Is there actual science that claims to compare the outcomes of parenting where spanking is used very rarely, but the family understands that it is an option in some cases, to parenting where it is genuinely never used?
i don't know, but i doubt it. and i think there is no incentive to study that, since what's rarely used is likely not as influential anyway (unless it also happens to be hugely traumatizing, which a slap on the butt doesn't qualify as).
but while we shouldn't need a large body of scientific evidence that people who hit their kids a lot are doing something wrong, what evidence we do have is apparently far from enough. because people who spank their kids a lot are common, and remain common in the face of evidence that says "this is not effective", nevermind "this is ethically questionable". while pubic attitudes about hitting other adults have changed, they've got a much longer way to go when it comes to children.
hitting dogs doesn't work in the same way hitting young children doesn't work, but you will find lots of people who defend either with the same arguments.
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i don't know, but i doubt it. and i think there is no incentive to study that, since what's rarely used is likely not as influential anyway (unless it also happens to be hugely traumatizing, which a slap on the butt doesn't qualify as).
but while we shouldn't need a large body of scientific evidence that people who hit their kids a lot are doing something wrong, what evidence we do have is apparently far from enough. because people who spank their kids a lot are common, and remain common in the face of evidence that says "this is not effective", nevermind "this is ethically questionable". while pubic attitudes about hitting other adults have changed, they've got a much longer way to go when it comes to children.
hitting dogs doesn't work in the same way hitting young children doesn't work, but you will find lots of people who defend either with the same arguments.