Spare the Rod..., or Spare the Child? Divergent Perspectives on Conservative Protestant Child Discipline
The corporal punishment of children has become a topic of heated social and political debate in recent years. In this paper, I examine one facet of this broader debate, namely, competing presuppositions about religiously legitimated corporal punishment. First, I examine social scientific critiques o...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage Publications
1995
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| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 1995, Volume: 37, Issue: 2, Pages: 97-116 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The corporal punishment of children has become a topic of heated social and political debate in recent years. In this paper, I examine one facet of this broader debate, namely, competing presuppositions about religiously legitimated corporal punishment. First, I examine social scientific critiques of conservative religious rationales for physical punishment. These scholars regard theologically legitimated corporal punishment as (1) unloving and austere, (2) abusive and indiscriminantly violent, and (3) psychosocially damaging to children. Then, I contrast this set of presuppositions with that embraced by prominent conservative Protestant parenting specialists, who (1) believe a restricted reliance on corporal punishment is an expression of parental love and concern, (2) contend that corporal punishment can be administered in a deliberate and non-abusive fashion, and (3) claim that corporal punishment need not impair a child's psychosocial development. I conclude by discussing several promising directions for future research. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3512395 |