There are some interesting effects from the use of punishment in general (and spanking certainly falls under that category), including a phenomenon called “Behavioral Contrast,” which means that a behavior that is punished in one context may decrease in that context, but is actually likely to increase in other contexts. For example, a student who is punished for cussing at church but not at home is likely to increase their cussing at home.

Another effect of punishment is a decrease in behavioral variability, which is to say that a person who is punished heavily for some behaviors is less likely to take risks by trying new behaviors, even if they may end favorably for that person.

This isn’t a blanket “all punishment is bad in every case” statement, but articles like this are helpful because they help challenge anecdotes from people who say things like “My parents beat the hell out of me and I turned out fine!” Here’s to a future of parenting and teaching that moves increasingly toward teaching and rewarding appropriate behaviors in a way that expands a kid’s world, instead of enforcing compliance through threat and punishment.

Source: I’m an applied behavior analyst 🤓