nausearockpig wrote:Adurentibus Spina wrote:
I don't care what you think it did for you.
That's a strange thing to say. I sincerely believe that being smacked helped me become the person I am today.
My point was to undermine your self-ascription of causal efficacy so that we can look at what would happen if everyone did it. In saying that I don't care what YOU THINK it did for you, I am not saying I don't care what it did for/to you. Maybe it had a negative effect you don't know about. People are very good at coping/rationalizing, etc. But I wanted to take the focus away from opinion based on single, personal, cases, and put it more on objective data about what happens to children who have received corporal punishment. You must admit there's a difference between what you think your childhood did for you, and what it did do. I mean, that they aren't necessarily the same. The story you tell yourself now, as a mature adult, may not match the causal story. That's why it's unreliable.
That along with the other facets of my parents's styles of upbringing. Some I think could have been done better - for instance, my parents didn't force me to do my homework or study. Had they done that when I really think that I didn't have the mental capacity to understand WHY I should be studying hard (or at all) I would be in a better position now than I am today. Maybe not, I guess it's impossible to tell..
Those are interesting thoughts, though I think tangential to the point. I think you're right that it is impossible to know. You also could have been born to extremely physically, emotionally, or sexually abusive parents (or other family members).
nausearockpig wrote:
Adurentibus Spina wrote:
That isn't a reason to accept it generally.
On the other hand, I don't think that smacking should be used universally - some kids will not react to it in a "favourable" way, and some parents should not use smacking as it can clearly lead to abuse.
For the record, I never got hit with a belt or a wooden spoon and was only caned at school once (that was mainly cos i was following another kid's lead and we got caught) so maybe I was a pretty good kid and the smacking did nothing, or maybe it reinforced what I knew.. Or maybe it made me slightly crazy like I know I am..
I was really only saying that actually hurting a child as a way of disciplining them doesn't actually do anything that some other non-harmful method would also accomplish. My parents gave me the ol' "wash your mouth out with soap" (which was actually vinegar and other non-toxic but horrible tasting stuff) if I swore, but they also fostered a love of reading that made a limited vocabulary short-lived in the first place (thus removing the need to insert "fuckin'" because of a lack of alternatives).
I whole heartedly agree that I have sociopathic tendencies in my personality. Part of the reason that I got into psychology (Clincial, about to have a MBA in I/O psych if I ever finish the internship, and I minored in business and childhood development... ironically) in the first place was to learn those things. I would not say I'm a psychopath but I do have an anger management issue and with those combined yeah I could see how you could think I'm in that personality type. But I guess I should preface it by saying the people that I would like to beat are usually doing something stupid, like beating their kid in public, or men beating up on women, or people picking on disabled people. Things of that nature. But like I said even in those situations I would go to jail.
But either way its good I know these things about myself, I think it has made me a better person. As I'm less selfish these days than I was as a teen and overall a more open and caring person to the people around me.
That's reassuring to hear, actually. Keep it up. I wasn't sure I should mention how your description of yourself came across to me... might be too personal.
What about Goth kids before them? What about Yuppies in the 80s with their cocaine and business lunches and shit? What about hippies and punks and rockers? (Not to mention the weirder stuff in the 90s like Gwar and D&D Freaks listening to Manson and shooting up schools...)
