The Truth About Spanking: Promoting a ban is counterproductive

L AW R E N C E D I L L E R
Diller se refiere al movimiento a favor de prohibir el castigo fsico (spanking)
en los nios:
Corporal punishment of childrenspankingis another practice targeted for abolition.
Childrens rights have been a growing part of the civil-rights movement that started in the 1950s
(p. 42).
Se ha buscado seguir el ejemplo de Suecia, que aboli las nalgadas (spanking) en el 1979:
By the 1970s, a number of states had abolished the use of corporal punishment in school. In the
1980s, anti-spanking advocates began pushing localities and states to make the corporal
punishment of children by their parents illegal, as Sweden had done in 1979 (p. 42).
Aunque se calcula que el 90% de los nios han sido castigados corporalmente en los E.U.,
muchos padres creen que esta prctica es incorrecta:
Meanwhile, Americans continue to spank their children. The latest national survey found that
over 90 percent of three- and four year- olds had been spanked at one time or another. Yet
apparently many of these same parents feel that spanking is wrong (p. 42).
Se hace referencia a que la mayora de las investigaciones en este tema se basa en casos
extremos referidos a las agencias de Familia por serio maltrato. Se alegan que esto no es el
caso en la gran mayora de las familias:
Most of the studies cited on corporal punishment came from a clinical populationin other
words, they dealt with families that had been referred to mental-health agencies for having
physically abused their children. These findings could not be applied to the general population
(p. 43).
Sobre un estudio longitudinal de 15 aos que contrasta familia que no pegan con las que pegan:
Families where parents occasionally employed spanking (defined as one or two open swats on
the bottom of a child between the ages of two and six) as one form of discipline within an
otherwise loving context did marginally better over the long term than the very few families that
abjured spanking entirely (p. 43).
Los opositores al castigo fsico ofrecieron evidencia en contra a travs de un estudio:
The anti-spanking forces offered prospective studies that followed larger, more varied groups of
families that employed spanking as more typically used by American familieshaphazardly and
with anger. In these groups, there were higher rates of mental illness and violence in the children
whose parents used spanking more frequently (p. 43).
La asociacin Americana de pediatra al final sale a favor de time out como estrategia
recomendada y habla poco sobre los pros y contras del castigo fsico
Two years later, the AAP finally issued its guidelines on the discipline of children. Not
surprisingly, it advocated disciplining children primarily with positive rewards, and held that if
punishment is necessary, the preferred form is the time out. Little mention of spanking, pro or

con, was made in the body of the recommendations, but, in an addendum, eleven points were
raised, all critical of the practice of spanking and the corporal punishment of children (p. 43).
Al final la asociacin American de pediatra decide irse en contra del castigo corporal (por
temor a que cualquier tipo de justificacin pueda ser la justificacin para abuso corporal):
Essentially, then, the AAP decided to ignore the mixed data on corporal punishment of children
in order to pursue a perceived social good, the end of spanking in America. The AAP statement
at the time generated some, but not much, publicity. It could be seen, perhaps, as another brick in
the wall for societys case against spanking (p. 43).
En el caso de Suecia que prohibi todo tipo de castigo corporal a los menores en el 1979, la
delincuencia juvenil ha aumentado significativamente (aunque es difcil probar una relacin
causal con la prohibicin):
Yet a critical look at the evidence there reveals very mixed results. While parents report less
spanking, children who grew up since the Swedish ban show a sixfold increase in criminal
assaults compared with the previous generation, along with major increases in juvenile
delinquency and substance abuse (p. 44).
La mayora de los padres se sienten confundidos sobre cmo disciplinar a sus hijos y culpables
cuando los disciplinan fsicamente:
Parents feel mixed-up and uncomfortable about disciplining their children. The growing cultural
emphasis on feelings, and particularly on childrens self-esteem, has parents feeling damned if
they do and damned if they dont. (A parents setting of limits very frequently makes the child
feel bad.) While there are a few children who can be raised with nothing but rewards and
positive talk, there are many, especially boys, who will push for a conflict in order to have
effective rules set. Many children escalate in their search for the boundaries that make them feel
secure (p. 44).
Sobre la medicalizacin como una alternativa a la disciplina fsica:
Indeed, any anthropologist examining current American child-rearing practices would have to
conclude that compliance (the act of doing what others tell you to do even if you dont want to
do it) will be learned interactionally with parents and teachers or will be achieved chemically.
Could it be that America would rather give unruly kids a pill than a swat? (p. 44).
Se compara el intento de prohibir el castigo corporal con la prohibicin del alcohol:
Heres the rub on spanking. Just as Prohibition could not end drinking, it may be impossible to
stop parents from spanking their children: They will do it regardless of whether society approves.
The more society disapproves and tries to make it illegal, the farther such corporal punishment
will be driven underground, making it even more inappropriate when used (p. 44).
El autor argumenta que algn tipo de castigo corporal podra ser necesario cuando el nio no
hace caso a los castigos que le prohben hacer ciertas cosas o lo limitan a un lugar:
But often some physical action is necessary for the discipline to be effective (p. 44).
En qu sentido la prohibicin al castigo corporal ser inefectivo:

Just as Prohibition could not end drinking, it may be impossible to stop parents from spanking
their children: They will do it regardless of whether society approves. The more society
disapproves and tries to make it illegal, the farther such corporal punishment will be driven
underground, making it even more inappropriate when used (p. 44).
Al prohibirse el castigo corporal, los padres evitan hacerlo, excepto cuando se descontrolan y
pegan fuerte. No sera mejor que se hablar sobre qu es el castigo corporal apropiado?:
And because parents are too fearful, too conscientious, or too ashamed to take physical actions,
they are pushed to the point of not knowing what else to do. They then spank in desperation
and anger, which is precisely the practice that leads to the negative outcomes associated with
corporal punishment (p. 44).
Lo que concluye Diller:
we should accept the reality of spanking and work with parents and our cultural

institutions to ensure that corporal punishment and other disciplinary practices are
used in the most progressive and productive manner. Each parent should be
allowed to handle the question of spanking differently (p. 44).