ABSTRACT
A burgeoning literature elucidates the detrimental effects of corporal punishment on children, including physical, psychological and emotional harm (Newell 1989; Gershoff 2002); reduced moral and social development (as children do not learn the ‘wrongfulness’ of behaviours, but learn to avoid punishments instead) (Hoffman 1983; De Veer and Janssens 1994); and increases in aggression, antisocial behaviour and lack of self-control (Straus 1990; Lazerele 2000). Investigations of corporal punishment within educational settings have demonstrated similar physical, mental and emotional effects, particularly in developing country contexts (Youssef et al. 1998; Leach and Machakanja 2000; Morrell 2001; Dunne et al. 2006). 1 Within Tanzanian schools in particular, a survey of 500 primary and secondary students demonstrated that children feared teachers ‘who shout, use bad language and caning’ (Mkukuta Secretariat, Poverty Eradication Division 2007: 15). Another study found that excessive corporal punishment was linked to truancy and dropout (Kuleana Children's Rights Centre 1999). A third study also documented secondary students stating that ‘[corporal punishment] doesn't help me change’, and ‘it makes me lose focus on my studies’ (Feinstein and Mwahombela 2010: 406). These research findings come despite the Tanzanian government's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991 which states that children should be protected against physical as well as psychological violence (United Nations 1989). Although the CRC was ratified, corporal punishment is still legal in Tanzanian schools, though limited to four strokes only to be administered by head teachers (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training 2008). The research evidence, however, suggests that regular teachers continue to practise corporal punishment (McAlpine 2008; Frankenberg et al. 2010); which speaks to the difficulty of changing teachers’ attitudes and behaviours even though legislation is in place. This points to the need to understand further the complex interconnections between social norms, reasoning and lived experience that prompt teachers to use corporal punishment.
