The Science and Statistics Behind Spanking Suggests that

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11-FULLER_FINAL_AFTERPROOF.DOC 2/17/2009 8:50 AM 294 AKRON LAW REVIEW [42:243 It seems, then, that some researchers want to turn people against physical discipline, and try to do so through emotional rhetoric when legitimate reason and research do not support their goals. 271 If this tactic is successful, it can be hard for people to step back and think critically about the emotionally charged viewpoint. 272 It can be especially difficult to resist a scientific-sounding plea that brands all who question it enemies of children. 273 1. “We Have Been Admonished to Avoid ‘the Tyranny of Labels’” 274 Timmy Willis was disciplined into posttraumatic stress disorder by schoolteacher Jami Stanton after she lost control of her temper and locked him in the “timeout room”—a dark windowless room where the walls were covered with musty shag carpeting, paint chips fell from the ceiling, there was no ventilation, it reeked of mildew and urine, and a rusted, jagged pipe hung overhead. 275 271. Compare, e.g., supra note 180 and accompanying text, with ROBERT E. LARZELERE, THERE IS NO SOUND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ANTI-SPANKING BANS (Apr. 2007) [hereinafter LARZELERE, SOUND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE]. 272. See, e.g., Nick Crossley, Emotion, Psychiatry and Social Order: A Habermasian Approach, in HEALTH, MEDICINE AND SOCIETY: KEY THEORIES, FUTURE AGENDAS 293 (S. Williams, J. Gabe & M. Calnan eds., 2000) (“[E]motions are not just technical objects of intervention, [they] have a rational character too, but that the colonisation of emotional life increasingly eclipses this rational dimension in the name of technical intervention.”). 273. Compare, e.g., supra note 267 and accompanying text, with, e.g., STRAUS, supra note 33, at 171 (saying “even a single spanking carries a risk of harmful side effects . . . .”); cf. Jack Shafer, Green Is the New Yellow: On the Excesses of “Green” Journalism, SLATE, July 6, 2007, available at http://www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&id=2169863 (“It places a political agenda in front of the quest for journalistic truth and in its most demagogic forms tolerates no criticism, branding all who question it as enemies of the people.”). 274. Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 297 (1962) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) (“[The present case] is, in effect, a Guarantee Clause claim masquerading under a different label . . . .We have been admonished to avoid ‘the tyranny of labels.’”) (quoting Snyder v. Mass., 291 U.S. 97, 114 (1934)). 275. See Dave Savini, Kids in Confinement, THE IRE JOURNAL, Nov./Dec. 2000 (“In the basement of an elementary school, tucked away in a dark corner was a tiny room. It had a deadbolt lock on the outside and a paper bag concealed the window. Inside, the walls were covered with musty shag carpeting and paint chips fell from the ceiling. There was no ventilation and a rusted, jagged pipe hung overhead. It reeked of mildew and urine. This was a ‘time-out room’ where elementary school students were locked up for such offenses as failing to do homework . . . . [an] 8year-old [boy said] he was terrified of [the time-out room]—he watched kids get locked inside and listened to them scream and kick for long periods of time.”). Because Mr. Savini did not mention any names regarding this timeout room, both Timmy Willis and Jami Stanton are pseudonyms. Also, Mr. Savini’s article does not delineate the mental effects that the timeout room had on children. However, posttraumatic stress disorder fits well because it develops after exposure to extremely terrifying events. RACHEL YEHUDA, RISK FACTORS FOR POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS
11-FULLER_FINAL_AFTERPROOF.DOC 2/17/2009 8:50 AM 2009] THE SCIENCE AND STATISTICS BEHIND SPANKING 295 Jami lost the battle for control; she lost control of herself; she lost control of her temper and her ability to discipline reasonably. 276 Timmy’s posttraumatic stress disorder illustrates the tendency for mental punishment to become mental abuse. 277 There’s a fine line between mental abuse and legal, socially approved timeout and other modes of disciplining children. 278 Despite this, the idea that timeout increases the risk that a parent will go too far and cross the line to mental abuse has been largely ignored. 279 This abusive timeout is appalling, but so is the conclusion drawn from it. Few people really think timeout inherently increases the risk that a parent will mentally abuse her child. Nevertheless, this story says timeout leads to mental abuse in exactly the same way that some researchers have said spanking leads to physical abuse. 280 There is no empirical basis for either argument. 281 But as advertisers have long been aware, if you repeat a claim frequently enough, people will eventually believe it. 282 Accordingly, many researchers commonly label spanking “violence,” and children who have been spanked “victims.” 283 Because they repeatedly allege that physical discipline is inherently evil, lawmakers are beginning to believe it. 284 DISORDER xiii (1999). In order to concretely illustrate the scare tactics researchers like Dr. Straus use, this paragraph applies the facts from Mr. Savini’s story to one of Dr. Straus’ paradigmatic scare stories. Cf. STRAUS, supra note 33, at 81 (“Ricky LeTourneau ‘was disciplined to death’ by foster mother Deborah Wolfenden after she lost control of her temper and beat him.”). 276. Cf. STRAUS, supra note 33, at 81 (“[She] lost the battle for control. She lost control of herself. She lost control over her temper and her ability to discipline reasonably.”). 277. Cf. id. (“Ricky’s death illustrates the tendency for physical discipline to become physical abuse.”). 278. Cf. id. (“There is a fine line between physical abuse and legal, socially approved spanking and other modes of disciplining children.”). 279. Cf. id. (“Despite this, the idea that spanking increases the risk that a parent will go too far and cross the line to physical abuse has been largely ignored.”). 280. See supra notes 275-279 and accompanying text (relating a similar story about physical abuse from Dr. Straus’ book). 281. See, e.g., supra note 211 and accompanying text. 282. See, e.g., MADSEN PIRIE, HOW TO WIN EVERY ARGUMENT: THE USE AND ABUSE OF LOGIC 113 (“Advertisers have long been life members of the ad nauseam society. They know that a specious claim acquires credibility and force if it is repeated often enough. They know the importance of building up not a rational conviction but a habit of association . . . . [T]o use the argumentum ad nauseam is easy enough: all you have to do is to repeat yourself.”). 283. See, e.g., U.N., Children and Violence, supra note 5, at 6 (calling spanking, “violence,” and children who have been spanked, “victimized”). 284. See, e.g., supra note 98 and accompanying text; Part II, supra.
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