Enoch Pratt Free Library Podcast

Seventy per cent of all Americans say they favor spanking, but African American culture seems to have a special attachment to it. The overwhelming majority of black parents see corporal punishment as a reasonable, effective way to protect their children from street violence, incarceration, or worse. But Dr. Stacey Patton's extensive research suggests corporal punishment is a crucial factor in explaining why black folks are subject to disproportionately high rates of child abuse, foster-care placements, school suspensions and expulsions, and criminal prosecutions -- all of which funnel traumatized children into our prison systems and away from their communities.By examining all the layers of corporal punishment -- race, religion, history, popular culture, science, policing, the psychology of individual and cultural trauma, and personal testimonies with parents and children -- Dr. Patton encourages parents, teachers, clergy, and child-welfare providers to consider a wider range of tools for raising and discipli