So what, exactly, is physical abuse? It may seem like a question with an obvious answer, but the situation grows a lot murkier once you start getting into exactly how to define it. After all, there’s a large amount of overlap between physical discipline and physical abuse, and most cases of physical abuse emerge from discipline taken too far. So you can’t always separate physical abuse from corporal punishment; the former being a slightly more extreme version of the latter.
As Alice Miller writes, ”Although people tend to make a distinction between ‘spanking’ and ‘beating’ a child, considering the former a less severe measure than the latter, the line between the two is a tenuous one. I just heard a report on an American radio station about a man—a member of a Christian fundamentalist sect in West Virginia—who ‘spanked’ his son for two hours. The little boy died as a result.” (Miller, 1983, p. ix) There are also cases where physical discipline causes a fall or stumble that fractures a child’s skull, or causes them to lose an eye when a whack with a belt lands off its mark. In fact, around two-thirds of all cases of physical abuse actually arise from corporal punishment that is taken too far. (Straus, 1994)
Defining physical child abuse: The legal definition
The legal definitions for physical child abuse are similarly ambiguous and riddled with problems. While the statutes and definitions of physical child abuse can vary slightly state by state, CPS standards state that “corporal punishment…does not, in itself, constitute a report of child physical abuse.” The line separating corporal punishment from physical abuse is a tenuous one, but generally hinges upon…
A) Whether an act constituted “reasonable parental discipline” and the purpose and circumstances surrounding it. For example, whipping a child with a stick might be seen as acceptable discipline ifthe child had stolen something from the store, but not ifthe child had done nothing to provoke this reaction or ifa parent was drunk and picking on the child for no reason.
B) Whether or not an act caused a child injury. As CPS guidelines state, “reports of physical abuse must suggest that a child has been or may have been physically injured by the act…” Of course, this passage, too, is vague and open to multiple interpretations: How do you define an injury? Does a deep bruise count? Or does an injury have to be more severe and permanent like a fracture or broken bone?
C) The relationship of the perpetrator to the child. Parents are generally given a bit more leeway to ‘discipline’ their child in ways that would be considered abusive if coming from a teacher or secondary caregiver.
In practical terms, the criteria used in everyday practice is generally whether or not an act of physical discipline leaves a mark in the form of a bruise, laceration or other lingering physical evidence. When a mother “backhanded” her 14-year-old daughter and left a mark on her face, which the girl then reported to her school counselor for child abuse. “Rice had to explain her actions, and the counselor explained to her the difference between discipline (not leaving a mark) and abuse (leaving a mark).” (Hayes v. Blader, June 4, 2015, Dist. Ct. 9th Cir.)
Of course, such an explanation—which is a standard widely used by professionals—is also rather silly, as it defines child abuse not by the action but by whether or not it leaves any physical evidence on the child.
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Distinguishing physical discipline & corporal punishment from physical abuse
In a scientific sense, trying to differentiate between physical abuse and corporal punishment is a matter of splitting hairs. From the child’s perspective, the two are virtually the same: A child does something that makes an adult upset, and that adult hits them. Which particular body part gets whacked (a rear end versus a face, back, leg or arm) and the adult’s perceived reason to strike a child (which is often confusing and incomprehensible to a child anyway) makes little meaningful difference. Either way it’s an act of violence and aggression by an adult directed at the child, and one which can provoke similar types of reactions.
True to form, studies of physical discipline have found that such methods produce harms similar to that of physical abuse. (Straus, 2001; Schrock, 2010) The effects from spanking and corporal punishment are usually less severe, just because parents who spank their child are usually more calm and collected, whereas physical abuse cases usually involve a more out-of-control adult and more intense anger. But that’s where the distinctions end. A severe spanking from an irate and angry aduli can be just as stressful and potentially tiaumatic as many cases of physical abuse.
Thus the best way to stay out of this gray area and avoid controversies over what qualifies as discipline versus physical abuse is to avoid physical discipline and corporal punishment altogether. Not only is it harmful to children, but it is altogether ineffective: Studies show kids who are spanked are less well-behaved than kids whose parents use other forms of discipline. (Gunnoe & Mariner, 1997; Straus, Sugarman & Giles-Sims, 1997) As Dr. Murray Straus notes, all recent studies on spanking “show that the long-term effect of CP [corporal punishment] is counterproductive.” (2001, p. 4) Children who are spanked show higher rates of misbehavior two and four years later when compared to children who receive other forms of discipline. By age 5 the children who are spanked are more likely to be impulsive, defiant, have temper tantrums, and to lash out physically against other people or animals. (Park, 5-3-2010) Put bluntly, “the more kids are spanked, the more problematic their behavior is,” says Elizabeth Gershoff, who studies the subject. (Park, 10 15 2012)
When you make it your habit to whack a child whenever you’re upset with them, you’re straddling a fence post that’s easy to cross. It’s all too easy for this reflex to be taken too far, either on accident (you whack a child harder than you intended to or in a different body part than you were aiming for), or because you get really upset and lose control of your temper. If we all make it a habit not to hit children for any reason, we can avoid these problems, and would significantly reduce the prevalence of physical abuse.
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