Children who are smacked by parents 'more likely to grow up to be ABUSIVE'
CHILDREN who are smacked by their parents are more likely to grow up to be abusive, according to new research.
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Nearly 800 young adults were involved in a study which looked at whether being hit as a child resulted in more aggressive behaviour as an adult.
It found that spanking or hurting a youngster did lead to the development of a confrontational character and that most people who are violent in their relationships were hit themselves as a child.
The study, from the University of Texas, USA, asked 19 and 20 year olds how often they had been spanked, slapped or struck.
Of the 758 questioned, 68 per cent experienced corporal punishment as a child.
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Kids who said they had experienced corporal punishment were more likely to have recently committed dating violence
And 19 per cent admitted to violence towards their lovers, according to the research published in the Journal of Pediatrics.
The study’s lead author, Jeff Temple, a psychiatry professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch, said that they had to determine what they considered punishment and what they considered abuse.
He said: “We defined child abuse as being hit with a belt or board, left with bruises that were noticeable or going to the doctor or hospital.
“Kids who said they had experienced corporal punishment were more likely to have recently committed dating violence.”
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The study found it was not just children who had been abused with physical violence who turned out to be nasty when they were older.
Spanking as a form of punishment was enough to increase violent behaviour in adults.
The participants had been part of an ongoing scientific trial in Texas since they were mid-teens.
The trend to become violent in adulthood was true regardless of sex, age, parental education, ethnicity and childhood abuse.
Researchers controlled these factors in their analysis and found that they made no difference.
Hitting a child as a form of punishment has been outlawed in several countries across the world such as France, Scotland and Sweden.
A man was jailed in Somerset a few weeks ago after smacking his son’s bottom resulted in bruising.
In the UK, it is unlawful for a parent or carer to smack their child, except where this amounts to ‘reasonable punishment’.
This defence is laid down in section 58 of the Children Act 2004.
The defence of reasonable punishment is not valid in the case where the punishment ‘amounts to wounding, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm or child cruelty.’
An NSPCC spokesperson said: ”There is clear evidence that physical punishment damages children’s wellbeing and is linked to poorer outcomes in childhood and adulthood.
“We would encourage parents to use alternative methods to teach their children the difference between right and wrong, with a positive parenting approach such as setting clear and consistent boundaries.”
