Prisons are testimony to the failure of punishment as a means of correcting behavior.Recidivism rates for criminals in the United States are over 70% for some crimes according to a recent study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Realistically, some people need to be incarcerated to protect society, but because most are eventually released it would be a good thing if most prisoners came out and stayed out after being motivated to be better citizens.
The prison data does not imply that negative consequences are useless when applies to some students, but punishment does not bring about a universally positive change in students. All teachers are aware that a small percentage of students in school cause most of the serious problems, and these are typically students that have been exposed to punishment repeatedly.
Why Schools and Teachers Endorse Punishment of Students
For all transgressions at school to have natural consequences would be convenient. If that were the case school officials would not have to apply artificial consequences. But there is also the matter of protecting students from danger, and there are, regrettably, dangerous students in school who can harm innocent students. Schools need ways of assuring a safe environment for the students whose primary purpose at school is learning.
But information gleaned from many years of research is pretty clear – punishment can suppress behavior but is a poor motivator for positive change. Punishment is used because it’s a quick and easy way to apply consequences. Whether or not it works to positively change behavior may be secondary. Punishment also serves as a sort of retribution – payback. Teachers sometimes need to dispense quick justice to make themselves or an offended student feel better. Punishment of this type helps even the score.
Can Punishment Motivate Students to Behave Positively
Punishment does not affect all students the same way. Just as locks are said to be for honest people, punishment is for “good” people. It serves to remind the well-behaved of consequences if they go astray. Students who have the benefit of a stable home with clear values and caring parents are motivated to please those parents by positive behavior. The fact that breaking the rules can lead to unhappy parents is scary and, in a sense, motivating.
These students are intrinsically motivated – by virtue of a functional family– to avoid misbehavior, although the peer pressure and the impending need for independence sometimes wins them over to the “dark side.” The behavior is typically experimental and self-correcting. Appropriate punishment with children who are fortunate enough to want to avoid consequences may work. But it is important to understand that the punishment may simply be not initiating some major behavioral change – it is only calling causing the student to return to behavior already learned, and that may be quite enough for the teacher.
If punishment is used with well-adjusted, intrinsically motivated behavior it is not likely to motivate them to achieve. Punishment creates counterproductive stress, frustrations, and a need to avoid threatening situations, which might mean avoiding school by feigning illness.
Motivating the Students to Make Major Changes in Behavior
There are many children for whom punishment is no big deal. Positive family values may be lacking. These are the very students who typically provide schools with the majority of major behavior problems. They often are attention-starved children who get attention by misbehaving at home and at school. After all, negative attention is better than being ignored.
Punishing students may only serve to verify that the world is an uncaring, unfriendly place occupied by people who punish. For these unfortunate children, punishment intensifies resentment and hostility. These students are often not easy to “warm up to” and often have friends of similar attitudes and behavior. They present a curious conundrum for schools – the students who need the most encouragement are least likely to receive it.
That is true unless school personnel adopt a plan that embraces problem students. The key is to be proactive and identify troublesome students early. Once these students are identified and before their behavior lands them in serious trouble should receive extra encouragement for positive behavior and academic achievement. Teachers should not try to “catch” these students so that they can be punished, but present as caring an attitude as practical and possible.
Behavior intervention plans in class should be based on incremental plans that offer warnings before disciplinary actions are initiated. When disciplinary action is necessary it should be consistent and calmly enforced. Schools should offer counseling in anger management and social skills. Parents of students with behavior problems should have access to group counseling and be encouraged to maintain contact with teachers.
Punishment is widely used in schools although it does not achieve the most desirable results in the long term. Punishment is most effective in the temporary suppression of some behaviors, which in some cases is sufficient. It is most effective with students who learn values in a successfully functioning family. Such students are intrinsically motivated to disappoint parents. Students who chronically misbehave do not respond to punishment as might be expected, and may even get worse. Schools should be proactive in identifying and providing programs that encourage good behavior rather than punish bad behavior.
Harvey Craft - I am a retired educator with diverse experience. I read anything science, education, and history. I write to share what I learn.
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