Punishment on Trial √ Feel Guilty When You Punish Your Child for Some Misbehavior, but Have Ennio Been Told That Such Is Bad Parenting?
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PunishmentPunishment onon TrialTrial Cipani PunishmentPunishment onon TrialTrial Do you: √ believe that extreme child misbehaviors necessitate physical punishment? √ equate spanking with punishment? √ believe punishment does not work for your child? √ hear from professionals that punishing children for misbehavior is abusive and doesn’t even work? Punishment on Trial Punishment on √ feel guilty when you punish your child for some misbehavior, but have Ennio been told that such is bad parenting? If you answered “yes” to one or more of the above questions, this book may Cipani be just the definitive resource you need. Punishment is a controversial topic that parents face daily: To use or not to use? Professionals, parents, and teachers need answers that are based on factual information. This book, Punishment on Trial, provides that source. Effective punishment can take many forms, most of which do not involve physical punishment. This book brings a blend of science, clinical experience, and logic to a discussion of the efficacy of punishment for child behavior problems. Dr. Cipani is a licensed psychologist with over 25 years of experience working with children and adults. He is the author of numerous books on child behavior, and is a full professor in clinical psychology at Alliant International University in Fresno, California. 52495 Context Press $24.95 9 781878 978516 1-878978-51-9 A Resource Guide to Child Discipline i Punishment on Trial ii iii Punishment on Trial Ennio Cipani Alliant International University CONTEXT PRESS Reno, Nevada iv ________________________________________________________________________ Punishment on Trial Paperback pp. 137 Distributed by New Harbinger Publications, Inc. ________________________________________________________________________ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cipani, Ennio. Punishment on trial / Ennio Cipani. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 13: 978-1-878978-51-6 (pbk.) ISBN 10: 1-878978-51-9 (pbk.) 1. Discipline of children. 2. Behavior modification. I. Title. HQ770.4.C46 2004 649'.64—dc22 2004018062 ________________________________________________________________________ © 2004 CONTEXT PRESS 933 Gear Street, Reno, NV 89503-2729 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America Cover design by Vanessa Cipani. v Dedication This book serves as a memorial to my late mother, Elvira Portante Cipani, who granted me lessons about life that cannot be found in any classes. vi About the Author Ennio Cipani received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from Florida State University in 1979. He has been a licensed psychologist is California since 1983, and is the director of Cipani & Associates, a behavioral and educational consulting company. In this capacity he and his behavioral specialists have served many families, providing in-home behavioral parent teaching/training services. He and his wife, Lucinda, also have three children of their own: Lorenzo, Vanessa, and Alessandra. He is currently a professor in clinical psychology at Alliant International University and has previously taught at the University of the Pacific in the Department of Special Education. He has published numerous books, professional articles, and behavior management materials for parents and teachers. For more complete information about the author, go to his web site at www.geocities.com/ voivod00 (2 zeros at the end). vii Preface Do you: • Equate spanking with punishment? • Ground your teenager, to no avail? • Believe punishment does not work for your child? • Believe punishment does not teach the child appropriate behavior? • Make common mistakes in using time-out? • Hear from professionals that punishing children for misbehavior is abusive, and doesn’t even work? • Feel guilty when you sense that you should punish your child for some misbehavior, but have been told that such is bad parenting? If you answered, “Yes” to one or more of the above questions, this book may be just the definitive resource you have been waiting for. Punishment is a controver- sial topic, but one that parents face daily: to use or not to use? I have worked with many parents who are haunted by ill feelings when they resort to consequences for their children’s misbehavior. They are told punishment is often ineffective. They have been led to believe that their actions have more to do with their own needs than a desire to teach their children right from wrong. In some cases, they are made to feel that they may have possibly facilitated negative long-term effects on their children’s development, or even engaged in abusive behavior. Many parents therefore question the use of punishment, but have not come up with an effective alternative. As a result, they use it sporadically and hence render it ineffective. Professionals, parents and teachers need answers that are based on factual information. Punishment on Trial provides that source. Effective punishment can take many forms, most of which do not involve physical punishment. This book demystifies punishment for the reader. Punishment on Trial explores common myths held about punishment, and presents scientific evidence and logic to debunk such myths. Techniques that alter undesirable child behavior, backed by research studies a well as real live cases, are presented. Finally a model for a responsible use of punishment is presented. I have attempted to convey this information in an easy to read and entertaining style, while providing a factual basis for the information. This book hopefully presents a nice blend of science, clinical experience, and logic to a discussion of the efficacy of punishment for child behavior problems. viii Acknowledgments I am indebted to Dr. Mary Burch, Petra Sutton and Lucy DeRose for their constructive editing of the manuscript. I would also like to express my appreciation to Steve Eversol, Hiroaki Uemura, Adam Nelson, and Gloria Lopez for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of the book. I also thank Vanessa Cipani for her design of the book cover. Finally, I wish to thank Dr. Jon Bailey, Florida State University, for all of his help and advice over the past 27 years. ix Table of Contents About the Author ............................................................................................. vi Preface ............................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... viii Cases .............................................................................................................. x Introduction ..................................................................................................... 11 Section I: What is Punishment? ..................................................................... 17 Section II: Exposing Myths About Punishment .......................................... 23 Myth #1: Punishment Does Not Work ................................................... 24 Myth #2: Punishment Temporarily Suppresses Behavior (and Therefore Is Not Worth the Effort) .......................................... 44 Myth #3: Punishment Causes Problems for a Child's Emotional Development ...................................................................................... 54 Myth #4: Punishment Is Not as Effective as Reinforcement................... 72 Myth #5: Time-out Does Not Work ........................................................ 86 Section III: Six Basic Principles of Punishment ......................................... 101 Principle I: There Must Exist a Behavioral Contingency ....................... 101 Principle II: Be Consistent ...................................................................... 106 Principle III: The “Even Swap” Rule ....................................................... 113 Principle IV: Remove Competing Consequences .................................. 117 Principle V: Be Specific ........................................................................... 120 Principle VI: Prove It Works ................................................................... 121 Section IV: A Responsible Use of Punishment ......................................... 125 References ...................................................................................................... 135 x Cases The Case of Boys Will Be Boys— Reducing Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children ...................................................................... 12 What Really Happened in the “Good Ole Days?” ........................................... 20 It Will Never Work with These Kids! ............................................................... 25 The Case of: “I did not know what else to do— so I tied him to a chair!” ...... 37 The Case of: “If I could turn back the hands of time.” .................................... 40 Doing Nothing is a Risky Venture?................................................................... 42 The Case of: “Stealing is in His Blood!” ........................................................... 47 The Power of Parental Consequences- the Case of Getting Dressed ............... 52 The Case of: “I Grew to Love You.” ................................................................. 63 The Case