College Students Involved in Criminal Acts Might Be Victims of Childhood Spanking: Study

Hitting children can make them criminals in college, a study by the University of New Hampshire Family Research Lab states.

The researchers observed criminal trends among university students in 15 countries. For this they used nine measures of criminality that included criminal beliefs, antisocial personality, parents and partners assaulted by the students in previous years.

Further, the study authors examined parental education, misbehavior during childhood, loving and positive approach to correcting misbehavior, student gender, age and nation.

The results showed that the children who were showered with affection and caring but also got spanking from their parents were more likely to engage in criminal activities later on.

"So many parents and child psychologists believe that if spanking is done by loving and helpful parents, it has no harmful effect," Murray Straus, co-director of University of New Hampshire Family Research Lab said in a news release. "This study and only one other study I know of that empirically investigated this believe found that it is not true. Spanking seems to be associated with an increased probability of subsequent child behavior problems regardless of culture and regardless of whether it is done by loving and helpful parents. Children need lots of guidance and correction, but not by being physically attacked under the euphemism of 'spanking.'"

Straus said that the observations showed students from non-criminal family with positive parenting were less involved in criminal acts. Children who got beatings from both the parents had increase in criminality for eight of the nine criminality measures.

For parents, the study results might come as a surprise as it shows the negative side of positive parenting. "Most people will find these results hard to understand because parents spank to correct misbehaviour and to teach the child to be law-abiding citizens," Straus said.

Difficulties and problems faced in early childhood can have long-term effects and the study made this notion just a bit stronger.