- Punishment is an Inefficient Way to Control Behaviour
There has been a long term tendency in our society to think first of punishment when it comes to getting people, whether children or adults, to behave co-operatively. The word discipline is interchangeable with punishment in the minds of some people. Yet there are other ways to influence human behaviour. The entrenched approach doesn't come from research into the best ways to control human beings; it comes from religious and social teachings. Strangely enough, modern religious groups have often dropped the old teachings.
If you think of your own behaviour I am sure you could find many instances where you do things because of the rewards you get, and certainly you would prefer to be guided by the promise of satisfaction rather than the threat of pain. So why do we think of punishment first when it comes to controlling others?
One reason is that punishment has always been part of our way of controlling people. Another is the simplicity of punishment. It is easier and quicker to deliver a smack, or a punch, or an angry word, than to structure things so that the "right" behavior is rewarded.
This might not matter too much if punishment worked the way we want it to. But does it? Is it ever the best way to control behavior? Can we create a society of cooperative, socially responsible people by using punishment as our major form of social control? The answer to this last question is “almost certainly not”.
One problem with punishment is the generalisation that occurs with punishment (It occurs in all learning situations). What this means is that when someone is punished, all of the noticeable things the victim is aware of at the time become associated with the punishment, as illustrated by a classic study in Psychology. It is the case of "Little Albert". Albert, less than a year old, was given a cute little white female laboratory rat to play with. He was fascinated with the friendly little animal and played with it eagerly until the experimenters did a really nasty thing to him. One day while he was happily playing with his little furry friend, they crept up behind him and crashed some pieces of metal together behind his head.
Not surprisingly, this loud and unpleasant noise scared the daylights out of Albert, who burst into tears and cried out for his mother. As the experimenters expected, Albert didn't want to play with rats after this, he was now terrified of them. He was also frightened of men in white coats. More significantly, he was frightened of all sorts of other white (and especially furry) things, like white rabbits and even Father Christmas.
Maybe it is not too serious if children don't love the image of Father Christmas, but this kind of fear experience seems to behind many of the aversions that people commonly develop to educational situations. Until a few years ago it seemed that many of the people I spoke to remembered their maths teachers with loathing. Maybe they were punished more in maths classes. In any case it is obvious that feelings like this will interfere with learning. This means it could be quite counterproductive in a teaching situation, at home or at school. A loss of interest in school, or anxious feelings about parents is not a great outcome.
Another problem is that punishment often leads children to learn the “wrong” behavior in the long term. There are many behaviours adults do not want to see in their children but which become very important later. For instance, parents often panic when they discover little children masturbating, and punish them for this behaviour. Some children associate the punishment with sexual feeling, and this inhibits sexual experience for the rest of their lives. So you'd have to sat that the punishment strategy may not be the best way to get grandchildren, or even a happily married next generation.
A third problem with punishment is that it will often establish even more firmly the behaviours that parents want to get rid of. For example, when children are punished for bedwetting or for dependency behavior (constantly clinging to the parents), the undesired behaviours often become worse. It is not hard to understand why since bedwetting and dependency behaviours arise in the first place because of children's insecurities. Punishment, by word or action, can only serve to increase the underlying insecurities.
A fourth problem is the paradoxical fact that for some children harsh words or physical punishment are actually rewarding. Not because of some masochistic need of the child, but because when children receive little attention, anything is better than nothing, even if it is uncomfortable. This is a really difficult matter to deal with as many school teachers know.
Another problem is that punishment often leads to aggression, either through creating anger or fear, or by providing an example of violent behaviour. The use of physical punishment in homes and at school teaches our children that physical violence is normal. Communities that customarily use physical to control children's behaviour show a high incidence of child abuse and of marital violence.
My argument has been that punishment can be an inefficient way to control behaviour. Add to the things I've already mentioned the fact that punishment cannot eliminate, but merely suppress highly motivated behaviour if no alternative course of behaviour is possible, and there is a strong case for using some other approach as the main one in maintaining co-operative behaviour.
Punishment can be useful and justifiable in dangerous situations, or when some alternative behaviour is possible so that punishment shows the person which behaviour is wrong, or when all that is need is for the person to respond to the warning signal (e.g. road signs, the sight of a snake, an angry look) in order to avoid pain.
However, for the long term establishment of good behaviour patterns, punishment is an inefficient strategy. Even in families where there is some affection, the use of a lot of punishment will lead to insecurities. Children from such backgrounds will be less independent, less able to explore their world, more aggressive, and less able to form new relationships. Much more effective is fostering the will to obey, the will to be co-operative, and this comes from physical affection in the family context.
More readings will be added to my blog from time to time. Have a quick look now to see the first posting on my blog PSYC1PLUS