(Fern5827) wrote in message ...
....Hmmmmm......like trying to legislate when rain falls...........


Psychological Aggression Toward Children Almost Universal in American Families
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FAMILIES CHILDREN PSYCHOLOGICAL AGGRESSION RESEARCH AMERICAN
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Psychological aggression toward children of all ages is so prevalent in
American family life that it was found in almost all the families studied in
new research.


Psychological aggression toward children of all ages is so prevalent in
American family life that it was found in almost all the families studied in
new research by Murray Straus, Professor of Sociology and co-Director of the
Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire; and Carolyn
Field, sociology researcher at Elizabethtown College.

For their article, “Psychological Aggression by American Parents: National
Data on Prevalence, Chronicity, and Severity,� in the November issue of
Journal of Marriage and Family, researchers Straus and Field studied 991
American parents. Almost all of the parents reported yelling, screaming, or
shouting as a method of correction or to control the behavior of the child.
“This means,� states Straus, “that nearly all parents, regardless of
other demographic characteristics, used at least some psychological aggression
as a disciplinary tactic.�

Okay, I'm following this so far.....

In their article, Straus and Field note that parents and authorities are
reluctant to label this type of aggression as abuse. One reason for the
reluctance may be the widespread belief that such a label would require
criminal justice or child-welfare intervention. “Not true,� states Straus.
“Many less extreme steps to end psychological aggression are possible,
starting with public service television spots to sensitize parents to the
problem.�

But isn't there a distiction between "psychological aggression" which
I assume means Haranguing a child for no apparent reason inorder to
demoralise/lower self-esteem (you know, like Sws do

The researchers also disagree with another widespread belief that
the resilient child is not harmed by the occasional instance of psychological
aggression. “There is no empirical evidence,� Straus stated, “to indicate
occasional psychological abuse, such as the frustrated parent ‘blowing off
steam,’ is harmless.�

But a parent blowing off steam is quite often a parent who has :

a)asked child nicely to do or not do X/Y/Z in order to protect said
child or instil some sense of order into said childs life at least ten
times
b)been ignored, back chatted, or screamed at by said child.
c)has tried reasoning, bribery,and all other methods espoused by
parenting manuals and is terrified that if they do not make sure said
child complies it will be detrimental to the child or even to the
parent if its something that an outside authority might be concerned
about, and
d)would rather shout than beat?

Two other common arguments are given for the lack of recognition of
psychological aggression as abuse. The first argument is that even the most
loving parents will occasionally “lose it.� Straus and Field comment that
this is an explanation for some types of psychological aggression, rather than
a justification for this behavior. And, second, there’s the difficult issue
of when to draw the line between psychological aggression and abuse. “Is it
the 10th time or the 25th time?� ask the authors. Straus’s own opinion is
that, “Any psychological aggression is abuse the moment it is done.�

So 99.9 % of adults in todays society have survived an abusive
childhood.

“Throughout his career,� states Greer Litton Fox, Professor of Child and
Family Studies at the University of Tennessee, “Murray Straus has opened our
collective eyes to the negative side of family life and forced the American
public to come to grips with issues that we might prefer to ignore. Taken all
together these data suggest that nearly every child in this country with some
regularity has experienced many withering outbursts from parents who were angry
or upset, or in response to a child’s misbehavior.�

Yep, because sometimes gentle nuturing doesn't work. Sometimes the
only way to stop little Johnny getting run over is to shout at him.
And then when the ensuing lecture gets emotional and loud it is a
reflection of the fear and love of the parent for the safety of the
child. Children learn that different actions elicit different
responses from their parents. If everything is repsponded to by calm
and reasoned argument surely this will make a child feel they cannot
evoke true emotional responses from a parent ? And also how many
psychs and psychologists practise a theory believing that always being
calm and rational is dangerous suppression of emotion leading to
problems later in life when it all comes out...??

When asked where should this research go next, Fox replies, “Two directions
would seem especially useful. First would be the relationships between parental
verbal behaviors and the circumstances that elicit them. If we knew how they
were related, perhaps we could help to reduce the amount of verbal aggression
parents direct toward children. Second is the effect of parental verbal
behaviors on child outcomes. We need to know in what ways, if any, the kinds of
behaviors identified in this article as parental psychological aggression
affect children. If we know the effects, we are in a better position to
counteract them.�

So this research tells us that most parents shout at their children to
different degrees for undefined reasons. Surely the reasons why and
the effects would determine the idea that it is psychological
aggression, not just the mere fact it happens.

Straus and Field agree with Fox’s assessment of future directions. But
although Straus concludes that researchers need to define levels of aggression
and the extent they are tied to unfavorable outcomes for the child, he
stresses, “I am confident we will find that, because of its negative
consequences, psychological aggression is unacceptable at any level.�

I agree shouting is not nice, but if every negative response to
misbehaviour is ruled out, and we are left with the idea that only
positive reinforcemant of good behaviour is allowed, I believe we'll
see a huge rise in childhood accidents where children don't realise
they've been gently told not to play on the railway tracks in case
they get hurt, rather than bawled out for doing so and being scared of
the consequences of doing it again. I repeat, there is a strong
argument for an extreme reaction in a parent showing a child that its
welfare is important enough to elicit that reaction when they are in
danger.If the relationship of child and parent is good, then I don't
think parents should be given yet another thing to worry about
regarding the diminishing arsenal of parenting tools.



The Journal of Marriage and Family is a quarterly publication of the National
Council on Family Relations, 3989 Central Avenue NE, Suite 550, Minneapolis, MN
55421.

Go to http://www.ncfr.org/about_us/j_press_releases.asp for the full article.