Describe some of the undesirable consequences of frequent harsh punishment.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Frequent harsh punishment promotes immediate compliance but not lasting changes in behavior. The more harsh threats, angry physical control, and physical punishment children experience, the more likely they are to develop serious, lasting problems. These include weak internalization of moral rules; depression, aggression, antisocial behavior, and poor academic performance in childhood and adolescence; and depression, alcohol abuse, criminality, physical health problems, and family violence in adulthood.
Repeated harsh punishment has wide-ranging undesirable side effects. One negative effect is that the punishment itself models aggression. Harshly treated children develop a chronic sense of being personally threatened, which prompts them to focus on their own distress rather than respond sympathetically to others. Children who are frequently punished learn to avoid the punitive parent, who, as a result, has little opportunity to teach desirable behaviors. By stopping children's misbehavior temporarily, harsh punishment gives adults immediate relief. For this reason, a punitive adult is likely to punish more often over time, a course of action that can spiral into serious abuse. Children, adolescents, and adults whose parents used corporal punishment-physical force that inflicts pain but not injury-are more accepting of such discipline. In this way, use of physical punishment may transfer to the next generation.