park, Alice. "The Long-Term Effects of Spanking." Time Magazine Health. Time, 03 May 2010. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. . "Puritan Children." Discovery Education. Discovery Communications, LLC, n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. . Spanking - Prevalence of Physical Discipline. Net Industries, 2012. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. . "Spanking Techniques."Spank with Love. ReoCities, 14 Dec. 2001. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. . [->0] - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/02/spanking-children-linked-to-mental-