1. Discipline and Punishment

2. Discipline The word discipline means to impart knowledge and skill – to teach. However, it is often equated with punishment and control. There is a great deal of controversy about the appropriate ways to discipline children, and parents are often confused about effective ways to set limits and instill self-control in their child. –US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health

3. Parenting Styles Authoritarian parenting High parental control with little warmth Authoritative parenting A fair degree of parental control with being warm and responsive to children Indulgent-permissive parenting Warmth and caring but little parental control Indifferent-uninvolved parenting Neither warmth nor control Children with authoritarian parents typically have lower grades in school, lower self-esteem, and are less skilled socially Children with authoritative parents tend to have higher grades and be responsible, self- reliant, and friendly Children with indulgent-permissive parents have lower grades and are often impulsive and easily frustrated Children with indifferent-uninvolved parents have low self-esteem and are impulsive, aggressive, and moody

5. How Can Parents Influence Their Children? Direct Instruction Telling a child what to do, when and why Learning by Observing (modeling) Learning what to do by watching Learning what not to do (counter imitation) Feedback Parents indicate whether a behavior is appropriate and should continue or should stop

6. Feedback Reinforcement Any action that increases the likelihood of the response that it follows Punishment Any action that discourages the reoccurrence of the response that it follows

7. Negative Reinforcement Trap Parents often unwittingly reinforce the very behaviors they want to discourage. First step: The mother tells her son to do something he doesn’t want to do Second step: The son responds with some behavior that most parents find intolerable Third step: The mother gives in – tells the son he doesn’t need to do as he was initially told as long as he stops doing the behavior that is so intolerable

8. Punishment Works Best When: Administered directly after the undesired behavior occurs, rather than hours later An undesired behavior always leads to punishment, rather than usually or occasionally Accompanied by an explanation of why the child was punished and how punishment can be avoided in the future The child has a warm, affectionate relationship with the person administering the punishment

9. Drawbacks to punishment Punishment is primarily suppressive: if a new behavior isn’t learned to replace it, the old response will come back. Punishment can have undesirable side effects: Children become upset as they are being punished which makes it unlikely that they will understand the feedback that punishment is meant to convey. When children are punished physically – they often imitate this behavior with peers and younger siblings.

10. Spanking Children who are spanked often use aggression to resolve their disputes with others and are more likely to have behavior problems. Physical punishment can send mixed messages to a child and reinforce aggressive behavior. When parents model aggressive behaviors by spanking, they reinforce the idea that physical aggression is the way to get what you want. Children who were spanked feel less attached to their parents and less trusting of them.

11. Children's Influence on Discipline Parenting behavior and styles evolve as a consequence of the child’s behavior. Children’s behavior helps determine how parents treat them and the resulting parental behavior influences children’s behavior, which can in turn cause parents to again change their behavior. This reciprocal influence lead many families to adopt routine ways of interacting with each other. Some families end up running smoothly (parents and children cooperate, anticipate each other’s needs, and are generally happy). Some families end up in trouble (disagreements are common, parents spend much time trying to unsuccessfully control their defiant children, and everyone is often angry and upset).

12. Read The Following Article http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719514/