The Science and Statistics Behind Spanking Suggests that

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11-FULLER_FINAL_AFTERPROOF.DOC 2/17/2009 8:50 AM 314 AKRON LAW REVIEW [42:243 Throughout Dr. Baumrind’s study, children in authoritative families had the highest optimism, highest academic achievement, and highest self-esteem. 390 By contrast, children that were given high demands but not much love didn’t turn out as well. 391 And children from permissive homes that were given a lot of love but not much responsibility didn’t turn out as well either. 392 These generalizations applied regardless of the child’s gender, and regardless of whether the family was separated or intact. 393 Dr. Baumrind’s study validates the authoritative parenting model that balances love and firm guidance. 394 This is virtually the same model to which Dr. Spock dedicated most of his career. 395 To him, good child development depended largely on the “clarity and consistency of the parents’ leadership [and on] whether the spanking parent was generally kind and devoted. . . .” 396 He believed that the “[i]nability to be firm [was] the commonest problem of parents in America.” 397 390. See, e.g., Baumrind, Influence, supra note 337, at 62 (“Children from authoritative homes have consistently been found to be more instrumentally competent—agentic, communal, and cognitively competent—than other children . . . .”); id. at 69-71 (showing that children of authoritative parents overall showed the greatest maturity, optimism, self-esteem, cognitive motivation, and academic achievement, among other things). 391. See, e.g., BAUMRIND, OPTIMAL CAREGIVING, supra note 388, at 70 (saying that for preadolescents in Baumrind’s middle-class population, “[p]arents who were highly demanding but not responsive (the restrictive pattern and the authoritarian prototype) were likely to have daughters who were socially assertive and not highly socially responsible, but sons who did not differ from other boys.” As those children reached adolescence, they “had more internalizing problem behaviors and were more likely to engage in heavy drug use.”). 392. See, e.g., Baumrind, Influence, supra note 337, at 63 (“Preschool and primary school girls from permissive homes, compared to those from authoritative homes, were markedly less selfassertive, and preschool children of both sexes were less cognitively competent.”); Spock, Bratty Child, supra note 25, at 31 (“[P]arental submissiveness doesn’t avoid unpleasantness; it makes it inevitable.”). 393. See BAUMRIND, OPTIMAL CAREGIVING, supra note 388, at 70 (saying these generalizations regarding adolescents’ drug use, behavior, and competence “applied to both sexes, and to intact and separated families.”). 394. See, e.g., Baumrind, Discipline Controversy, supra note 157, at 405 (saying the authoritative model “rejects both extremes of the authoritarian-permissive (or conservative-liberal) polarity, representing instead an integration of opposing unbalanced childrearing positions.”). 395. See, e.g., supra note 24 and accompanying text. 396. See, e.g., id. 397. Spock, Bratty Child, supra note 25, at 29 (also saying, “The commonest reason . . . why parents can’t be firm is that they’re afraid that if they insist, their children will resent them or at least won’t love them as much . . . . [O]ne basic reason—conscious or unconscious—why these parents are afraid of their children is that they don’t want to stir up the same kinds of arguments and disagreeableness that used to occur between them and their own parents . . . . A firm, calm approach makes the child much more likely to co-operate—politely, promptly and completely . . . I know this is true. I’ve seen it work not just hundreds but thousands of times. Parental firmness also makes for
11-FULLER_FINAL_AFTERPROOF.DOC 2/17/2009 8:50 AM 2009] THE SCIENCE AND STATISTICS BEHIND SPANKING 315 VI. CONCLUSION 398 Before October 2007, no more than 10,000 people had ever marched on Sweden’s capital. 399 But after yet another teenager was killed by Swedish teens (this time at a birthday party), an unprecedented 12,000 people swarmed the streets of Stockholm to “say no to violence.” 400 Many others conducted companion marches throughout Sweden. 401 Candles were lit, a moment of silence was held, and thousands mourned over the increasingly common sight of Swedish children killing each other. 402 “Violence is more common today than it a happier child. An adult, too, is happier when she is working for or dealing with someone who is definite, positive and agreeable.”) (emphasis in original); Spock, supra note 24, at 25 (“The main purpose and theme of the [February article] was to encourage the parents to be clear and firm in leading their children—a point of view I’ve often stressed.”). 398. KEYWORDS: spank, spanking ban, smack, smacking ban, slap, corporal punishment, physical discipline, disciplining, train, training, CEO, barricade, timeout, time out, beat, hit, nonviolent, nonviolence, violent, violence begets violence, harm, detrimental, beneficial, aggression, child abuse, neglect, dependency, maltreatment, child maltreatment, cognitive development, brain development, psychology, culture, cultural, religion, religious, emotion, emotional, science, scientific, statistics, research, crime, criminal, teen violence, Murray Straus, Beating the Devil Out of Them, Irwin Hyman, Penelope Leach, Susan Andersen, David Bell, Jane Bluestein, LaVonne Carlson, Karen D’Avanzo, Joan Durrant, Seymour Feshbach, Norma Feshbach, Madeleine Gómez, William Higa, Tom Jambor, Charles Johnson, Eli Newberger, Thomas Sagendorf, H. Patrick Stern, Teresa Whitehurst, Thomas Gordon, Parent Effectiveness Training, Adrienne Haeuser, End Physical Punishment of Children, EPOCH, Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law, Elizabeth Gershoff, children services, children’s services, child protective services, department of social services, CPS, CSB, DSS, CAPTA, Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, Benjamin Spock, Dr. Spock, Baby and Child Care, Robert Larzelere, Diana Baumrind, John Rosemond, James Dobson, Sweden, Swedish, New Zealand, authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, family, father, mother, parent, parenting, childrearing, child rearing, helpless, aggressive, behavior, misbehavior, child welfare, best interests of the child, child’s best interests, child’s rights, children’s rights, rights of the child, child’s human rights, U.N., United Nations, Convention on the Rights of the Child, European Committee of Social Rights. 399. See Sweden Comes to Terms with Huge Youth Demo, THE LOCAL: SWEDEN’S NEWS IN ENGLISH, Oct. 13, 2007, available at http://www.thelocal.se/8781/20071013/ (“Gunnar Abele said he thought the protest was unprecedented. ‘It’s very rare in Sweden. At best on May Day you have 10,000,’ he said.”). 400. See, e.g., id. (“More than 12,000 people swamped the streets of the capital Stockholm on Friday to ‘say no to violence’ after a teenager was killed by drunken teens at a birthday party a week ago.”). 401. See, e.g., id. (“Hundreds of other demonstrators showed their solidarity in other Swedish cities, from Gothenburg to Malmö to Kalmar.”). 402. See, e.g., Antivåldsdemonstration på gång i Malmö [Anti-Violence Demonstration Again in Malmo], SVERIGES RADIO P4 MALMÖ, Oct. 11, 2007, available at http://www.sr.se/cgibin/malmo/nyheter/artikel.asp?Artikel=1650917 (“Klockan fem blir det en tyst minut för kilen från Stockholm som dog. Det blir även tal och tända ljus.” [“At five o’clock there would be a minute’s silence for those that died in Stockholm. There would also be a speech and lit candles.”]); Sweden Comes to Terms with Huge Youth Demo, supra note 399 (“‘I organised this demonstration because I
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