Download Randy Barrera Discipline Through the Child`s Eyes Practices

Randy Barrera
Discipline Through the Child’s Eyes
Practices regarding the discipline of children have gone through some paradigm
shifts throughout our lifetime. With all the research that has been done on the effects of
children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes after being disciplined, society has chosen
to either implement new ways of thinking or continuing to discipline their children the
only way they know how. Usually, parents will raise their children by modeling their own
parents' parenting styles. This method can either become advantageous or
disadvantageous. Two theories have raised many questions when it comes to the research
that has gone into the discipline of children, behaviorism and social learning theory.
Behaviorism is a learning theory based on the idea that most behaviors are
acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through environmental interaction.
Behaviorists believe that human beings are like machines that make associations. For
example, when we see a dark cloud we associate the dark cloud with rain, thunder, and
lightening. Behaviorists believe that our interaction with environmental stimuli shapes
our behavior. There are two basic types of behaviorism: classical conditioning and
operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is a learned association between stimuli. A
neutral stimulus eventually becomes a conditioned stimulus by it being paired with an
unconditioned stimulus. Operant conditioning is learned associations between behaviors
and their antecedents and consequences. Such that, behaviors that have a positive
consequence are most likely to reoccur, and behaviors that have negative consequences
are not. As human beings we tend to gravitate towards actions that will benefit us and
make us happy. If something is rewarding we will more than likely carry out that act in
order to get the praise or the reward that we know we are going to receive after
performing this behavior. For example, praising a child for completing their homework is
a form of positive reinforcement. The child is going to internalize that feeling of being
praised after completing their homework and will most likely carry out this action in the
future.
So, when it comes to disciplining children via physical punishment, or spanking,
the behaviorists are either for it or against it. Behaviorists share two different views, both
pro-spanking and anti-spanking ideologies. Pro-spanking behaviorists believe that
spanking is an adverse stimulus that will condition behavior in the long term, for
example, a child will not repeat the unwanted behavior because they do not want to
receive a spanking.
Anti-spanking behaviorists believe that spanking is an operant technique that
gains immediate compliance in the short term. For example, if little Johnny starts eating
glue and gets spanked by his parents he is immediately going to stop performing that
action. However, immediate compliance is only a short-term action. Parents that hit their
children will get them to comply for a while, but the parents will be likely to see that
misconduct reappear later on. Anti-spanking behaviorists also believe that spanking does
not teach a child how to behave. They believe that it may be better to reward the
behaviors that are incompatible with the undesired behaviors. The parent doing the
punishing can easily become a frightening stimulus to the child through classical
conditioning.
Social learning theory is based on the idea that we learn through observation and
imitation. Behaviorism is focused on humans having direct interactions with stimuli and
learning from their successes and failures. Social learning theory says that humans do not
have to directly experience things on their own in order to learn from them. We can
simply observe someone being punished or rewarded by certain actions and internalize
that negative or positive consequence and choose to perform that particular action or not.
Social learning theory is goal-oriented and social learning theorists believe that behavior
can be self-regulated. Punishment of children via spanking is completely against all
social learning theorists. Social learning theorists believe that spanking is a model of
aggressive behavior that the child will observe and may imitate. The child can easily
learn and use this type of behavior. Spanking can eventually cause long-term behavioral
problems for the child. Children that are spanked or witnesses to someone being spanked
can utilize aggression to resolve conflicts in their current and future relationships. Social
learning theorists believe that it is beneficial for the child to get an explanation on what
he/she can do and why, rather than resorting to physical punishment. By giving the child
an explanation they then become better at self-regulation.
Although both of these theories seem to be polar opposites, they do share certain
similarities. Behaviorism and the social learning theory both share the idea that
experiences are an important part of learning. The experiences that these children go
through will more than likely be what they will model for the rest of their lives. These
theories also share the basic question of, "why do humans behave the way they do?"
Furthermore, these two theories also agree that feedback is important when promoting
learning. Feedback is extremely important when dealing with the disciplinary action of
children. Children need to know what they are being punished for so they can learn from
their own misconduct. Finally, both theories include concepts of reinforcement and
punishment in their explanation of behavior. Reinforcement is important because it
manages good and bad behavior. If a parent is consistent with their reinforcement then
children will continue good behavior and refrain from bad behavior.
These theories may have some similarities, but their differences are greater in
number. To behaviorists, all behavior derives from an external stimulus. Behaviorists
hold that behavior can be modified through the use of reinforcement or punishment.
Punishments are stimuli created to discourage a certain behavior and reinforcements are
stimuli designed to encourage a certain behavior to recur. Social learning theory is also
focused around the idea of why humans behave the way they do; however, what separates
this theory from behaviorism is that learning is derived from observation and imitation.
Social learning theory suggests three different practices that are necessary in order to
learn: reproduction, motivation, and retention. Reproduction is the act of a child being
able to reproduce the behavior they have observed. Motivation is the individuals’
eagerness to want to perform that behavior, and retention is the individuals’ ability to
recall the behavior that he or she observed. Social learning theorists believe that behavior
is goal-directed and behaviorists disagree with this idea. Behaviorists also do not believe
in self-regulation, they believe that we are rewarded through the environment. When it
comes to physically punishing a child behaviorists share a pro-spanking view and an antispanking view. A fare share of behaviorists believe it is okay to spank children while the
others believe spanking is harmful towards the child and does not really help them learn
how to behave. Social learning theorists are one hundred percent against physical
punishment towards children. It is this difference between the two theories that produces
so many disagreements between theorists.
Research shows that the cons of spanking children out weigh the pros. The only
things you are achieving by spanking children are immediate compliance and the
reinforcement of parental authority. Many parents do find these two things to be
extremely important in which case they resolve conflict by physical punishment.
Immediate compliance is only effective at that very moment, but the undesired behavior
will reappear in the future. With this being said, the social learning theory is a more
effective way of thinking when it comes to the discipline of children. Social learning
theorists believe in self-regulation, which is the process of taking control of your own
learning and behavior. Learning how to behave should be about self-exploration and
learning how to figure things out on your own while maintaining some sense of
autonomy. Social learning theory focuses on helping children understand what they could
do to improve their bad behavior through observation and guidance. Being a good role
model for your children could be one of the best things you can do for them in the long
run. Children will always have a their parents habits in them, especially how they carry
themselves and behave. Future research on this subject needs to focus more on how both
behaviorists and social learning theorists can work together to improve the way human
beings behave and how the relationship between children and parents impact children's
futures.