Poisonous Pedagogy - Discussion and Criticism

Discussion and Criticism

Alice Miller describes as poisonous pedagogy all types of behavior that she believes is intended to manipulate children's characters through force or deception. Her focus is not merely on smacking (although she has said that "Every smack is a humiliation" and is clearly opposed to corporal punishment) but also on various other forms of what she sees as manipulation, deceit, hypocrisy, and coercion, commonly practiced, in her view, by parents and teachers against children.

Sociology professor Frank Furedi regards such declarations as too sweeping and disconnected from reality. Furedi suggests that many advocates of a total ban on physical punishment are actually against all forms of punishing children. He sees the underlying agenda as an anti-parent crusade, and argues that some research on the effects of spanking is far less clear-cut than the claims made on its behalf by what he calls "anti-smacking zealots".

Social psychologist David Smail contends that society bears a large part of the responsibility for individuals' dysfunctional behavior, and as yet has not addressed this in any meaningful way.

Developmental psychologist James W. Prescott, in the 1970s, carried out research into primate child-mother bonding and noted a link between disruption to the child-mother bonding process and the emergence of violence and fear based behaviour in the young primates. He suggests that the same dynamic functions for human beings, through the breakdown of empathy.

In 1975, Prescott outlined a link between violence and disruption of the child-mother bonding process in human societies, drawing on a cross-cultural study of Aboriginal Societies and a statistical analysis of those cultures' practices towards the nurturing of the natural child-mother bonding process, and an examination of historical attitudes towards children from Euramerican literature and the historical record.

He concluded that the disrupted child-mother bonding process was an absolute predictor of the emergence of violence, hierarchy, rigid gender roles, a dominatory psychology and violent territorial acquisition. Intervening upon and disrupting natural adolescent sexuality also formed part of the overall picture. This discovery was not expected. Most societies were peaceful, and the incidence of extremely violent societies was low.

The research showed that over time, disruptive practices become the 'norm' and as generations grow and pass on these practices, the society in question begins to demonstrate a clear lack of empathy, and violence is codified. The history of Poisonous Pedagogy is the history of this codification of these non-nurturant practices. It is upon these that current transmitted practice is found.

Prescott's work and insights have been confirmed by neuroscience, neurobiochemistry, psychology, peri-natal science, birth psychology and more anthropology.

Recent research into living Aboriginal Societies and a review of the historical record of first contact data, and other recorded observations, over the past 400 years have shown that the majority of Aboriginal Cultures do not chastise children. Indeed the data shows that children are treated with much more respect, trust and empathy than was previously believed.

Support for the view that corporal punishment is harmful, and in the long term, ineffective, is emerging from neuroscience, psychology, biochemistry and longtitudinal studies.