This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Leung, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Leung, G. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Socioeconomic determinants of health
Right arrow Other evidence-based medicine
Right arrow Personality disorders
Right arrow Abuse (child, partner, elder)
Right arrow Anxiety disorders (including OCD and PTSD)
CMAJ • March 21, 2000; 162 (6)
© 2000 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors

Letters
Correspondance

Heat and light in the childhood spanking debate

Gabriel M. Leung

Department of Community Medicine; University of Hong Kong; Hong Kong

While Harriet MacMillan and colleagues1 performed a methodologically rigorous study and the association between childhood corporal punishment and increased lifetime prevalence of psychiatric problems appears solid, there are some unresolved issues that should be noted.

First, MacMillan and colleagues examined only the psychiatric outcomes of children who reported having been slapped or spanked "often" and "sometimes." Editorialist Murray Straus went on to cite this study as testament to the "potential benefits of not spanking, including decreased lifetime risk of mental health problems."2 However, we should consider the flip side of the coin. Proponents of the judicious use of childhood spanking, especially popular in Asian countries, often claim that spanking and slapping are useful adjuncts of the discipline process. They often argue that children grow up to become more "successful" than had they not been subjected to such strict disciplinary measures.

Second, the "extension of full human rights" to children and teens mentioned by Straus is a masked expression for liberalism and the positive rights movement gone wild in the United States. I suspect that this extreme liberalism comes at a price: nowhere else in the world do we witness the frequency and severity of teen violence seen in the United States.

Nor am I advocating the communitarian approach, or "Asian values," espoused in Singapore, and increasingly Hong Kong, where the interests of society trump individual rights. Rather, I propose that we consider the issue through a utilitarian prism, where all the potential benefits and harms of childhood spanking are carefully weighed. Moreover, the debate about whether there is a threshold of harm (as opposed to a linear dose-response relationship) from spanking should be vigorously pursued.

References

  1. MacMillan HL, Boyle MH, Wong MYY, Duku EK, Fleming JE, Walsh CA. Slapping and spanking in childhood and its association with lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a general population sample. CMAJ 1999; 161(7):805-9.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Straus MA. Is it time to ban corporal punishment of children? CMAJ 1999;161(7):821-2.[Free Full Text]




This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Leung, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Leung, G. M.
Related Collections
Right arrow Socioeconomic determinants of health
Right arrow Other evidence-based medicine
Right arrow Personality disorders
Right arrow Abuse (child, partner, elder)
Right arrow Anxiety disorders (including OCD and PTSD)