NPEIV Support of AAP Policy Statement on Spanking
The National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV) is an overarching group of individuals, organizations, agencies, coalitions, and groups that embrace a national, multi-disciplinary and multicultural commitment to violence prevention across the lifespan.
And we applaud the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for taking a stand to end corporal punishment of children. Their recently updated policy statement strongly advises parents against the use of spanking as a disciplinary tool and urges parents to employ more supporting forms of discipline as research has clearly shown that spanking and other forms of corporal punishment “increases aggression in young children in the long run and is ineffective in teaching a child responsibility and self-control.”
Violence is never the answer. There is a clear body of evidence demonstrating the negative effects of corporal punishment on childhood development, including increasing their risk for intimate partner violence in adolescence and as adults. NPEIV, who in 2015 adopted its own policy statement against corporal punishment of children joins the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC) and similar organizations in encouraging all professionals working with child maltreatment to implement these recommendations within their practice.
NPEIV is committed to reducing interpersonal violence and its consequences through scientific research and application of empirical findings. It is our mission to make the prevention of interpersonal violence a national and international priority and to encourage healthy relationships by linking science, practice, policy and advocacy.
Through our many partnerships and collaborations, it is our vision to end all types of interpersonal violence, for all people, in all communities, at all stages of life. For more information, please visit www.npeiv.org