NAP and children

Some good research about a commonly accepted form of violence in our society: parental corporal punishment of children.

Of course, this post is not a comprehensive digest of all research on the subject. Instead it gives a good idea where to look and what to look for. I put this together to prepare for a short talk in my home Libertarian Meetup in London (come along, have a pint).

Prevalence of corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is an act aiming at controlling behaviour by causing pain but not injury.

Corporal punishment of children is common. In the US, 65% of children under two experience it, 80% of children are being hit by the time they are ten and 85% are corporally punished at some point of their lives. 50% of children reported having been hit with a belt or similar object [Gershoff].

When children are being hit, it usually is repetitive. In the US, 42% of children were spanked, hit, slapped, shaken or hit with an object in the last month alone [Lansford].

UK data shows a similar pattern. 55% of parents admit "smacking" the their children before the age of five. Add to this milder forms of parent on child violence like shaking, pushing or restraining to get a full picture [Hansen].

Interestingly Swedish parents are 4 times less likely to use corporal punishment than American parents [Lansford].

Spanking violates NAP

Unless a parent hits the child in self-defence (not very likely), they are initiating physical violence against the child. By definition, this violates the Non-Aggression Principle.

If the moral theory of NAP is correct, then this parent-on-child violence has negative consequences. Below are more findings about this.

Consequences of NAP violations

According to meta analyses of research [e.g. Durrant], corporal punishment leads to a number of shitty things later in life. Some of them are: increased aggression, depression, unhappiness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, use of drugs and alcohol, reduced intelligence, delinquency, spousal assault, deteriorated parent-child relationships and attachment disorders. The fact that corporal punishment leads to family violence later in life completes the life cycle of aggression.

Neuroimaging studies suggest that physical punishment may reduce the volume of
the brain’s grey matter in areas associated with performance on IQ tests. Physical punishment can cause alterations in the dopaminergic regions, which can make it difficult for a person to experience happiness [Durrant].

Here are some examples of detailed research.

Spanked children are more aggressive. For example, 2-years-olds who are spanked three times a month are 50% more likely to demonstrate aggression just two years later [Taylor].

Children who are harshly physically punished (but not harshly enough to leave marks or bruises) are twice as likely to develop anxiety, substance addictions and severe personality disorders [Afifi].

All around the world, children who are spanked are less intelligent. Spanking of children aged 2 to 4 reduces IQ on average by 5 points. Even a small amount of spanking makes a difference. Also, the more frequent the spanking, the higher the intelligence drop [Straus].

Unfortunately for most people, negative effect of spanking are long lasting. For example a study of 16-years-olds showed increased adolescent depression and reduced self-esteem in people who were harshly corporally punished in childhood [Bender].

All the above analyses controlled for demographic and parenting variables other than spanking to remove correlations with other risk factors. Additionally, some research controls for initial level of child's aggression to address causality [Durrant].

The society mirrors the family

It seems like aggression against children may be a more prevalent form of violence than even the state!

People who grow up to be unintelligent, depressed and aggressive will not bring about the change. Similarly, those who cannot experience happiness will not hold it as the highest moral purpose as objectivists want it.

If you want the society to accept NAP, the most important thing you can do is to apply NAP to your own children and help others apply it to theirs.

And one day there will be enough people on the planet capable of de-normalising state violence that voluntaryism will become the dominant social paradigm.

Beyond politics

If you have been spanked as a child, do you understand how it shaped you? Do you know someone who is spanking? Tell them how they are unintentionally harming a child. Know a child who is being spanked? Support the child.

"Peaceful parenting" is the term to google if you want to learn more.



References

• A repository of research by country: http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/research/making-visible.html
• Afifi, et.al., (2012), "Physical punishment and mental disorders: results from a nationally representative US sample", Pediatrics, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22753561/
• Bender et. al. (2007), "Use of harsh physical discipline and developmental outcomes in adolescence, Development and Psychopathology", http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3390918/
• Durrant, et.al. (2012), "Physical punishment of children: lessons from 20 years of research", Canadian Medical Association Journal, http://www.cheo.on.ca/uploads/Durrant%20EnsomCMAJ2012.pdf
• Gershoff, et.al. (2007), "The case against corporal punishment of children: Converging evidence from social science research and international human rights law and implications for U.S. public policy", Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, http://www.nospank.net/Gershoff%20%20Bitensky%20on%20Corporal%20Punishment%20(2007).pdf
• Hansen, et.al. (2008), "Millennium Cohort Study: Third Survey: A User’s Guide to Initial Findings", Centre for Longitudinal Studies, http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/5931/1/MCS_3_Descriptive_Report_Oct_2008.pdf
• Lansford, et.al. (2010), "Corporal Punishment of Children in Nine Countries as a Function of Child Gender and Parent Gender", International Journal of Pediatrics, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2952896/
• Straus, et.al. (2009), "Corporal Punishment by Mothers and Development of Children's Cognitive Ability: A Longitudinal Study ofTwo Nationally Representative Age Cohorts", Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP51.pdf
• Taylor et. al. (2010), "Mothers' Spanking of 3-Year-Old Children and Subsequent Risk of Children's Aggressive Behavior", Pediatrics, http://www.pediatricsdigest.mobi/content/125/5/e1057.short

Freedom in Professional Life

There are three (3) approaches to freedom you can take in your professional life.

No more. No less. Three shalt be the number of approaches, and the number shall be three. Four shalt thou not it be, neither two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.

1. Geek
2. Sovereign
3. Sage

This YouTube video explains what I mean.

Yes, I still need to work on the technical angles, but I hope you will enjoy the video anyway.

Taxation-is-Theft-Notes

This piece of cultural subversion is very exciting

... and this method has a long tradition.

My own Bill of Rights

A whole bunch of Bills of Rights were introduced all over the planet to limit crazy governments. Most of them did not quite work as intended.

In the face of these epic failures, I decided to make my own Bill of Rights. (OK, I borrowed the idea from Peter Gerlach. Thanks Peter!)

Here it comes. Bestowed upon blah-blah-blah. I claim the right to:

1. Actions

1.1 Do things just to see if I like them.

1.2 Enjoy a process without an aim in mind.

1.3 Make mistakes.

1.4 Need more resources such as information, time, help to succeed in any tasks.

2. Feelings

2.1 Love every part of myself unconditionally.
2.2 Feel any feelings and to describe them to others.

2.3 Have unjustified preferences.

3. Thoughts
3.1 Be conscious of anything that is going on.

3.2 Not know or not remember things.
3.3 Think any thought and say it.

3.4 Have conflicting thoughts.
3.5 Change my mind on things.

4. Relationships
4.1 Choose relationships I invest in.

4.2 Escalate relationships.

4.3 Choose my own level of involvement in other people's things.

4.4 Not be interrupted.

5. Amendments

5.1 Amend this Bill of Rights in the future.

What is your Bill of Rights?

What I want from the movement

People join communities because they expect to benefit from it. So to attract people to the voluntaryist movement we need to offer stuff.

Here are some things I would like the voluntaryist movement to do for me. Maybe others would be attracted to this too. This is not going to happen by itself but I do not give a shit, I still want it.

1. I want to experience efficacy in making the world freer. I want to meet people who make freedom for themselves and I want to learn from them. I want to see non-coercive approaches to relationships, parenting, education and career management implemented in people's lives.

2. I want more opportunities for friendship. Shared interests and no desire to pull guns at each other are great starters. I need more varied opportunities for friendly socialising - parties, concerts, camping trips, kayaking escapades, barbeques, anything.

3. In particular, I want more friendships with women in the voluntaryist movement. We need to cherish the females we do have. Contrary to most views I heard, the reason for the shortage of females in the voluntaryist ranks is that male libertarians suck at pick up. Simple as that. Improve your pick up. It is not a shallow pursuit, it goes deep into who you are and how you relate to the world. Then start bringing your GFs along for god's sake. Look up pick up artists on reddit.com for starters.

4. I want a balanced magazine with relevant quality coverage and commentary of world events using voluntaryist insight into social structures. I am bored with The Economist but I also do not want to hear how the dollar is about to collapse at any moment. I want voluntaryist entertainment which is free from statist sympathies and from state hatred also.

5. I want an opportunity for rational but limited political action (bribing, lobbying, maybe even voting etc.).

6. I want an option to join a voluntaryist housing co-op where I can can live relaxed amongst peaceful and rational people. And I do not want this co-op to be on the surface of an ocean, at the bottom of an ocean or in any other place inside the ocean.

Final word on emotional self-defence

Peter Gerlach's explanation of emotional self-defence has gotta be the final word on enforcing the verbal Non-Aggression Principle. There is nothing else to add as far as I am concerned. The end. Finito. Koniec.

He explains how to defend against boundary violations by confronting violators using respectful assertion. He claims this prevents future violations.

I love how Peter's strategy intelligently recognises the psychological development of the target of your confrontation. He says that if the target is an unaware "grown wounded child" (which most people are), they will not hear your confrontation as it was voiced. They will instead counter-attack, change the subject, cry etc.

You then need to empathetically recognise their points and repeat your respectful assertive confrontation until you are heard.

I strongly believe that emotional self-defence is necessary for voluntaryists to master if they want to influence the social fabric. As always, only engage if you cannot avoid or escape!