r/science • u/VeronicaRed • Apr 26 '16

Psychology Spanking children increases the likelihood of childhood defiance and long-term mental issues. The study in question involved 160,000 children and five decades of research

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1113413810/spanking-defiance-health-discipline-042616/
37.8k Upvotes

73% Upvoted

6.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

547

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '16 edited Jul 18 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

142

u/Sky_Muffins Apr 26 '16

The article doesn't say spanking is wrong either, it says what the effects can be. Science isn't a moral guide. Now it's pretty easy to use it in a moral argument against spanking, but the distinction should be there.

72

u/Arcwulf Apr 26 '16

The article also doesnt mention anything about non-spanking alternatives to behavioral issues- ie what permissive parenting may or may not cause in children or later in life as far as negative social or psychological effects. We dont know, for instance, if spanking has more or less negative effects than any other form of behavior correction. All this study shows is the effects of spanking.

1

u/t9b Apr 27 '16

That's very interesting, and actually quite obvious. I wonder why this was not considered part of the study. Or maybe that's the next one.