Synopses & Reviews
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. These words provided generations of American Christians with the justification for physically disciplining their children, in ways that range from spankings to brutal beatings. This learned and deeply disturbing work of history examines both the religious roots of corporal punishment in America and its consequences -- in the minds of children, in adults, and in our national tendencies toward authoritarian and apocalyptic thinking. Drawing on sources as old as Cotton Mather and as current as today's headlines, Spare the Child is one of those rare works of scholarship that have the power to change our lives.
Synopsis
In this rare work of scholarship, the subject of physical discipline] enters our minds and hearts in a new way, and we are forced to imagine a world in which the hitting of a child is against the laws of both man and God (Chicago Tribune).
He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. These words provided generations of American Christians with the justification for physically disciplining their children, in ways that range from spankings to brutal beatings. This learned and deeply disturbing work of history examines both the religious roots of corporal punishment in America and its consequences -- in the minds of children, in adults, and in our national tendencies toward authoritarian and apocalyptic thinking. Drawing on sources as old as Cotton Mather and as current as today's headlines, Spare the Child is one of those rare works of scholarship that have the power to change our lives.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [223]-248) and index.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsPART I. The Problem
PART II. Experiences
Moral Suasion and Nonviolence
Before Conscious Memory Begins
Memories of Pain and Punishments
Disciplined Death
PART III. Rationales
Religious Rationales
Biblical Roots
Eternal Punishment
Breaking Wills
Methodologies of Punishment
The Last Resort
Secular Rationales
Judicial Justifications
Behaviorist Arguments
PART IV. Consequences
Anxiety and Fear
Anger and Hate
Empathy and Apathy
Melancholy and Depression
Obsessiveness and Rigidity
Ambivalence: Protect and Destroy
Dissociation
Paranoia
Sadomasochism
Domestic Violence
Aggression and Delinquency
Authoritarianism
The Apocalyptic Impulse
PART V. Choices
Notes
Index