A new book which includes research on over 7,000 US families plus data from 32 different countries, has found that spanking is ultimately detrimental to children.
The book, by Professor Murray Straus of the University of New Hampshire and colleagues, finds that four decades of research is heavily against the use of spanking for children (Straus et al., 2013; The primordial violence: spanking children, psychological development, violence, and crime).
While it may work to correct their behaviour, it doesn't have any advantages over other methods, and also has significant disadvantages.
Professor Straus explained:
According to the research, more than 90% of the studies agree that spanking is not good for children"Research shows that spanking corrects misbehavior. But it also shows that spanking does not work better than other modes of correction, such as time out, explaining, and depriving a child of privileges. Moreover, the research clearly shows that the gains from spanking come at a big cost."
Comment: The one underlying problem that often gets ignored is the very food we eat! See 'Carbohydrates rot the brain': Neurologist slams grains as 'silent brain killers' - and says we should be eating a high-fat diet and The Ketogenic Diet - An Overview for more information.