Quote:
Originally Posted by RandyMarsh
I think the ones with the long term negative effects had more issues, they were probably abused physically or psychologically. Whatever the case, I think there were more underlying issues than what these studies let on. You don't get spanked once or twice in your life (spanked not struck, slapped, punched or kicked) and end up being so distressed with it you have long term negative effects. If you hit them full force maybe, but that's just abuse.
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See, the concern you describe now is what you call hidden variables in such a study. If
you can think that they might have an effect on the results, you can be sure that people who are conducting studies are also aware of this. It's always a consideration in science and one that it's important to account for. It is possible to reduce the error from such variables and it is something that they would do. As I said, they are not complete idiots. If you can spend 10 seconds and come up with something that's going to completely falsify a study, you can be certain the people who have conducted these studies have been aware of the same potential problem. These people do it for a living and there's a whole range of quality controls a study have to pass through before it's accepted by the scientific community. Generally speaking, "newbie mistakes" like not accounting for important but hidden variables that explain trends in the data are discovered.
Also, no studies here have concluded that you get completely f-ed from being spanked once or twice. They are general studies that describe the general effect of a practice in large scale.
I got a slap on the wrist once when I was a kid. I think my father regretted doing it and so he never did it again. I know it wasn't me changing my behaviour because of it because I didn't. Someone I know got smacked a few times when she was a kid. She said she lost all her respect for her father when it happened and if I ask if she thinks it has a lingering effect on the family relationship today, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes. Negative effects can come in many different forms.
I find it strange that so many people think something good can come from hitting children in the long term. One of the studies I referred to show that the positive effect of corporal punishment is immediate conformity, but that it has various negative long-term effects. If you can explain to me what the positive long-term effects corporal punishment has on society, something that warrants why society as a whole should want to protect it as a practice, then please; enlighten me!