Biomaterial Database

Parenting online and lay literature on infant spanking: information readily available to parents. 2008

Daphne S Cain

Louisiana State University, 311 Huey P. Long Field House, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. dscain@lsu.edu

Professional consensus exists against the spanking of infants based on the risk of escalation and injury. Moreover, infants are unable to recognize connections between their behavior and punishment and to modify their behavior in response. However, pediatricians and other health care professionals do not frequently discuss the issue of infant spanking with parents. Meanwhile, parents are increasingly seeking parenting information from other sources including the Internet and lay parenting books. Using content analysis methodology, online parenting sites and popular "how to" parenting books were reviewed with regard to the advisability of corporal punishment with infants. Results reveal that although the vast majority of online and popular print literature on infant parenting is developmentally sound, a small constituency of spanking advocates does exist. Given that some of the information available to parents contradicts professional consensus against the spanking of infants, it seems important for professionals concerned with the well being of infants to address the gaps in information and inherent dangers of infant spanking.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D010287	Parent-Child Relations	The interactions between parent and child.	Parent-Offspring Interaction,Parent Child Relationship,Parent-Child Relationship,Interaction, Parent-Offspring,Parent Child Relations,Parent Child Relationships,Parent Offspring Interaction,Parent-Child Relation,Parent-Child Relationships,Parent-Offspring Interactions,Relation, Parent-Child,Relationship, Parent Child,Relationship, Parent-Child
D010290	Parents	Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.	Step-Parents,Parental Age,Parenthood Status,Stepparent,Age, Parental,Ages, Parental,Parent,Parental Ages,Status, Parenthood,Step Parents,Step-Parent,Stepparents
D011642	Publications	Copies of a work or document distributed to the public by sale, rental, lease, or lending. (From ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983, p181)	Publication
D011678	Punishment	The application of an unpleasant stimulus or penalty for the purpose of eliminating or correcting undesirable behavior.	Punishments
D002649	Child Abuse	Abuse of children in a family, institutional, or other setting. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 1994)	Abuse Experiences, Childhood,Child Neglect,Child Neglect Experiences,Child Neglect, Physical,Childhood Abuse Experiences,Childhood Neglect Experiences,Neglect Experience, Childhood,Neglect Experiences, Childhood,Physical Neglect, Childhood,Child Maltreatment,Child Mistreatment,Abuse Experience, Childhood,Abuse, Child,Child Neglect Experience,Childhood Abuse Experience,Childhood Neglect Experience,Childhood Physical Neglect,Childhood Physical Neglects,Experience, Child Neglect,Experience, Childhood Abuse,Experience, Childhood Neglect,Maltreatment, Child,Mistreatment, Child,Neglect Experience, Child,Neglect, Child,Neglect, Childhood Physical,Neglect, Physical Child,Physical Child Neglect,Physical Child Neglects
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D016487	Parenting	Performing the role of a parent by care-giving, nurturance, and protection of the child by a natural or substitute parent. The parent supports the child by exercising authority and through consistent, empathic, appropriate behavior in response to the child's needs. PARENTING differs from CHILD REARING in that in child rearing the emphasis is on the act of training or bringing up the children and the interaction between the parent and child, while parenting emphasizes the responsibility and qualities of exemplary behavior of the parent.
D054626	Consumer Health Information	Information intended for potential users of medical and healthcare services. There is an emphasis on self-care and preventive approaches as well as information for community-wide dissemination and use.	Health Information, Consumer,Information, Consumer Health
D020407	Internet	A loose confederation of computer communication networks around the world. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The Internet grew out of the US Government ARPAnet project and was designed to facilitate information exchange.	World Wide Web,Cyber Space,Cyberspace,Web, World Wide,Wide Web, World

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