Corporal Punishment in U.S. Public Schools

Elizabeth Gershoff, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Human Development and Family Sciences and a faculty associate and postdoctoral training director at the Population Research Center, both at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a developmental psychologist who studies child and adolescent development in the context of families, schools, neighborhoods, and public policies. She is an internationally recognized expert in the effects of parents’ use of corporal punishment on children.Kelly Purtell, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University who studies how economic disadvantage influences health and development across the lifespan. In particular, her research focuses on how contextual factors shape development among low-income children and adolescents, and how public policies can enhance the developmental trajectories of these youth.Igor Holas, M.A., is a graduate student interested in links between education policy generally and state and local education funding in particular on the academic success of children and adolescents. He is the founder of Mentegram, an online tool for therapists and clinicians to track patient progress.

• ​Introduction.- Prevalence of and Attitudes About School Corporal Punishment in the U.S.- Gender, Race, and Disability Disparities in Who is Subject to School Corporal Punishment.- School Corporal Punishment Effects on Children.- Policy Analysis: School Corporal Punishment Bans and Juvenile Crime.- The Legal Basis for School Corporal Punishment.- Legal and Public Policy Strategies to Reduce or Ban School Corporal Punishment.- Education and Advocacy Approaches to Reduce School Corporal Punishment.- Conclusion.

"What do we know about CP in the schools and its many facets? Arguably, this book is the best resource to answer that. This is not a book that merely reviews a literature in a scholarly fashion. This book is unique in packing a rather amazing amount of material in a very short space. The content is covered in scholarly detail with multiple citations to pertinent literatures. In addition, original research is presented by culling information from available resources, analyzing data, and presenting and discussing the results." Alan E. Kazdin We Have Hit Bottom by Using Corporal Punishment in Schools PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 60, No. 34, Article 2