Parenting and the Use of Corrective Violence

Because it has been in the news, a reporter asked: “What risks does harsh physical punishment on young children carry? Does it ever work? What does the research have to say?”

While I couldn’t speak to the research, I did reflect on the use of corrective violence (spanking, swatting, switching, slapping, strapping, squeezing, shaking, and the like) by parents on young children as it has been reported to me on occasion by adolescents looking back on this scary and painful, memorable and formative, experience.