Child Maltreatment and Physical Punishment Research

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key research, prominent psychologists, policy actions, and impacts related to child maltreatment and corporal punishment.

Four Basic Types of Child Maltreatment

The four primary classifications of child maltreatment, identified as neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.

Underreporting of Child Sexual Abuse

The established reality that instances of child sexual abuse are likely grossly underreported.

Emotional Abuse

A form of maltreatment characterized by bizarre punishment, threats, put-downs, scapegoating, and name-calling.

Sandra Graham-Bermann, PhD

A University of Michigan researcher who stated that evidence clearly shows spanking and causing pain can lead to aggression, defiant behavior, and mental health problems in children.

Alan Kazdin, PhD

A behaviorist from Yale University who described spanking as horrible, stated that it does not work, and asserted that there is no need for corporal punishment.

United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child Treaty

A treaty stating physical punishment is domestic violence against children that must be eliminated via legislation and education; supported by 191 countries, while the USA was one of two that declined to ratify it.

Elizabeth Gershoff, PhD

A University of Texas researcher who reviewed decades of research and published a report calling for the ban of physical discipline in all US schools, endorsed by the AAP, AMA, and Psychologists for Social Responsibility.

American Psychological Association's Task Force on Physical Punishment of Children

An APA task force that asked psychologists to tell parents physical punishment is not appropriate parenting, noting corporal punishment creates significant anger without reducing undesirable behavior.

Temporary Suppression via Fear

The mechanism by which physical punishment momentarily stops target behavior only because children are afraid of being hit, which fails to work in the long term and can increase child aggression.

Dr. Bobrow's Critique of Spanking

The argument opposing spanking 100% because it causes harm, models violent acting out, reveals poor parental anger management, promotes multigenerational violence, fails to teach positive behavior, and tolerates violence against the defenseless.