NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR MAJOR EDUCATIONAL MEASURE ABSOLUTELY UNPREDICTABLE EFFECT BEHAVIOR CORPPORAL PUNISHMENT LIGHT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT PUNISHMENT

1. Pros and Cons of Punishment

2. Punishment is basically an external action that is performed towards an individual as a
result of their negatively-perceived behavior or separate deed. Punishment is
implemented in order to reduce the chances of individual’s repeating a behavior that is
interpreted negatively (Holth, 2005). There is an ongoing debate about the effectiveness
and reasonability of punishment, and this debate is not groundless. Punishment has
been used by people as a major educational measure since ancient times, and
proponents of punishment claim that the humanity cannot do without using it, and that it
has many positive effects. Meanwhile, there is a substantial counterforce declaring that
punishment is not simply immoral, but that it has an absolutely unpredictable effect and,
thus, is a questionable tool for an influence on an individual.
The strongest argument of those who support punishment is that there is a strong
correlation between it and decrease in manifestations of unwanted behavior (Holth,
2005). It should be admitted that this procedure can turn out to be working with some
people. The researchers have even managed to establish the factors that predetermine
a successful result of punishment. They assert that negative behavior will most likely be
reconsidered if punishment comes right after it. That can be explained by simply
learning “cause and effect principle”. Besides, misbehavior that is noticed and punished
as many times as it happens is also reported to disappear eventually.

3. Although many countries have already banned light corporal punishment of children by
parents, or by teachers, like Sweden, where it happened in 1979, there are still places
where it is allowed either legally, or by church (Paintal, 2007). Thus, Jewish religious
law admits light corporal punishment, but insists that it should either be performed
immediately after misbehavior, or not performed at all (Shmueli, 2010). They point out
that punishment that is carried out some time after cannot be connected with a
particular negative behavior, and, therefore, is ineffective (Shmueli, 2010).
Speaking about drawbacks of punishment, it needs mentioning that there are numerous
cases when punishment proves to be useless, or, even harmful. First of all, it is difficult
to estimate the longevity of punishment’s positive effect if it really exists. While a
behavior may change as a result of punishment, the effect may be very short-term;
sometimes it lasts just as long as punishment itself does.
At the same time, the consequences of punishment are …
More on assignmentlab.com/ln-slideshare