Is it a Spare Rod or a Spoiled Child?: Revisiting Corporal Punishment Data and Gaps

• In Event: School and Campus

Abstract

This project explored an initial attempt at supplementing the current Civil Rights Data on corporal punishment (CP) in schools. First, we considered methods of training undergraduate students in critiquing criminal justice-related datasets and developing instruments to supplement them through qualitative inquiry and conceptual critique. Second, we sought to develop a more robust framework for capturing the nature and degree of corporal punishment in schools in the United States. Given the work of Ward et. al (2021) where they explored the connection between instances of historic lynching and contemporary rates of corporal punishment in schools, ultimately finding a significant relationship between the race of victims of punishment historically and today while also noting significant gaps in the data, our project sought to further explore the “who” and “with what” concerning the execution of CP today in schools. We sought to provide a stronger basis for future analysis of historic and contemporary trends around state-sanctioned violence of which CP is an example. Finally, as an initial analysis, we relied on existing quantitative data and qualitative interviews and surveys with key stakeholders, including educators, administrators, and parents who could provide initial insights into the student experience.

Author

• James Bernard Pratt, Jr., Fisk Univeristy