The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Corporal Essay

The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Corporal Punishment - Essay Example Despite significant support for such broad generalizations, many questions remain regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child growth. The expressions physical punishment and corporal punishment are employed here as synonyms to refer to an action by parents intended to cause the child physical hurting, but not injury, for purposes of correction or control of misconduct. The 1975 and 1985 National Family Violence Surveys discovered that about 95% of American parents use corporal punishment as just cleared. This is consistent with a large number of other studies (Straus, 1991) and with the faith that corporal punishment is used by parents with tots or young children. Public health advocates have described corporal punishment as "a form of interfamilial violence associated with short and long-term adverse mental health outcomes" (Stewart et al., 2000, p. 257). Corporal punishment in the United States presents a complex picture, with high but decreasing rates of general approval, and a population increasingly divided regarding its use (Straus & Mathur, 1994). The approval of corporal punishment in the United States decreased dramatically from 94% in 1978 to 68% in 1994 (Straus & Mathur, 1996). Whereas in 1978 there was almost universal approval in the United States for parents spanking children, regardless of demographic variables, by 1994 disagreements were evident, with greater approval noted among African Americans, Southerners, and those with fewer years of formal education (Straus & Mathur, 1996). Unfortunately, data concerning Latinos are limited. Frequently, Latinos are simply excluded from the sample or are miscoded as African American or White (Ortega, Guillean, & Najera, 1996). The actual use of corporal punishment in the United States is also decreasing (Dart & Gelles, 1992; Straus, 1994). Even so, corporal punishment is still used widely, and Giles-Sims, Straus, and Sugarman (1995) have reported that "almost all children in the United States are spanked by their parents at some point in their lives" (p. 170). For parents to give up corporal punishment, they need to establish an effective alternative system of instruction and discipline. Research supports the notion that three kinds of parenting behaviors constitute such a system: those that promote the parent-child relationship, those that reinforce positive behaviors, and those that decrease undesired behaviors (Howard, 1996). Parents who resort to frequent or severe corporal punishment are likely to rely too much on punitive techniques, without using the other methods. They may underutilize other ways to gain compliance: through building their relationship with their children, reinforcing positive behaviors, and decreasing undesired behaviors through means other than punishment (e.g., distracting the child). Male gender, lower socioeconomic status, comorbid analysis of ADHD, positive parental history of mental illness

Interpretation and Analysis of the essay From hope to Hopelessness by

Interpretation and Analysis of the From hope to Hopelessness by Margaret Wheatly - Essay Example is will also focus on the techniques that Wheatley employs as a function of delivering her method and whether or not these techniques are successful or not. Finally, the response piece will focus on how the essay made this student feel after reading it. Accordingly, it is the hope of this student that the forthcoming analysis will not only provide something of a personal take with respect to Margaret Wheatley’s work, it is my further hope that the reader will come to gain a more informed understanding for the tactics and approach that Wheatley uses to engage the reader. The first strategy that Wheatley employs is with respect to providing a pathos filled introduction that discusses the level of depression and hopelessness that she has been feeling with regard to the state of the current world. Referencing the human brutality, environmental destruction, and lack of vision for the way in which these issues might be addressed, Wheatley confesses that she battles with depression at the specter of these issues and how they impact upon her and the remainder of the human race. This is an especially interesting and effective approach to the issues at hand. The underlying reason for this has to do with the fact that Wheatley engages the reader in an understanding of the issues that have driven her to write the piece, encourages a degree of empathy from the reader, and then expands the need for discussion based upon the fact that these very same issues affect almost each and every stakeholder on the planet equally. The rhetorical strength of the introductory paragraphs is also important to note; due in part to the fact that it is within these paragraphs that Wheatley raises the key questions she will go about answering during the course of the remainder of the essay. For instance, the question of whether fighting hopelessness is a worthy human goal, whether human labor means anything, and whether or not action or inaction ultimately rank the same are all briefly