Channeling Adolescent Energy into Learning

The period of transitioning from a child to an adult is characterized by a passionate desire for activities. At this point, the inner drives of adolescents are so strong, that they require an adequate release of energy. The traditional solution is to meet this need with education. However, it is a mentally challenging endeavor, necessitating subtle approaches, such as using physical stimuli to acquire learning habits. Applying brain response system to the education of teenagers can effectively satisfy energetic demands of young people.

Adolescence is a period of life in which young people are full of energy. Spring (2018) refers to the writings of Stanley Hall, which explore the growth of children and their transition into adolescents. Particularly, he states that adolescent interests and abilities must be harnessed and directed to some socially useful function (Spring, 2018, p. 269). If teenagers needs for active release of inner drives are not met, they will resurface at a later point in negative form. For instance, the adolescent period is notable for high sexual drive. Askari et al. (2020) argue for the constructive channeling of energy in adolescents through sports, fitness activities, art, abstinence, and selfcontrol (p. 353). Otherwise, unresolved energy excess can manifest itself in sexual abuse.

Learning is intrinsically related to physical stimuli that cause a brain to respond by memorizing new information or referring to the stored knowledge. Spring (2018) writes about studies into using habits in streamlining the thought process and adapting them into education. This process can be explained by Pavlovs theory of classical conditioning. While Pavlov focused on a physical reaction, Zeng et al. (2020) argue that classical conditioning can be applied to associative learning. Based on another study conducted by Zhai et al. (2020), it is essential to create a friendly environment for students, thus producing a positive brain reaction, enhancing their learning capabilities. Therefore, it is possible to use the relation between stimuli and brain responses in educational purposes.

Altogether, adolescence is a pivotal period for learning and education. Teenagers have sufficient energy to learn, and there are efficient techniques to apply their capabilities in knowledge processing. Specifically, physical stimuli can elicit a response that takes the form of a habit, or association. By creating appropriate learning habits in adolescents, it is possible to channel their energy in positive activities, while preventing its release in the detrimental to society manner.

References

Askari, F., Mirzaiinajmabadi, K., Rezvani, M. S., & Asgharinekah, S. M. (2020). Facilitators of sexual health education for male adolescents in Iran: A qualitative study. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 25(4), 348-355. Web.

Spring, J. (2018). The American school: From the puritans to the Trump era. Taylor & Francis.

Zeng, H., Zhang, H., Ikkala, O., & Priimagi, A. (2020). Associative Learning by Classical Conditioning in Liquid Crystal Network Actuators. Matter, 2(1), 194-206.

Zhai, X., Wang, M., & Ghani, U. (2020). The SOR (stimulus-organism-response) paradigm in online learning: An empirical study of students knowledge hiding perceptions. Interactive Learning Environments, 28(5), 586-601.

Social Comparison and Social Cognitive Theories: Conceptual Synthesis

Psychological theories are collections of concepts that can explain many aspects of human cognition, behavior, and emotion. These theories are developed by psychologists in order to anticipate future human actions or events that may occur if specific behaviors exist. As such, social comparison theory and social cognitive theory are examples of attempts to explain human behavior, conducted. Since both theories provide concepts that deserve attention and concern human cognition, it is possible to provide a conceptual synthesis.

The concept that individuals have the motivation to achieve accurate self-evaluations is central to social comparison theory. According to the doctrine, people must evaluate their successes by relating themselves to comparable individuals. Standard comparable bases include demographic variables such as age, race, and occupation (Gerber et al., 2018). According to social cognitive theory, mental systems lead to behavioral results. Individuals knowledge acquisition can be inextricably connected to observing others in interpersonal interaction (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020). As a result, motivation and reciprocal relationships are two of the theorys most important concepts.

The concepts of the theories described earlier could be synthesized into a more integrated framework. Firstly, individuals motivation depends on their mental constructs, per social cognitive theory. In turn, as follows from social comparison theory, these internal images are influenced by ones perception of themselves and others. Therefore, the comparison needed for self-evaluation determines not only the fixed identity of a person in comparison with others but also motivates them to change in accordance with that comparison.

To conclude, objectives and self-evaluations of achievement, self-efficacy, and social comparisons are internal motivational processes. Such a synthesis follows from the social comparison theory and social cognitive theory. While the first claims that individuals assess themselves by comparison with people of similar demographics or professions, the second argues that motivation is formed via an internal thinking process influenced by social interaction.

References

Gerber, J. P., Wheeler, L., & Suls, J. (2018). A social comparison theory meta-analysis 60+ years on. Psychological Bulletin, 144(2), 177197. Web.

Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2020). Motivation and social cognitive theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, 101832. Web.

Here and Now in Group Facilitation

Introduction

The concept of here and now in group facilitation or psychotherapy has more relevance in interpersonal therapy and greatly influences group processes. It refers to the state of the conscious mind of the group members seen as the group reacts to circumstances or issues created in the context of the current situation. During this process, a member will respond emotionally but with great reflection in engaging other members. Others will follow suit; allowing their conscious understanding of what is shared. The topic may be introduced by the therapist who must allow the members to share raw contextual feelings (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 77).

Phases of working in the Here and Now

The here and now scenario follow norms that usually serve learning processes rather than the there and then attitude characteristic of an individual in the absence of another person to share with. The phases may be summarised as self-observation and feedback. Self-observation enables an individual to look into himself and analyse self consciously. The result from the self-examination is shared without bias.

This follows an understanding from interpersonal cooperation that ensues. After the member has shared his/ her experience, the others may give the feedback. This may come in a personal view, experience, concurrence, or just acknowledging the contribution of the first member. The here and now encourages the members to think and react to situations that affect them and their group members at present (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141).

Indicators of a groups operation in the Here and Now

There are several indicators of conformity or otherwise to the here and now of a group. These may result from varying views or just complete and unjustified adamant behaviour from a member or members (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141). Indications of operation in the here and now state are in the establishment of agreeable rules for goal achievement and communication channels or through the questioning of others performance, confirming each others roles, discussing risky issues with confidence, being keen listeners and gaining assertiveness in advancing ideas while identifying their strengths and weaknesses.

The group will collectively seek solutions through a practical attempt to create, be flexible and initiative, and create open relationships, show concern, confidence and high morale toward the achievement of success. An example of conformity to the requirements of the here and now may be seen in the discussion sessions of a theatre youth group (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141).

Many individuals may be thinking that they should make friends and relations and possibly go out of the way to show their might to others out-stage, yet another would be thinking of showing the highest respect to the host and panel of judges just if that may add to their basket of qualifications, these may lay into deciding conformity to here and now operations in the positive or in the negative. In the positive, the group will be rational to adhere to the purpose of presenting first even before contemplating construing another idea. The group will settle to perform, have another meeting after that to deliberate on another course of action (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141).

Signs that the group does not conform to the here and now include non-involvement or a show of non-commitment, low morale and hidden feelings. The members will show a lack of interest in listening, lack of cohesion, conflicts, possible confrontation anger, resentment and volatility. This results in failure in goal achievement. In the case above, other members will contemplate slipping away without the others knowledge to engage in anti-group objectives, pick up quarrels in justification of their decisions or even threaten to derail the efforts so made through underperformance should their wishes not be guaranteed (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141).

Activating of the Here and Now in group facilitation

Activation of the here and now in group facilitation may involve a number of steps but are generally done through helping them to understand the common goal and using strategies to achieve the goal at hand (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141). The facilitator will strive to make understood the purpose and scope of the session by keeping the group on track. He should help them follow the ground rules and remind them time and again to stick to these rules.

This can be done by reminding the members of the deliverables or goals of such a session. The facilitator should ensure a rational environment where all contribute to the creation of ideas while helping them to tolerate and listen to each others opinions. Through asking open-ended questions, the facilitator can stimulate the thinking of members. Occasionally, he should repeat verbatim from members to affirm such statements and let them be appreciated by others. In all these, an opportunity should be reserved for the less forceful members to contribute and all actions proposed should be written down (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141).

The cohesiveness stage of a group process

Group cohesion may be rapid or elusive depending on the understanding formed either by individual variables, environmental influences or the influence of tasks to be achieved by the group. The usual steps in the group may include group forming, the storming process stage, the norming stage and finally, the conforming stage. At the forming stage, members are quite uncertain about their objectives and how to achieve them. They will rely on the facilitator for direction.

The group then starts to storm over issues affecting them. This usually causes conflicts and subgroups will arise. Rules may be broken at his stage and members struggle to maintain their identity as individuals (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 53). The norming stage then set in. At this stage, the maturity of the group starts to develop. Norm development takes place as members grow in maturity and understanding develops along with established common bonding rules.

This stage is very much usually referred to as the start of cohesion. The final stage is that of conformity. Individuals have resolved their differences and there is an increased degree of construction. The members direct their energy to the tasks at hand. Cohesion can be seen in the maturity of members through a positive reference for members and their opinions, adaptation to a point that does not necessarily agree with ones, and a liking for compromise. (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 53).

During this period, the therapist may show such strengths as experience that is trusted in the formative stages. The therapist enjoys acceptance from the group members through a show of understanding, confidence and patience. The guidance enjoys the flexibility of the therapist as he/she ensures balanced contribution. Unfortunately, submitting to openness and sharing of greater secrets may expose a therapist as a meddler. In the squabbles characterising formation, the therapist may also lose patience or show a lack of confidence in settling an issue by not being initiative. Indifference to a point of view of members or to the objective being discussed or a show of superiority may also expose the therapist as weak (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005, p. 141).

Cohesion in a group is a function of group maturity and an indication of adherence to norms and rules set by the group members. The therapist should be able to have a greater understanding of the problems at hand more to assist the group more. All actions, therefore, championed by the therapist should reflect on the ultimate goals or deliverables as championed by the groups.

Works Cited

Yalom, D. and Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. 5th Ed. NewYork: Basic Books, pp.1-200.

The Grit TED Talk by Duckworth: Critical Analysis

The subject of this critical essay is a lecture by Angela Lee Duckworth, that they gave during their Ted Talk titled Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. They explained, how the IQ of her students was not the main predictor of academic performance in the math class they taught. Duckworth is mainly trying to persuade the audience that educators should focus on building grit in the students, while they also informed the listeners on some psychological mechanisms of learning.

The author uses several literary devices to persuade the audience of the correctness of their thesis, such as rhetorical questions and comparisons. They cite personal experience as an educator and as a researcher. Duckworth also presents well-constructed and well-presented arguments and articulates them in an engaging and entertaining manner. The author assumes that through building greater grit, which is defined by them as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals, it is possible to greatly improve the academic performance of any student(TED). To that end, Duckworth advises to turn to psychological studies.

It is possible to say, that Duckworth is successful in her realizing her purpose to persuade the listener not only by the positive reaction of the present audience but by personal experience. It is possible to agree, that authors claim is entirely plausible and grit is vital both for education and any other aspect of life. Even the greatest talents need to develop their skills to achieve mastery, which is impossible without grit, as defined by Duckworth. Even the greatest potential needs to be acted upon to achieve meaningful results.

However, one can assume that Duckworths approach is not the be-all and end-all solution to academic performance. The United States overall has a culture of overworking to the detriment of personal health. Of course, a good work ethic is a positive trait, but we should be rather cautious when instilling such a trait in young minds. It is possible to assume that not every problem, academic or otherwise, could be solved through sheer determination to perform any amount of work until the task is completed. This approach may cause unnecessary stress and create unhealthy relationships with the work in the future.

In conclusion, it is possible to agree with Angela Lee Duckworths thesis and persuasive arguments. Indeed, the ability to stay focused on a long-term goal for an extended period of time is an invaluable skill both in academia and in general life. However, this approach calls for nuance in its implementation, in order to prioritize the mental health of the students.

In order to write the essay above provided Tips for Analysis Essays and Critical Analysis and Evaluation materials were used. First, Critical Analysis and Evaluation document provided a definition of critique. This help to frame the writing of an essay as searching for positive and negative aspects of Duckworths work. It also provided a clear structure for expressing an opinion on the matter. It also explained the thought process behind forming an informed opinion on criticized material in two steps. The first step is to carefully examine the material while taking notes. The second step is to ask deeper questions, furthering the understanding of the material.

Second, Tips for Analysis Essays provided stylistic guides for the text, as well as suggested structure for an essay. First, it advises summarizing the authors thesis, which is vital for a critique essay, because the reader needs the context to understand the comments made further in the essay. It also contained such advice as to not list all of the observations, made during the examination of the material, which was helpful in making the text of an essay more concise and readable. Another tip was to examine the source material more than once. This helped in crafting different aspects of the essay, first to find the main thesis of the author, then to identify their arguments and literary devices used to deliver the information.

Work Cited

Grit: the power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth, YouTube, uploaded by TED, Web.

The Power of Coincidence by Jill Neimark

The Power of Coincidence, written by J. Neimark, emphasizes how the ambivalent concept of coincidence can influence lives and alter situations. After reading it, I can, without a doubt, concur that coincidences exist and are very important. As we read the narrative, we can see how the author recounts Elisabeth Targs life, which was full of coincidenceseven after she passed away. She frequently anticipated the gifts she would receive on her birthday, and, most of the time, she was accurate (Neimark, 2004). She went on to study alternative medicine after beginning a career in psychiatry. I find it noteworthy and interesting that after engaging in distant prayer for AIDS and glioblastoma patients, she later receives a terminal brain tumor diagnosis and passes away 111 days later at 11:11 p.m (Neimark, 2004).

Despite numerous attempts to establish frameworks for researching this phenomenon, it is hard to say that any of them is successful. The author, in its turn, advises readers to accept this powerful and intriguing ability to predict things.

Although many people might disagree, I think coincidences do exist. In a dream Kate MacPherson had, Elizabeth repeatedly told her fiancé in Russian, I love you, according to Elizabeths father, Russell Targ (Neimark, 2004). Mark was shown the words by Kate, who had no knowledge of Russian but could make out the sounds. Elizabeth spoke such profound things to Mark that Kate could not possibly understand how she could dream about it. It is fascinating how Kates mind put words together in a language she did not even understand that made sense. This essentially shows that meaningful coincidences can have power over a humans life. If taken into account, they can alter a persons life and perhaps lead to success.

Reference

Neimark, J. (2004). The Power of coincidence. Psychology Today. Web.

What We See: Perception of Imagery vs. Reality

Visual culture has always been a major part of art. The first cave paintings depicted scenes of life, hunting, or burial. Then ancient authors and medieval icon painters showed Greek and Roman gods or Christian saints on canvases: Jesus, Madonna, and apostles. Since the Renaissance, artists have focused on portraits, landscapes, and other non-religious subjects. Modern visual culture gives us animation, comics, and feature films with a high degree of realism. Artistic works have a rather high impact on people, including their mentality and perception of the world. Some people are even more attracted to artificial images than the real world. This essay discusses possible reasons why visual works have such an impact on certain social groups.

The first possible reason for such high sensitivity of certain people to visual images is seeing themselves in them and identifying themselves with them. The world depicted by an artist may have a certain level of realism because it was created by a real person, not an artificial intelligence without emotions and personal experience. Most likely, everyone, watching their favorite TV series, reading comics, and analyzing the historical plot in the picture, singled out characters similar to them in real life. If these features are positive, a person begins to feel a stronger emotional connection with the work, to transfer certain moments of real personal life to the projection of the depicted. Therefore, it is possible to think what the observer would do, being in the place of the hero, who is similar to him in some aspects of character or outlook on life. Because of this, a person forms a stronger connection with the whole picture or its element than other viewers.

A more direct way of understanding is also the reason for the formation of a strong emotional connection between a person and a certain work of visual culture. It is useful to analyze this case in the example of a movie. If someone liked a certain film, then such a person seeks to understand better what is happening to the characters in the plot created by the director and screenwriter. It causes a high level of immersion in the events on the screen. This situation is called the fourth wall destruction among film critics and authors. The viewer finds himself next to the heroes of his favorite film and begins to understand deeper the motivation and characters of the main characters, forming a stable emotional contact with the image.

People often use visual art to escape from reality, and scientists call this process escapism. Escapism can be different, and people can take drugs and alcohol. From the point of view of health, deep immersion in watching movies, TV series, and computer games are a safer subspecies of escape from reality. In this case, a person may have certain problems in real life but does not know how to solve them, so they decide to fence off them with a virtual wall. Often works of visual art that bring pleasant emotions help a person to create a certain comfort zone. However, we must remember that such a zone is quite imaginary and often does not help a person get the peace of mind that can come after solving lifes difficulties. At the same time, when the viewer stays in the artificial image shell for a long time, he forms a close emotional connection with it.

In this context, it is also useful to mention the nostalgia that sometimes arises in everyone who encounters visual works. Certain subjects evoke pleasant memories that have remained for a person in the past, but they would like them to return in some form. The image is projected onto a persons real life, creating the appearance of the return of past situations and events. If someone cannot fully work through life experience, to leave the past in the past, such plots from movies or TV series can cause nostalgia and strongly attach to themselves. Social networks, such as Instagram, are also a place of pilgrimage for escapists, as they allow web surfers to live the lives of others away from them (K1rcaburun et al. 6). It is important to clarify that such situations can be harmful, not allowing the viewer to live a full and happy life in the local reality.

The last interesting or specific situation is the desire of the one who contemplates the picture to be a visual student of its author. In art schools, young students are tasked by their teachers to redraw a world-famous masterpiece as accurately as possible. In this task, the young artist needs to analyze the ideas, ideas and artistic techniques of the author of the picture. When a copy of a famous work is created, an integral emotional shell can be formed for the student who completes it, connecting him with his work and the sample for the scientific task. Thus, people begin to look at art from a different perspective and use someone elses useful experience to improve their artistic skills.

Ultimately, it is necessary to conclude that visual culture is always important for a person in this world. The works of artists and icon painters are a source of depicting the history of humanity, a monument to outstanding events and characters. Quality paintings, films, TV series, and comics influence people, motivate them and improve their mood. Everyone has something from the field of visual culture that inspired them to do something good. For certain social groups, the built emotional connection is closed. This essay explored the reasons for this strange phenomenon.

Works Cited

K1rcaburun, Kagan, and Mark D. Griffiths. Problematic Instagram use: The role of perceived feeling of presence and escapism. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 17.4 (2019): 909-921.

Play: Modern & Post Modern Theory Origin & History

Introduction

Early childhood is characterized by play. To show how important it is for a child to be given a chance to explore through play, the United Nations has an official recognition of childs play as a right for children. For a childs growth, play is very important because it is through it that children internalize and practice the realities of life. It is an intrinsic nature for children to have the curiosity to explore and through play, this is easily achieved.

However, for children to completely benefit from play, these five elements must be realized. For play to be effective, it has to be pleasurable and enjoyable, should not have formal learning, must be spontaneous and voluntary, must be engaging to the child, and should involve the element of fantasy (Cherry, 2012). Other characteristics of child play are; it should be child-initiated, process-oriented, intrinsic, and intermittent, rule-governed, and symbolic (Rollins, 2012).

Play theories

Modern theory

Play theories are classified into three categories which are; classical, modern, and contemporary perspectives (Cherry, 2012). The classical perspective is focused on the utilization of excess energy in children through play. However, unlike classical theory, the modern theory focuses on the impacts of play on a childs development. Psychologists suggest that children learn effectively when they participate physically and intellectually in the play. As Rollins (Johnson, Chrisitie, & Wardle, 2005) asserts, children will be best served if they would be allowed to learn and be creative in their pay time.

In this strategy, the child is allowed to move at his or her own convenient pace while the teacher collaborates to help them learn as they play (Johnson, Chrisitie, & Wardle, 2005). This is an intellectual development process and it occurs in stages influenced by the childs play. These stages include the incorporation of the outside world to try and figure out ones own agenda (Cherry, 2012). Through play, children are able to develop social skills and learn how to interact with other children. This means that play is a social development tool for children.

As they play, children develop communication skills and languages that they use to understand each other easily and effectively through role-playing. Play is a preparatory tool for adulthood. Through play, children develop both mentally and socially and as they grow up into adulthood they no longer get amused by playing rather by their occupation (Cherry, 2012). Playing trains children to be better and healthy working grownups.

Modern theory advocates for more time to be spent at meals and sleep for efficient growth. The study has shown that children who spend more time sleeping and eating have fewer behavioral problems. In essence, these children are closer to their parents hence they are exposed to protective surveillance.

Contemporary theory

Contemporary theory bases its argument on the surrounding by suggesting that a childs development is highly influenced by the environment and the child itself. The surrounding encompasses family, cultural practices, community beliefs, and the larger societal expectations. In all three categories, one thing is very clear; the idea that play is of the essence in the development of a child. There is a famous quote that emphasizes the importance of play; work with no play makes jack a dull boy.

Adults need to work in order to develop and so does a child need to play for them to develop. In simple terms, play is a childs occupation. In the past children were seen as little versions of the adults and their childhood development was often ignored. The situation is different today as childrens growth needs were given attention at the beginning of the 20th century although by then only children with special cases of abnormality were targeted (Cherry, 2012). Today at least things are far much better than it was back then. Parents are more aware of the importance of early childhood development.

Conclusion

As discussed in the previous paragraphs, it is evidently clear that childhood development has a serious impact on overall adulthood. There are skills that an individual can best learn in childhood to prepare them for future adulthood. An effective development in childhood is a sure development of effective adults and all-rounded individuals. Play is the essence of growth and development and must be taken very seriously while the child is growing up. During childhood play, a character is developed and the pillars of adulthood are formed.

In the real sense, adults do not change from who they were in childhood only that they develop their character and behave more responsibly. I conquer with the theorists especially with the contemporary postmodern theory that a childs behavior and growth is shaped mostly by their surrounding. Children born in families that recognize the importance of a childs play are more likely to develop better than those born in families that do not conform to this reality. In a nutshell, childhood development is the determining factor of our adulthood behavior.

References

Cherry, K. (2012). Child Development Theories Major Theories of Child Development. Web.

Johnson. J., Chrisitie, J., & Wardle, F. (2005). Play, Development, and Early Education. New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Rollins, S. (2012). Theories about Play in Early Childhood Education. Web.

Children Eyewitness Testimony and Its Peculiarities

Introduction

The significance of testimony in general and the relationship between suggestibility and memory must be understood when debating whether children can give credible eyewitness evidence. The challenges of working with kids in a forensic context, the influence of memory on eyewitness evidence, and the use of in-depth interrogation techniques on childrens eyewitness testimony are all covered in this article. This essay will make the case that, even though numerous factors make childrens testimony less reliable than that of adults, kids should not generally be ignored as witnesses. Although childrens memories are more prone to error than those of adults, raising questions about the veracity of their witness, the supply of proper resources and the regulation of interviewing techniques guarantee that kid testimony has an important position in the justice system.

Factors that Affect Testimony

A person who witnessed a crime or an accident and subsequently testified about it in a felony or civil trial is said to have provided eyewitness testimony. Witnesses are questioned about what they have seen during the particular period under examination. Although it is ideal for testimony to be thorough, it does not always happen. Both adults and kids can recall past events accurately enough to aid a court in rendering a decision. If the evidence is validated, the court may find the offender guilty to deter such crimes in the future. Eyewitnesses can provide necessary evidence in a case, yet human memory is prone to error (Nairne & Coverdale, 2022).

Contrary to common assumption, memory is a three-stage process rather than operating like a recorder. A human acquires data, in this case, seeing an occurrence, during the encoding phase. The interval between the initial and third stages  the retrieval stage  is known as the retention period. The last stage involves an eyewitness recounting the incident and identifying those connected to it (Wu et al., 2022).

As was already discussed, the process of remembering consists of three combined stages. Many circumstances will impact the reliability of the provided evidence at each step. The aspects of the incident itself, chronic aspects of the witness, and acute aspects of the witness are only a few of the things that might cause memory distortion during the encoding stage (Wu et al., 2022). This can specifically refer to the duration of the incident, environmental elements like illumination, witness characteristics like age, mental or physical disability, and transient aspects like drunkenness, comprehension, or attentiveness.

The time between stages one and three are crucial during the retention stage. Finally, knowledge, beliefs, and preconceptions (which may potentially have an impact on the encoding stage) might have an impact on the retrieval stage (Wu et al., 2022). According to this data, it appears that youngsters will experience more difficulties during those periods than adults will, as they have less self-awareness and a greater need to interpret the information given to them.

The Significance of Childrens Eyewitness Testimony

In CSA cases, testimony from children is sometimes the only available proof. The prosecution frequently lacks adequate tangible evidence and witnesses in these particular cases (Vandiver & Braithwaite, 2022). According to Vandiver & Braithwaite (2022), a childs statement must contain information that identifies the claimed act or offense and the perpetrator to be judged as truthful and legal. The statement must be detailed enough to specify the place, the time, and other details that will clearly distinguish various offenses to aid the prosecution in charging the offender.

The manner of the interview significantly affects the remarks made. Children execute memory tasks less well than adults because they may lack the language to explain events and are less skilled at explaining what they witnessed (Line et al., 2022). According to Line et al. (2022), who studied the elements influencing childrens testimonies, the environment of the interviews was a key influence on how much information was shared. The kids said that the interviewers tone of voice affected their answers. The victim or witness felt uneasy during the interview because of the complexity of the language, interruptions, or the interviewers incessant talking.

Childrens testimony is made more trustworthy by adopting a sophisticated interviewing approach. In their 1996 study, Warren and colleagues looked at the relationship between childrens candor during interviews and various interviewing approaches (Macleod et al., 2021). To guarantee that the youngster understood, 56% of all interviews (Macleod et al., 2021) discuss the distinction between a lie and the truth. The efficiency of these talks was further investigated, and it was discovered that there are two main procedures: the basic protocol and the complex protocol.

As part of the standard procedure, the interviewer first asked the kid whether they knew the difference between the two. They then offered a straightforward question, such as, if the child was a boy or a girl (they then answer it if it was truth) and instructed the youngster to only respond honestly throughout the interview. As opposed to the idea of truth, which children thought was too abstract to express, the complex process enabled them to investigate various degrees of falsehoods. The childs capacity to use judgment was assessed during the interview with several open-ended questions. It was discovered that kids interviewed using the intricate technique provided more compelling evidence. However, there was little difference between using the regular protocol or skipping the discussion of the distinctions between the truth and lies altogether.

Children are prone to failure, yet they may still offer insightful testimony with the proper support. Paine and colleagues studied children under 10s capacity to create facial composites in 2008 (Hum et al., 2019). The researchers developed new strategies to enhance the interaction between the kid and the composite-maker since they recognized that the youngsters would experience challenges due to word restrictions.

The youngsters were given many variations of the same facial characteristics rather than being vocally told how distinct features varied. They were encouraged to choose the one most closely resembled the face they requested to replicate. The researchers concluded that while younger children were less adept at reconstructing an unfamiliar face than older children, they were nevertheless capable of doing so. Some of their composites were even better than those of adults.

Conclusion

As a result of their susceptibility to suggestion and propensity to accept the interviewers wording, children are less trustworthy witnesses than adults. Additionally, unlike a recording, the human memory demands a strong recognition memory divided into three stages. Children are more susceptible to distortion at these phases of development because of their inherent characteristics, like age, and transitory ones, such as not fully comprehending some events.

Childrens minds are flawed during these periods. The capacity to effectively encode and recall information is impacted by stress and anxiety while giving evidence in a forensic context, especially in youngsters. Avoiding following and suggestive questions is vital when interviewing children since they might skew the kids memory and reduce its reliability. Instead, use open-ended questions that allow the child to describe the experience in their own words. It is advised to provide the youngster with more tools to communicate themselves throughout the interview as they may be less able to do it verbally. It is crucial to treat youngsters with dignity and conduct the interview in a friendly manner.

References

Hum, F., Jackman, B., Quirico, O., Urbas, G., & Werren, K. (2019). Australian Uniform Evidence Law. Cambridge University Press.

Line, E. N., McCowan, K., Plantz, J. W., & Neal, T. M. S. (2022). Expert witness testimony. Expert Witness Testimony. Web.

Macleod, E., Hobbs, L., Admiraal, A., La Rooy, D., & Patterson, T. (2021). The use and impact of repeated questions in diagnostic child abuse assessment interviews. Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, 29(3), 364380. Web.

Nairne, J. S., & Coverdale, M. E. (2022). Adaptive memory. In Evolution of Learning and Memory Mechanisms. Cambridge University Presspp. 406423.

Vandiver, D., & Braithwaite, J. (2022). Rape and sexual assault. In Sex Crimes, Routledge, 4979.

Wu, Y., Grandchamp, J., & Goodman, G. S. (2022). Child maltreatment and eyewitness memory. Routledge.

Differences in Shopping Behavior of Men and Women

Retail business is one of the largest businesses in terms of revenue generated and certainly the largest business in terms of number of participants. We all are retail buyers and buy different merchandize to satiate our needs and aspirations. Though we all indulge in shopping, there is a special relationship between shopping and woman. Whenever we talk about shopping; the perception is that women shop more than men. There is a reason for this perception; this is because inside a typical departmental store or that matter inside any shop one finds women outnumber men. The most desirable demand of a wife is that she should be taken by her husband for shopping or and this is the most irritating for a husband!

There may be some element of truth in the perception that woman do more shopping than men. This is because a woman is a homemaker as well and therefore, she does shopping not only for herself but for her family members  husband, son, daughter, in laws etc. as well and therefore, there should be no surprise that shopping becomes an integral part of her personality and she keeps talking about shopping more often than what a man would like. While for a woman shopping is something very important, because, she does a lot of it and the in search of value of money proposition she has to think and talk more about shopping; for a man shopping is something which is to be done and not to be talked as for them there are more important issues to think and talk about.

But here comes the difference, just because unlike woman, men do not like to spend more time on shopping and also not to talk much about it, can the shopping behavior of men can be disregarded. Certainly not because despite spending less time on shopping and discussing the same men are reported to be on higher side when it comes to the amount spent on shopping. Laura Sullivan (2009) reported that men spend an average amount of $701 on audio and visual equipments much while woman spend just $536.

It is very important for retailers to understand the behavior of males as compared to females while shopping, so that they can devise an appropriate sales strategy to increase their business revenue and profit. Precisely because of this reason, many researchers have conducted research on different aspects of behavior of different sexes about shopping.

A study by www.dirctional.com shows that men as well love to do shopping of fashion items. This study is focused on shopping behavior of men about fashion items. From the findings of this study it will be incorrect to assume that men do not indulge in shopping, they do indulge, but whether they indulge in the same manner or in a different manner is the subject of this study.

An study reported at knowledge@wharton entitled Men Buy, Woman Shop: The Sexes Have Different Priorities When Walking Down the Aisles have presented a report of the shopping behavior of the two sexes. However, this analysis is not in depth and is lacking the details.

Based on the review of the literature, it appears that there is not much work reported in literature on the differences in the shopping behavior of the two sexes and therefore, a detailed quantitative work has been carried out and the same is reported in this paper.

Hypothesis that I intend to test in this experimental research is

Women like to browse while men like to get what they need and leave the store.

Methods

In any quantitative research it is very important to first ask the question  What I intend to measure?. This is important because the answer(s) of this question determines the variables for which data need to be collected, the instrument for the data collection  whether it will be equipments and hardware as in case of scientific research, or it will be a questionnaire and then the method of data collection  whether the data will be collected by doing some experiment or by conducting a survey or the data may be straight away taken from a census report. Another very important aspect is the sampling method used for the research.

Because data pertaining to entire population cannot be collected and analyzed  it will be time consuming, resource consuming and defeating the very basic purpose of statistics it self, which is nothing but drawing useful inferences about a population by analyzing the data of a representative sample.

In this case the question to be answered is woman like to browse while men like to buy and get out of store. Therefore, important variables to be measured are

  • Motive to go to a store
  • Time spent inside a store
  • Major activity inside a store  (time spent on browsing)
  • Feeling inside a store
  • Perception about shopping  (a work or an indulgence)
  • Need of attention inside a store
  • Response of the subject when the item s/he is looking for is missing in a store

To measure these variables the only option is to design a suitable questionnaire and get response of the subjects. The following questionnaire was designed after discussing the issue with my classmates.

Q. No. Question Response
1 I go to store with clear idea of what to purchase 0/1
2 I go to a store only for shopping 0/1
3 I spend time on browsing inside a store 0/1
4 I like to spend time on different discount offers in an store 0/1
5 I feel important while shopping inside a store 0/1
6 I feel shopping as a task get done 0/1
7 I shop even if the item I was looking for was not there 0/1
8 I get angry when the item I am looking for is not in the store 0/1
9 I get unhappy if I do not get the help from sales associates while I am shopping 0/1
10 Have you bought more items than what you intended to while coming to the store 0/1
11 Have you spent more than you anticipated while coming to the store 0/1
12 Have you spent longer than you had anticipated while coming to the store 0/1
13 The time you spent inside the store Time in minutes
14 Actual time s/he spent in the store (as measured by the observer conducting the survey) Time in minutes

0  No and 1  Yes

This questionnaire consists of twelve (12) categorical variable and two (2) continuous variables. This questionnaire was subjected to reliability analysis. Reliability is very important in quantitative analysis. This refers to how reliable is the instrument used for data collection and whether or not there is internal consistency in the data collection instrument (Cohen et al 2007). In this study, the questionnaire was the instrument of data collection.

Though, the questionnaire was designed with intense discussion with my classmates, it was essential to test the reliability of the data collecting instrument the questionnaire. Reliability of the questionnaire was measured by test  retest method. This questionnaire was administered on 20 of my classmates (10 males and 10 females) twice at a gap of two weeks and the reliability was measured using kappa statistics K, which is coefficient of agreement for nominally scaled data (Siegel & Castellan, 1988). Thus reliability of the test instrument (the questionnaire) was confirmed before collecting the data and therefore, the study is therefore reliable.

Sampling and Data Collection

I decided to survey a sample of 50 males and females  10 each at five different departmental stores. I took help of my friends to conduct the survey at different stores. I decided to conduct the survey at the evening time when most of the shoppers come for shopping, so that a representative sample can be obtained. Though it was a convenient sample in the sense that I carried out the survey at five departmental stores of my choice, I took sufficient care to ensure that the sample is random to the extent possible by selecting the departmental stores in five distinct localities.

To collect actual time spent by the shoppers, the shoppers were identified randomly while they were entering the store and they were contacted for the survey while coming out of the store. Out of 35  50 shoppers identified and contacted for this survey at each of the five stores only about 10 were willing to participate in the survey. The data presented below belongs to that of the willing subjects in this study.

Results

Sample size was 50 for both males as well as females.

The findings of the survey are listed in the Table 1 and Table 2, below.

Q. No. Proportion of Males with Yes (p1) Proportion of Males with Yes (p2)
1 0.71 0.46
2 0.68 0.42
3 0.44 0.70
4 0.52 0.72
5 0.48 0.72
6 0.80 0.20
7 0.24 0.84
8 0.22 0.56
9 0.36 0.78
10 0.30 0.80
11 0.28 0.76
12 0.24 0.88
Q. No. Time spent by Males inside an store (min.) Time spent by Females inside an store (min.)
Average Standard Deviation s Average Standard Deviation s
13 15 5.2 57 10.1
14 14 5 35 5.2

The findings are presented as bar diagram in Figure 1, below.

Response of males and females against the questions in the questionnaire

Time spent (actual) as well as that reported by the shoppers is shown in Fig. 2, below.

Time spent inside shopping store

From Figure 1, it is clear that there is considerable difference in the response of the males from that of the females against the questions asked in the questionnaire. On the other hand Figure 2, shows there is considerable difference in the time spent by males than that be females inside a departmental store. Another interesting finding is that while there is hardly any difference between the actual time spent by males and that reported by them; this difference is considerable in case of females.

Whether or not these differences are statistically significant was determined using Hypothesis testing at 95% probability level or 5% significance level. The hypothesis testing is presented below.

Hypothesis Testing

Proportion of respondents with yes (1) for Q1 through Q12 for Males sample as well as Females sample was calculates and the same is listed in Table 1, above.

The hypothesis that is to be tested is whether or not there is statistically significant difference in the proportion of males and females responding Yes against these questions.

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is Ho: p1 = p2 ;

Alternate hypothesis is H1: p1 ` p2

Where 1  Males and 2 for Females

Significance Level chosen for this test is 0.05 (i.e. 95% probability)

Therefore, z-critical is 1.645

Decision rule is if z-test < z-critical then Null Hypothesis is accepted and Alternate Hypothesis is rejected else Null Hypothesis is rejected and Alternate Hypothesis is accepted.

z-test is computed using the following formula

Formula

Here p1 = Proportion of males with Yes

p1 = Proportion of females with Yes @^

= proportion of participants with Yes (p1  p2)

= 0 (Hypothesized equality of proportions)

The z-score for the test was calculated for each of the question and the same is listed in Table 2, below.

Q. No. Proportion of Males with Yes (p1) Proportion of Males with Yes (p2) @^ 1-@^ @^(1-@^) 2*@^ (1-@^) /50 1/Sqrt[2*@^ (1-@^ )/50] z-test
1 0.71 0.46 0.585 0.415 0.242775 0.009711 10.14771 2.536927
2 0.68 0.42 0.55 0.45 0.2475 0.0099 10.05038 2.613098
3 0.44 0.7 0.57 0.43 0.2451 0.009804 10.09946 2.62586
4 0.52 0.72 0.62 0.38 0.2356 0.009424 10.30107 2.06021
5 0.48 0.72 0.6 0.4 0.24 0.0096 10.20621 2.44949
6 0.8 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.25 0.01 10 6
7 0.24 0.84 0.54 0.46 0.2484 0.009936 10.03215 6.01929
8 0.22 0.56 0.39 0.61 0.2379 0.009516 10.25115 3.48539
9 0.36 0.78 0.57 0.43 0.2451 0.009804 10.09946 4.24178
10 0.3 0.8 0.55 0.45 0.2475 0.0099 10.05038 5.02519
11 0.28 0.76 0.52 0.48 0.2496 0.009984 10.00801 4.80384
12 0.24 0.88 0.56 0.44 0.2464 0.009856 10.07279 6.44658

From this table is it amply clear that for all the twelve questions z-test > z-critical and therefore, the Null Hypothesis is rejected and Alternate Hypothesis is accepted.

What this means is that there is significant difference in the Response of Males and Females on these twelve Questions.

Let us discuss the repercussions of this hypothesis testing for each of these 12 questions.

Q1. Asks whether you go to store with clear idea of what to purchase? The answer for males is overwhelmingly Yes (p = 0.71) while for females this value is mildly yes (p = 0.46) and this difference is statistically significant. What it means is that while men go to the shop with clear idea of what to purchase, females go to just see what all is there and they may buy something if they feel like buying it, or they will return back just like that.

Q2. Do you go to store only for shopping. The answer for males is overwhelmingly Yes (p = 0.68) while for females this value is mildly yes (p = 0.42) and this difference is statistically significant. What it means is that while men go to the shop only when they have to buy something, women go for spending their time and meeting people and seeing what all is going on, if there is some discounts etc.

Similarly, analysis of remaining ten questions also points toward the same thing, that while males look at shopping as something they need to do to buy something they need. They look at it as a work, which is to be done and to be finished and not something to spend their time on. The quickly they can finish; the better it is for them. This is the reason, they do not feel very important while shopping, they do not mind if a sales associate comes to help them or not. It does not bother them if an item is not there; they will simply go out and may be to some other shop. They hardly get into what all discounts are there in the store. Instead they are interested in what they have to buy and that is all.

For woman, just reverse is true. They feel important while shopping, they like that a sales associate comes and helps them and explains them all the discounts and offers running in the store, so that they can buy the best and many times more that they have intended to buy when they came to the store.

For Q13 and 14 following three hypothesis were tested

  1. Difference in mean time (actual) spent by Males and Females inside a store is statistically significant.
  2. Difference in mean time spent (actual) by Males inside a store and that that reported by them is statistically insignificant.
  3. Difference in mean time spent (actual) by Females inside a store and that that reported by them is statistically significant.

For testing this hypothesis,

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is Ho: ¼1 = ¼2;

Alternate hypothesis is H1: ¼1 ` ¼2

Where 1  Males and 2 for Females

Significance Level chosen for this test is 0.05 (i.e. 95% probability)

Therefore, z-critical is 1.645

Decision rule is if z-test < z-critical then Null Hypothesis is accepted and Alternate Hypothesis is rejected else Null Hypothesis is rejected and Alternate Hypothesis is accepted.

z-test is computed using the following formula

Formula

Here

E1  = Average of Sample 1

E2 = Average of Sample 2

s1 = Standard Deviation of Sample 1

s2 = Standard Deviation of Sample 2

(E1 -E2 )0 = 0 (Hypothesized equality of averages)

z- score for the three hypothesis tested is listed below.

Difference in mean time (actual) spent by Males and Females inside a store is statistically significant.

z-test = 26.14 z-critical = 1.64

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected and there is significant difference between the shopping time of males and females and obviously the average time spent by females inside a store is significantly higher than that spent by males.

Difference in mean time spent (actual) by Males inside a store and that that reported by them is statistically insignificant.

z-test = 0.99 z-critical = 1.64

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is accepted i.e. there is no significant difference between the actual shopping time of males and that reported by them. What it means is that males are candid and honest in reporting their shopping time, because do not take longer to shop what they shop and also they justify the same.

Difference in mean time spent (actual) by Females inside a store and that that reported by them is statistically significant.

z-test = 13.69 z-critical = 1.64

Therefore, Null Hypothesis is rejected and there is significant difference between the actual shopping time of females and that reported by them. What it means is that females know that they take longer in shopping what they shop and that they have a reputation of spending more time inside a store, so they do make a conscious effort to report less when surveyed. This means while females do indulge in browsing, they like to hide this.

From this quantitative research it can be concluded that while men are more focused on what they are buying, women indulge in browsing a lot more items and schemes in the store while shopping and this results in women taking lot more time in shopping as compared to men. This is something known not only to others but to them as well, because, they report less time than they actually spend inside a store.

References

Cohen L., Manion L., Morrison K., Research Methods in Education, 6th Ed., Routledge, 2007.

Siegel, S., & Castellan, J. N. (1988). Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.

Physical Punishment for Children and Its Impact

Since ancient times, physical punishment has been one of the most popular methods of child upbringing. Given the current level of violence, it should come as no wonder that physical punishment is so widespread. Thus, critics cannot consider such physical punishment as a sole problem; it is, actually, just another spin-off of societys difficulties, and the reactions of people to certain stresses and to particular characteristics of their makeup, whether genetic, psychological, or communal. A child beater could be the same sociopath who goes around breaking windows for the fun of it, or a person gets into fights at the least provocation. Physical punishment for children is related to such concepts as child abuse and molestation prohibited by the law and implying criminal responsibility for abusers. Today, physical punishment is prohibited in schools and at home, but still, many parents use this type of punishment to educate their children. Physical punishment causes more harm than good, because it results in great psychical and emotional suffering of children but does not improve their behavior and attitudes.

Parents who u children, may well have been abused themselves as children, or watched their fathers assault their children. Poverty and being without a job may have something to do with it, as they do with all other kinds of violence. There is an example when a father stabbed his child to death because he lost his temper over her constant complaints about his inability to hold down a job. Unemployment is not the only reason for physical punishment. To begin with, the role that custom plays in bringing physical punishment about and in preventing it cannot be ignored. There are, thus, certain rules that govern violent behavior within a particular group (Miller-Perrin and Wurtele 2001). The murder of kin to uphold a familys honor occurs frequently among Arab Muslims. Critics also know that many cultures, including that of the Japanese, had a long history of using infanticide  the killing of children  to get rid of unwanted daughters. In the ancient world, imperfect children were hurled to their deaths from the pick of Mount Taygetus, and in Africa, in the South Pacific, and among our own American Indians, it was not uncommon for the younger members of a family to do away with the elderly members when they became decrepit and lost their capacity to work. The physical punishment that troubles society today is a good deal different from those issues from the past. Physical punishment goes far beyond any cultural values, for in America it occurs among almost all the ethnic groups that make up our nation. Therefore, it is a psychological problem for many parents. It often occurs in families only because society still regards violence as a legitimate way to react, to keep things in hand, to discipline, to get revenge (Vitiello, 1997). Physical punishment stands as a glaring example of how some adults attempt to control, take revenge on a family member who has broken a rule, or take out personal frustrations and insecurity. Seldom, if ever, is the victim at fault in cases of true child abuse. Critics are not talking here about the light tap on the cheek or the rear end of a child who has irritated his or her mother or dad. Although some child psychologists argue that all forms of physical violence, no matter how minor, are to be fated, this is not the sort of child abuse that has medical specialists and police departments alarmed (Ackerman and Rogers 2007).

Usually, one hears of the cases in which very young children are physically punished; because a young child is particularly susceptible, these are the incidents that generally receive extensive media attention. But according to specialists in modern social science, adults, too, are abused. They are likely to be on the receiving end of abuse in different ways than they were as children, says one report on the subject (Greven 1992, p. 87). The point about the children who are abused become abusers themselves is a telling one, and one that keeps appearing in statistical data of mistreated children. It can be clearly explained by the following facts: when a young child becomes parents, they have not, actually, trained for the job. In fact, they received much more training when they learned how to drive a track and got their licenses. Adults learn how to be parents pretty much on the job. (Smullens, 2002). They feel their way through it, making mistakes, learning from them, and in most cases, doing pretty well in the end. But about all they can draw on is what they have learned in their own homes, from their parents. And too often, parents know no other way of teaching a child than by using physical punishment (Graczyk 1998).

A child who has been treated harshly cannot help being affected by the hostile actions of their parents, and when they grow up and have their own children, they find it difficult to be tolerant; so they respond by being aggressive. Studies by Greven (1992), an analyst at Medical School, found some years ago that repeated brutalization as a small child by parents or parent substitutes turned up in the backgrounds of some people who later killed a relative or family member. Greven (1992) found out several other issues. One was that the abusers experienced long periods of loneliness during childhood. Another was that they lacked the ability to play games. Furthermore, some parents had low feelings of their worth and experienced a good deal of disgrace as children. Other experts have suggested that raising twins places enough stress on parents to add to the risk of physical punishment in these families. Other studies indicate that physical punishment rates are higher in large families and in families where there are short time periods between births (Straus and Donnelley,1994). The increased stress of child-rearing under such conditions has been blamed for the higher rate. In a recent report, Rosemond (2000) explains that analysts who conducted a study of child abuse concluded that although such abuse results from a complex mix of many factors, parents should be aware of the huge physical and economic requirements they will have with two infants. Furthermore, they found that in families with twins, siblings are victims more frequently than the twins themselves  a finding that suggests that the birth of twins places tremendous stress on the entire family (Kennedy, 2007).

Serious as the pressure is on the family as a whole, it is clear that the children who are physically punished suffer the most. Apart from the physical marks, which can be incredibly disfiguring, there are the imperceptible ones left on the childrens minds. There is the guilt that a child often feels for having done something wrong to deserve such punishment. There is an envy for the parent who physically punishes the child. Children are likely to leave home and possibly turn to prostitution. It should be noted that not all physical punishment is directed at children. Verbal abuse, refusal, or desert can be just as devastating to a child as a blow. One might also ask whether physical punishment is a form of child abuse (Hopper 200S). Since a child is the least likely one to report such a case, the burden lies with other members of the family, neighbors, friends, and with medical staff, who often see the abused children in hospital rooms. Thus, again, it is up to critics to be attentive for evidence of physical punishment, and to at least make known our concern when it is supposed. Clearly, researchers have no right to blame someone based on weak proof; there is always the hazard of false indictment in cases when physical punishment, or any crime, is committed. But there is nothing incorrect with confiding doubts to a close friend, to churchmen or school principal, or even to a policeman (Kennedy, 2007; Pro-Corporal Punishment Answers 2001).

In general, though, parents have become more aware of the problem of physical punishment and it has received much media attention recently. For many reasons, the same physical punishment does not always apply to spouse abuse. Right, reports discussing the battered child and the prevalence of the issues appear frequently in newspapers and TV news. But the actual incidents of physical punishment  which is more widespread than abuse  are not portrayed as frequently as the cases in a battered child. It is typically only when a child has been murdered by a father that the issue is aired fully (Rosemond, 2000). From time to time, children themselves are too afraid to disclose that they have been physically punished; they fear the father might retaliate and beat them more. They may also be embarrassed to discuss such incidents with others. Or, they may experience they were at responsibility for provoking a father to punishment them, and so they remain quiet. When police are called, they often find it difficult to determine  unless the child shows serious physical injuries  whether a family fight or a beating has occurred. Thus, police from time to time send away such people, and write them down in their reports as only a domestic argument. Friends and neighbors may also be of little support for a child. From time to time, they are unwilling to get involved in personal family problems and upbringing; at other times, they may encourage the child, who may have left home after an incident, to return to a family and try to work it out. Such advice only proves any feelings a child may have that it is he who is responsible. Some critics also consider that children are responsible because they behave ably  that is, that they enjoy being beaten. Others say that they are free to leave whenever badly but that they do not because abusive parents often assure never to do it again, beg for forgiveness, or excuse their behavior simply by saying they just lost their heads temporarily (Rathbum, 2007). This type involves an actual physical punishment (Miller, 2000).

In sum, physical punishment is unlawful as it is the same as abuse and maltreatment of a child. Behavior like that can be as devastating as a blow with a fist or a slap, but it is not the sort of abuse that a woman can rely on in court if she is trying to prove her husband is abusing her. Physical punishment may not be justified to people familiar with the details of a certain case. But it is not always easy to convince a court. Moreover, many authorities still question whether enough scientific knowledge about what is called the battered woman syndrome exists to permit psychologists and psychiatrists to testify as expert witnesses on the subject. Physical punishment does not improve the behavior of a child but increases family violence and leads to psychological distress and disorders in later years.

References

Ackerman, T., Rogers, B. (2007). Mother may face more charges of child abuse. Houston and Texas News. Web.

Graczyk, M. (1998). Survey details child abuse growing in Texas. Associated Press. Web.

Greven, P. J. (1992). Spare the Child: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological. Vintage.

Hopper, J. Child Abuse. (2007). Web.

Kennedy, R. (2007). Corporal Punishment -Should Beating Be Banned?. Web.

Miller, A. (2000). For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence. Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 3rd edition.

Miller-Perrin, C. L., Wurtele, S. K. (2001). Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: Sharing the Responsibility. University of Nebraska Press.

Pro-Corporal Punishment Answers (2001). Web.

Rathbum, S. (2007). Recent child abuse cases raise question. Web.

Rosemond, J. (2000). To Spank Or Not To Spank. Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Straus, M.A., Donnelley, D.A. (1994). Beating the Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment in American Families. Lexington Books.

Smullens, S. (2002) The 5 Cycles of Emotional Abuse: Investigating a Malignant Victimization. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association 5, (1); 16-22.

Vitiello, M. (1997). Three Strikes: Can We Return to Rationality. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 87, (1): 395-481.