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Abstract
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The news1 that in April 2020 Japan has become the 59th country to ban corporal punishment in the home highlights the significant progress that is being made to ensure that children receive the same protection as adults against violence. Sweden was the first country to introduce a ban in 1979 followed mainly by countries in northern Europe. At the shift of the millennium, still only 11 countries had introduced a ban, but since then there has been a steady increase, now with bans in all continents.
To many, it seems that the time cannot come quickly enough when we shall look back on smacking children as a remnant of a bygone age as we do on capital punishment. But to some (including many in the UK, and perhaps a majority in African countries, and some parts of the USA), the very thought of a ban is anathema, conjuring up the prospects of the state in the form of police and social workers interfering with the wish of parents to bring up their children in the way that they think is right.
In this article, we review the rationale for the ban and progress with the ban globally, examine the case being made in countries which oppose a ban, assess the evidence from Sweden over its effectiveness and call for renewed action to end the corporal punishment of children.
Most people understand that severe maltreatment is detrimental to children's health and development. Many adults (and even child professionals), on the other hand, still look on corporal punishment as a reasonable chastisement without any negative side effects. From a research point of view, there have been many difficulties in attempts to isolate corporal punishment from more severe forms of maltreatment and a number of other confounding factors. Research during the last 20 years has however shown that corporal punishment itself is associated with an increased probability of adverse physical, mental and behavioural outcomes. Moreover...
Language: en |