Physical assaults against children
| Pages | 54-61 |
| Date | 13 January 2012 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17596591211192993 |
| Published date | 13 January 2012 |
| Author | Richard L. Davis |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
Physical assaults against children
Richard L. Davis
Abstract
Purpose – A fundamental purpose of Massachusetts’ General Law 209A is to prevent the use of
physically assaultive behavior between family members and intimate partners to change or alter their
behavior.This Massachusetts Law is similar to laws in all 50 states. Despite the fact that the vast majority
of domestic violence laws contain no exceptions for age, the acceptance of physical assaults against
children continues. This paper aims to investigate physical assaults on children.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares and contrasts corporal punishment and
domestic violence laws and explores what role cognitive dissonance plays in the acceptance of physical
assaults against children by parents or guardians. It questions how or why public policy makers,
domestic violence interveners and the majority of American adults continue to accept that the goal of
preventing family physical assaults is possible in a family or a society that condones rather than
condemns the use of physical assaults against children, including the use of belts or other injurious
instruments.
Findings – This paper presents corporal punishment and criminal justice data that suggest that when
some states did end corporal punishment in schools, the use of violence in general in that state was
reduced.
Originality/value – These data suggest it may be possible to end or reduce the use of all physically
assaultive behavior against another person in general when society condemns the use of all physically
assaultive behavior regardless of age.
Keywords Law enforcement, Spanking, Risk factors, Physical assault, Domestic violence,
Cognitive dissonance
Paper type General review
The law still stops for some family members
On page 19 of the 1984, US Department of Justice Attorney General’s TaskForce on Family
Violence report it notes that, ‘‘An assault is a crime regardless of the relationship of the
parties.’’ On the same page it also notes that, ‘‘The law should not stop at the front door of
the family home’’ (Hart, 1984). The fact is that the law continues to stop at the front door
for family assaults against children and these assaults include the use of belts or other
injurious instruments (Davis, 2011; Straus, 2011; World Corporal Punishment Research,
2011).
In this twenty-first century, it should be obvious to public policy makers and domestic
violence interveners that we have not and are not going to arrest and incarcerate our way to
safer homes, families or neighborhoods. Too often public policy makers and domestic
violence interveners, fail to recognize that the criminal justice system, by its very nature,
provides reactionary, not preventative, intervention. Education and proper role models,
not incarceration, are the best and most cost effective panaceas for physical assaults inside
and outside our homes (Davis, 2011; Lubell et al., 2008; Tremblay et al., 2008).
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JOURNALOF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACE RESEARCH
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VOL. 4 NO. 1 2012, pp. 54-61, QEmerald GroupPublishing Limited,ISSN 1759-6599 DOI 10.1108/17596591211192993
Richard L. Davis is an
Adjunct Instructor at
Quincy College at
Plymouth, Plymouth,
Massachusetts, USA and
President of Family
NonViolence Inc.,
Fairhaven,
Massachusetts, USA.
To read all of the articles and
studies referenced in the
paper, use the URLs provided.
There is also an online
hyperlinked version of this
paper that can be found at:
http://familynonviolence.
wordpress. If you have any
questions, please contact the
author.
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