Violence against children, the voices of Ugandan ... - Raising Voices

QUESTION 6Why do you punish children?Adults responded to this question with a surprisingamount of candour and forthright discussion. Thisquestion elevated the discussion from posturingto collective problem solving. Participants shareddeep-seated reasons for punishing children, manygoing beyond the seemingly right and defensiblereasons within their community.I punish for many reasons. Sometimes it is toguide the child, sometimes because he is gettingin my head, sometimes because I am angry, andsometimes because I don’t know what else todo. Sometimes I do it because there is no oneelse to blame.female, parent, KaseseOf the adults consulted in this study, 87.9 percentsaid that the goal of punishing children was toguide them on how to behave. In focus groupdiscussions and interviews, as well as informalFigure 3.15 Adults’ rationale for punishingchildren% of respondents100806040conversations, adults highlighted three qualitiesthey were trying to instil in a child throughpunishment: compliance, respect for elders,and allegiance to traditional values espousedby the community. To instil these qualities, 91.3percent of adults reported using physical oremotional punishment. However, 51.9 percent ofadults expressed ambivalence when asked if intheir experiences punishing children resulted inintended change of behaviour. Among teachers,only 32.6 percent actually believed that punishingchildren would change their behaviour, and 61.2percent said that punishing children only changesbehaviour “sometimes.” However, although manyadults acknowledged this contradiction individually,in a group, adults continued to emphasize theimportance of punishment.When adults were asked how the punishments theyused might achieve the stated goals, 72.7 percentof the adults said that they used punishment toassociate fear with the misbehaviour, and 43.3percent said they used punishment to shamechildren. Many adults agreed that neither fearnor shame helped children understand how theyhad misbehaved yet when asked what punishingdemonstrated, 80.7 percent of adults said thatpunishing showed you cared about children, and75 percent said that punishing showed you were agood parent or teacher.200Scare them sothat they fearrepeating themistakeShame them sothey will notrepeat themistakeGuide themon howto behaveTeach themto showrespect foreldersOther80 Part Three Adults’ Rationale