Researchers look at countries that have prohibited corporal punishment for kids and their rate of youth violence.
Now a new study looking at 400,000 youths from 88 countries around the world suggests such bans are making a difference in reducing youth violence. It marks the first systematic assessment of whether an association exists between a ban on corporal punishment and the frequency in which adolescents get into fights.
[F]or both boys and girls, [prof. Elizabeth Gershoff] said, “We found [spanking] linked to more aggression, more delinquent behavior, more mental health problems, worse relationships with parents, and putting the children at higher risk for physical abuse from their parents.”
“People often ask: Why didn’t you look for positive aspects?” she continued. “My answer is: We did, and there were none. We see consistently that the more children are spanked, the more behavioral problems they have in the years ahead.”
Once again worth emphasizing that this is pretty much the exact opposite of what authoritarians said would happen
This is an important study in the same way that many ‘water is wet’ studies are; it provides hard data that can be referred back to.
But yeah, startlingly enough if you don’t use violence to control children, they’re less likely to try to use violence to control others.
