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Question: Corporal Punishment

There are thousands of Web sites and self-help parenting books with differing ideas about corporal punishment and hitting, striking, or spanking. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that the AAP "strongly opposes striking a child for any reason. If a spanking is spontaneous, parents should later explain calmly why they did it, the specific behavior that provoked it, and how angry they felt. They also might apologize to their child for their loss of control. This usually helps the youngster to understand and accept the spanking, and it models for the child how to remediate a wrong" (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012).
What are social and cultural issues that impact how parents view corporal punishment, and how they might respond to the AAP's stance on striking a child? What outcomes have been associated with parental use of corporal punishment? From a non-clinical, prevention perspective, what approaches have been identified as best practices for reducing corporal punishment?

(you must use at least two references from the reading to support your answer)

unit reading:
Parenthood and Parenting
INTRODUCTION

The Journal of Family Theory and Review is an excellent journal for seeking out theoretical perspectives related to family research. It is a fairly recent addition to the peer-reviewed journals of the National Council on Family Relations. (The other two are Journal of Marriage and the Family and Family Relations). Kluwer's 2010 article, published in this journal, discusses the impact of the transition to parenthood on marriage.

Chapter 10 of your text reviews the sociological demography of parenthood, its value, young and unwed parenthood, birthrates, family size, birth order, et cetera. In Chapter 11, the authors focus more specifically on parent-child interaction, socialization, and gender-role differences. The sociological perspective emphasizes the differences in parenting goals, and the effectiveness of parenting methods and styles across and within segments of the U.S. population. Parent-child attachment theory is discussed and, although the authors do not mention the work of Ainsworth and Bowlby (1965) on attachment theory, or Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1968) on temperament; social scientists should know of their pioneering work (see references to some of their seminal work below) as well as the work of Baumrind (1966) on parenting styles (which is mentioned).
The text also offers a brief overview of single parenting, looking at both single mothers and single fathers, but does not address gay parenting. Doherty and Craft (2011) use symbolic interaction and family systems theory to explore the issue of how children being raised by single mothers can develop male-positive attitudes, using psychoeducational messages. Berkowitz (2009) theorizes about lesbian and gay parenting in his article in the Journal of Family Theory & Review, emphasizing the importance of research and scholarship in this area.
In the first decades of the twenty-first century, the political divide in the United States has frequently brought to the forefront issues related to the family, including gay parenting and adoption and single parenting (with an emphasis on single mothering), as well as broader issues, such as contraception. This only serves to further highlight the essential nature of the creation of new knowledge about family issues through empirical research and the interpretation of that research by social science scholars, such as those in this program in Advanced Studies in Human Behavior! Critical analysis of the scholarly research literature is an essential skill, and thus is the focus of your course project. The legacy of Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner is one that you can carry with you into your work with or on behalf of children, youth, and families: "Every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her" (Brendtro, 2006).

References
Ainsworth, M., & Bowlby, J. (1965). Child care and the growth of love. London, UK: Penguin Books.
Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baumrind, D. (1966). Effects of authoritative parental control in child behavior. Child Development, 37, 887–907.
Berkowitz, D. (2009). Theorizing lesbian and gay parenting: Past, present, and future scholarship. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 1(3), 117–132.
Brendtro, L. K. (2006). The vision of Urie Bronfenbrenner: Adults who are crazy about kids. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 15(3), 162–166.
Doherty, W. J., & Craft, S. M. (2011). Single mothers raising children with 'male-positive' attitudes. Family Process, 50(1), 63–76.
Eshleman, J. R., & Bulcroft, R. A. (2010). The family (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Kluwer, E. S. (2010). From partnership to parenthood: A review of marital change across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2(3), 105–125.
Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H. G. (1968). Temperament and behavior disorders in children. New York, NY: New York University Press.