cover image The Case Against Spanking: How to Discipline Your Child Without Hitting

The Case Against Spanking: How to Discipline Your Child Without Hitting

Irwin A. Hyman, Hyman. Jossey-Bass, $21.95 (250pp) ISBN 978-0-7879-0342-8

Director of the National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment and a professor of psychology at Temple University, Hyman has focused previous works on corporal punishment in the schools (Reading, Writing and the Hickory Stick). This time around, he presents a convincing argument against spanking in the home and includes a Parent Punitive Quiz by which readers can measure their attitudes toward punishment. Spanking, hitting and other forms of corporal punishment are senseless, Hyman asserts, resulting in lowered self-esteem and teaching children to use violence themselves. Hyman outlines a number of ways to gain control without using physical tactics, such as reward systems, preventive measures and time-outs. Hyman holds firm in his belief that spanking never has to be used. He goes so far as to suggest that spanking be outlawed and cites examples of other nations that have made spanking illegal (such as Austria and Italy), and, without suggesting how such a law might be reasonably enforced, makes the point that the mere existence of anti-spanking legislation could change societal attitudes toward corporal punishment. In this informative text, Hyman shores up his passion for children's rights with logic and research. (June)