Providing a wide spectrum of views, the authors explore the fine
line between normalized physical punishment and illegal or
unacceptable physical and emotional abuse of children. It builds on
the emerging field of research that provides opportunities for
children to speak for themselves about their views and experiences.
* Provides observations from children, professionals and several
generations from within individual families
* Discusses the power of language used by parents, professionals
and the media to describe physical punishment
* Reflects upon the status of children in societies that sanction
their physical punishment, motivations and justifications for its
use, perceptions of its effectiveness, and its impact
* Presents a combination of personal, social, legal, and language
factors which provide significant new insights and suggest ways to
move forward
Innehållsförteckning
Acknowledgements.
1 Introduction.
2 Childhood and physical punishment in historical
perspective.
3 Legal responses to physical punishment.
4 Conducting sensitive and ethical research with children and
adults.
5 Experiences of physical punishment at home, at school and in
public places.
6 Public and professional perceptions of the effectiveness of
physical punishment.
7 The subjugation of children through language and physical
punishment.
8 The effects of physical punishment.
9 The persistence of physical punishment.
10 The morality of physical punishment.
11 An ideal childhood.
References.
Index.
Om författaren
Dr Bernadette Saunders is a Senior Research Fellow at Child
Abuse Prevention Research Australia, and Senior Lecturer in the
Department of Social Work, Monash University where she teaches Law
and Social Justice. She received an Australian Postgraduate Award,
and the support of the Australian Childhood Foundation, to pursue
her doctoral research on physical punishment.
Professor Chris Goddard is Director of Child Abuse
Prevention Research Australia, Monash University. His previous book
Human Rights Overboard: Seeking Asylum in Australia (with
Linda Briskman and Susie Latham, 2008) won the Australian Human
Rights Literature Non-Fiction Award.