Corporal punishment and the cultural defense Alison Dundes Renteln

Law and Contemporary Problems

Volumn 73, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 253-279

  Renteln, Alison Dundes ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA   (United States)

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EID: 78649392397     PISSN: 00239186     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (129)

1. See generally ALISON DUNDES RENTELN, THE CULTURAL DEFENSE (2004).
2. CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND THE LAW: STATE APPROACHES FROM AROUND THE WORLD (Marie-Claire Foblets, Jean-Francois Gaudreault-Desbiens & Alison Dundes Renteln eds., 2010).
3. MULTICULTURAL JURISPRUDENCE: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON THE CULTURAL DEFENSE (Marie-Claire Foblets & Alison Dundes Renteln eds., 2009).
4. Even the concept of childhood itself as a distinct phase of the life cycle is a historical construct. See PHILIPPE ARIES, CENTURIES OF CHILDHOOD: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF FAMILY LIFE (Robert Baldick trans., 1960). Aries discusses the expansion of the use of birching in the context of arguing that European society extended childhood into adolescence: The history of discipline from the fourteenth to the seventeenth century enables us to make two important points.. [T]here remained an essential difference between the discipline applied to children and that applied to adults, a difference which did not exist to the same degree in the Middle Ages.. There was therefore a tendency to diminish the distinctions between childhood and adolescence, to push adolescence back towards childhood by subjecting it to an identical discipline.
5. See also CHILDREN IN HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (Joseph M. Hawes & N. Ray Hiner eds., 1991).
6. PETER N. STEARNS, GROWING UP: THE HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT (2005).
7. For a thoughtful overview of the issue of cultural relativism and the discipline of children, see HEATHER MONTGOMERY, AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILDHOOD: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDREN'S LIVES 156-80 (2009).
8. For a popular treatment, see Celia W. Dugger, A Cultural Reluctance to Spare the Rod, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 29, 1996, at B1.
9. In a previous essay I dealt with the more general question of the cultural defense in a wide range of child-abuse and neglect cases.
10. See generally Alison Dundes Renteln, Is the Cultural Defense Detrimental to the Health of Children, 7 LAW & ANTHROPOLOGY 27 (1994).
11. David Benatar, Corporal Punishment, 24 SOC. THEORY & PRAC. 237, 238 (1998).
12. Comm. on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 8, ¶ 11, U.N. Doc. CRC/C/GC/8, (Mar. 2, 2007) [hereinafter General Comment No. 8].
13. The comment notes that corporal punishment can occur in many settings including the home, education institutions, justice systems, and alternative care.
14. See Editorial, "Tradition" No Excuse for Child Abuse, ATLANTA J. & CONST., June 26, 2000, at 8A.
15. Although it is known to have been culturally acceptable in Korea, the use of corporal punishment has come under attack: "Once omnipresent among the military and police, in the legal system, the schools and at home, beatings and other physical forms of coercion are being firmly rejected by a growing number of South Koreans." Teresa Watanabe, Sparing the Rod in S. Korea, L.A. TIMES, Aug. 30, 1994, at A1.
16. see also H.C. Hahm & N.B. Guterman, The Emerging Problem of Physical Child Abuse in South Korea, 6 CHILD MALTREATMENT 169, 169-79 (2001).
17. For a nuanced study that includes discussion of Korean attitudes toward physical punishment, see Kay Kyung-Sook Song, Defining Child Abuse: Korean Community Study 140-44 (1986) (unpublished dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles) (on file with Law and Contemporary Problems).
18. See Gariot Louisna, Discipline, Abuse Meet Head-On in Culture Clash, CARIBBEAN TODAY, Aug. 31, 1998, at 31 ("A growing number of immigrant parents in the United States-especially those from Caribbean islands where parents feel free to discipline their children without limits-are finding out, almost too late, that they can be arrested for beating their children as a form of discipline. In extreme cases, they can lose all parental rights.").
19. See infra text accompanying notes 73-78 (discussing child abuse in Nigeria).
20. Fontes and O'Neill-Arana endorse the proposition that culture is relevant to assessment. They recommend considering culture in deciding on "the most appropriate intervention" but are disinclined to take it into account "in determining whether abuse has occurred." See Lisa A. Fontes & Margarita R. O'Neill-Arana, Assessing for Child Maltreatment in Culturally Diverse Families, in HANDBOOK OF MULTICULTURAL ASSESSMENT: CLINICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS 627, 647-48.
21. Lisa A. Suzuki, Joseph G. Ponterotto & Paul J. Meller eds., 3d ed. 2008.
22. Cultural relativism is a theory that has been widely misinterpreted. For an analysis of erroneous interpretations, see generally Alison Dundes Renteln, Relativism and the Search for Human Rights, 90 AM. ANTHROPOLOGIST 56, 56-72 (1988).
23. Some claim that relativists think that cultures are static and want them to remain fixed in time. As no relativist holds that view, this argument is a straw man.
24. The anthropologists who developed the theory of relativism were Americans who had been brought to value tolerance. Because of their own enculturation, they assumed relativism had to be logically connected to tolerance. For elaboration, see ALISON DUNDES RENTELN, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS: UNIVERSALISM VERSUS RELATIVISM 65 (1990).
25. ROBERT REDFIELD, THE PRIMITIVE WORLD AND ITS TRANSFORMATIONS 146-47 (1953).
26. Jill Korbin has written extensively on the subject of cultural aspects of child abuse and neglect. See, e.g., Jill E. Korbin, Child Neglect and Abuse Across Cultures, in CONTEXTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT: CULTURE, POLICY AND INTERVENTION 122 (Robinson et al. 2008).
27. Jill E. Korbin et al., How Neighborhoods Influence Child Maltreatment: A Review of the Literature and Alternative Pathways, 31 CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 1117 (2007).
28. Jill E. Korbin, "Very Few Cases": Child Abuse and Neglect in the Peoples' Republic of China, in CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES 166 (Jill E. Korbin ed. 1981). She is considered to be the first anthropologist to focus on child abuse.
29. Jill E. Korbin, Introduction to CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES "[P]ractices viewed as acceptable by one culture but as abusive or neglectful by another.".
30. "[E]ach group nevertheless has criteria for identifying behaviors that are outside the realm of acceptable child training.".
31. "[D]etrimental environmental and societal conditions must be distinguished from accepted child-rearing practices that are differentially perceived as abuse or neglect, and from idiosyncratic maltreatment of children which falls outside a culture's accepted range of behaviors.".
32. See generally Kathleen J. Sternberg, Child Maltreatment: Implications for Policy From Cross-Cultural Research, in 8 CHILD ABUSE, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL POLICY, ADVANCES IN APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 191, 191-211 (Dante Cicchetti & Sheree L. Toth eds., 1993).
33. For an early call for more cross-cultural research, see Richard J. Gelles, What to Learn from Crosscultural and Historical Research on Child Abuse and Neglect: An Overview, in CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT: BIOSOCIAL DIMENSIONS 15, 15-31 (Richard J. Gelles & Jane B. Lancaster eds., 1987).
34. LISA A. FONTES, CHILD ABUSE AND CULTURE: WORKING WITH DIVERSE FAMILIES 64 (2005).
35. State v. Kargar, 679 A.2d 81, 82 (Me. 1996).
36. see also Nancy A. Wanderer & Catherine R. Connors, Culture and Crime: Kargar and the Existing Framework for a Cultural Defense, 47 BUFF. L. REV. 829, 838-39 (1999).
37. Krasniqi v. Dallas County Child Protective Servs. Unit of Texas Dep't of Human Servs., 809 S.W.2d 927, 933 (Tex. App. 1991), cert. denied 503 U.S. 1006 (1992), and cert. denied 504 U.S. 940 (1992). The parents' lawsuit in federal court was also unsuccessful.
38. See Krasniqi v. Enoch, 24 F.3d 237, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 14638 (5th Cir. 1994) (unpublished table decision).
39. See, e.g., J.A. Black, Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse in Ethnic Minorities, 22 MIDWIFE HEALTH VISITOR & COMMUNITY NURSE 48, 48-49, 52-53 (1986).
40. See also William Y. Chin, Blue Spots, Coining, and Cupping: How Ethnic Minority Parents Can Be Misreported as Child Abusers, 7 J.L. SOC'Y 88, 88-114 (2005).
41. Leslie Berger, Learning to Tell Custom from Abuse: Child Welfare Officials Are Working with Immigrant Parents to Clear up Cultural Misperceptions that May Lead to False Reports of Trouble, L.A. TIMES, Aug. 24, 1994, at A1.
42. Ruth E. Davis, Cultural Health Care or Child Abuse? The Southeast Asian Practice of Cao Gio, 12 J. AM. ACAD. NURSE PRAC. 89, 90 (2000).
43. See Nong The Anh, "Pseudo-battered child" Syndrome, 236 JAMA 2288 (1976).
44. See Gentry W. Yeatman & Viet Van Dang, Cai Gio (Coin Rubbing) Vietnamese Attitudes Toward Health Care, 244 JAMA 2748, 2748 (1980).
45. Joseph Morton, Second Coining Case Is Dropped and Asian Dad Hopes Case Helps Others, OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, May 14, 2002, at 1B.
46. In re Jertrude O., 466 A.2d 885, 888 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1983).
47. See Vicki Ashton, The Effect of Personal Characteristics on Reporting Child Maltreatment, 28 CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 985, 993 (2004).
48. See generally Doriane Lambelet Coleman et al., Where and How to Draw the Line Between Reasonable Corporal Punishment and Abuse, 73 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 107 (Spring 2010).
49. James G. Dwyer, Parental Entitlement and Corporal Punishment, 73 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 189 (Spring 2010).
50. The strongest formulation of the right to culture is found in Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
51. See, e.g., Luis Laosa, Social Policies Toward Children of Diverse Ethnic, Racial, and Language Groups in the United States, in 1 CHILD DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH AND SOCIAL POLICY 1, 1-109 (Harold W. Stevenson & Alberta E. Siegel eds., 1984).
52. see also Ellen Gray & John Cosgrove, Ethnocentric Perception of Childrearing Practices in Protective Services, 9 CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 389, 389-96. The consequences of social workers' intrusion in the home can be devastating.
53. For an incisive and compelling analysis, see generally Doriane Lambelet Coleman, Storming the Castle to Save the Children, 47 WM. & MARY L. REV. 413 (2005).
54. Benjamin Pimentel, Grieving Laotian Family Mourns Infant, S.F. CHRON., Feb. 19, 1994, at A19.
55. Benjamin Pimentel, Culture Clash Ends in Death of 5-Week-Old; Laotian Infant Had Been in Foster Care After Abuse Charge, S.F. CHRON., Feb. 12, 1994, at A1.
56. Dumpson v. Daniel M., N.Y. L. J., Oct. 16, 1974, at 17, col. 7. For the text of this case and other like cases.
57. see generally JUDITH AREEN, CASES AND MATERIALS ON FAMILY LAW 1210 (2d ed. 1985).
58. Dumpson, N.Y. L. J. at 17, col. 7. In many cultures it is considered extremely rude to look authority figures in the eyes. Averting the eyes can cause problems in our legal system, though, because it may be perceived as a sign that the speaker is prevaricating. For example, when a young refugee from Sierra Leone testified about being raped, she averted her gaze, and the clinician wondered "if this might bring the client's veracity into question." The interpreter explained that in their culture "it would not have been appropriate for the young woman to speak of such an intimate assault while 'staring' at an authority figure.".
59. Judy B. Okawa, Considerations for the Cross-Cultural Evaluation of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, in HANDBOOK OF MULTICULTURAL ASSESSMENT: CLINICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL APPLICATIONS, at 165, 172.
60. Another cultural difference is that individuals are socialized from a young age not to display emotion, even if they are under extreme emotional distress. When juries look for signs of remorse, the lack of emotion associated with a stoic demeanor can lead to harsher sentences.
61. Dumpson, N.Y. L. J. at 17, col. 7.
62. For New York's anomalous classification of unreasonable corporal-punishment cases as neglect rather than as abuse.
63. Dumpson, N.Y. L.J. at 17, col. 7. (emphasis added).
64. Tom Pelton, Father Jailed in Spanking; Girl's Paddling Leads to Assault Charge, SAN GABRIEL V. DAILY TRIB., Sept. 11, 1994, at B1.
65. R. v. Derriviere, [1969] 53 Crim. App. 637 (U.K.).
66. F.O. Shyllon, Immigration and the Criminal Courts, 34 MOD. L. REV. 135, 140 (1971).
67. SEBASTIAN POULTER, ENGLISH LAW AND ETHNIC MINORITY CUSTOMS 275 (1986).
68. Michael Freeman, The Morality of Cultural Pluralism, 3 INT'L J. CHILD. RTS. 1, 4 (1995).
69. Elaine Arnold, The Use of Corporal Punishment in Child Rearing in the West Indies, 6 CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 141, 141-45 (1982). Arnold discusses the debate about the origins of the custom, mentioning the theory associated with Orlando Patterson that the cruelty of slave mothers toward their own children represented the displacement of aggression toward others (the driver and overseer).
70. Stuart Pfeifer & Jennifer Mean, Burning Son's Hand: $100 Fine, L.A. TIMES, Apr. 27, 2002, at B1.
71. See e.g., Dana Parsons, This Just in, Judge: There's No Cultural Defense for Child Abuse, L.A. TIMES, Apr. 28, 2002, at B3.
72. Tribunal de la Jeunesse, No. 540-41-00092-877, at *5 (Feb. 2, 1988) (on file with Law and Contemporary Problems).
73. Man Gets Probation After Pouring Pepper on Boy, HOUS. CHRON., Jan. 15, 1988, § 1, at 18.
74. Harris County Adult Probation Department, Pre-Sentence Investigation Report 1 (Dec. 30, 1987) (on file with Law and Contemporary Problems). There was also a charge of debit card abuse to which Akinyemi also entered a plea of no contest.
75. The campaign to abolish corporal punishment in Nigeria was already underway in the 1980s, when this case occurred. See, e.g., Festus Nwako, Child Abuse Syndrome in Nigeria, 59 INT'L SURGERY 613, 613-15 (1974).
76. Reprinted in 19 MED., SCI. & L. 130 (1979).
77. D.S. Obikeze, Perspectives on Child Abuse in Nigeria, 63 INT'L CHILD WELFARE R. 25, 25-32 (1984).
78. O. Ransome-Kuti, Child Health in Nigeria: Past, Present, and Future, 61 ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD 198, 198-204 (1986).
79. Eileen Wilson & Grace Afamefuna, Child Abuse in Institutions: The Case of Day-Care Centers in Nigeria, 10 CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 93, 93-98 (1986).
80. For a discussion of the application of the cultural defense test to identify false claims, see generally Alison Dundes Renteln, The Use and Abuse of the Cultural Defense, 20 CAN. J. L. & SOC'Y 47 (2005).
81. R. v. Baptiste, [1980] 61 C.C.C. (2d) 438, 440 (Can.).
82. (Quoting Campeau v. The King, 103 C.C.C. 355, 356, 14 C.R. 202, 209 (Quebec Court of King's Bench (Appeal Side) (1951) (Bissonnette J., dissenting)).
83. See Points and Authorities, Re: Cultural Expert at 2, People v. Weili Kao, Super. Ct. No. 04F04427 (Cal. Super. Ct. Aug. 8, 2005).
84. A court in the United Kingdom rejected the argument that the use of Chinese sticks to discipline a child was acceptable.
85. See Re H [1987] 2 FLR 12.
86. GEORGE RYLEY SCOTT, THE HISTORY OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT: A SURVEY OF FLAGELLATION IN ITS HISTORICAL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL, AND SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS 94 (1938). Although much other scholarship cites the "spare the rod" proverb, paremiologists have gathered data suggesting many think the proverb has outlived its usefulness.
87. See, e.g., Alfie Kohn, You Know What They Say.. Are Proverbs Nuggets of Truth or Fool's Gold 22 PSYCHOL. TODAY, Apr. 1988, at 36, 36-41.
88. Reprinted in "GOLD NUGGETS OR FOOL'S GOLD?" MAGAZINE AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES ON THE (IR)RELEVANCE OF PROVERBS AND PROVERBIAL PHRASES 83 (Wolfgang Mieder & Janet Sobieski eds., 2006) ("Few proverbs have been so thoroughly disproved-or have caused so much harm as this one. Nearly 40 years of research have shown conclusively that the 'rod' produces children who are more aggressive than their peers.").
89. Christopher G. Ellison & Matt Bradshaw, Religious Beliefs, Sociopolitical Ideology, and Attitudes Toward Corporal Punishment, 30 J. FAM. ISSUES 320, 323 (2009).
90. M.A. Straus & Richard Gelles, Violence in American Families: How Much Is There and Why Does It Occur?, in TROUBLED RELATIONSHIPS 141, 159 (C.M. Chilman, F.M. Cox & E. Nunnally eds., 1988).
91. See also MURRAY A. STRAUS & DENISE A. DONNELLY, BEATING THE DEVIL OUT OF THEM: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN AMERICAN FAMILIES 20 (1994).
92. See Linda Veazey, Immigrants and Knowledge of U.S. Law, 92 JUDICATURE 202, 203 (2009).
93. Parents also sometimes call emergency numbers to find out whether they can continue to administer punishment. In Japan, when child-abuse hotlines were instituted, mothers called to find out if they could still discipline their children or if this would be considered abusive. HEATHER MONTGOMERY, AN INTRODUCTION TO CHILDHOOD: ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON CHILDREN'S LIVES 178 (2009).
94. One Korean American student explained in class that a friend from a similar background had called 911 when the father threatened to use corporal punishment. They took a trip to Korea that summer, and when they returned, the friend never again called 911. It is possible that families will find ways to circumvent bans on corporal punishment if they come from countries where it is still allowed.
95. See Peter Newell, Respecting Children's Right to Physical Integrity: What the World Might Be Like.., in THE HANDBOOK OF CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: COMPARATIVE POLICY AND PRACTICE 215, 215-26 (Bob Franklin ed., 1995).
96. Karen J. Ripoll-Nunez & Ronald P. Rohner, Corporal Punishment in Cross-Cultural Perspective: Directions for a Research Agenda, 40 CROSS-CULT. RES. 220, 222-23 (2006). Although governments have been officially prohibiting physical discipline in various institutional settings, it still occurs in many parts of the world.
97. See generally Carol R. Ember & Melvin Ember, Explaining Corporal Punishment of Children: A Cross-Cultural Study, 107 AM. ANTHROPOLOGIST 609 (2005). Ironically, there is more support for physical discipline in the United States than in many other places.
98. See David Levinson, Physical Punishment of Children and Wifebeating in Cross-cultural Perspective, 5 CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT 193, 195 (1981).
99. Joan E. Durrant et al., Protection of Children from Physical Maltreatment in Canada: An Evaluation of the Supreme Court's Definition of Reasonable Force, 18 J. AGGRESSION, MALTREATMENT & TRAUMA 64, 65 (2009). The empirical study assessed the data to see whether it provided stronger support for abolition or limitation; it provided stronger support for the former.
100. (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Latvia, Croatia, Israel, Germany, Bulgaria, Iceland, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Uruguay, Spain, Venezuela, and Costa Rica).
101. (Noting that this is the traditional approach taken in the United States, based on earlier United Kingdom doctrine).
102. See MICHAEL SALTMAN, THE DEMISE OF THE 'REASONABLE MAN': A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF A LEGAL CONCEPT (1991).
103. See also Stanley Yeo, Ethnicity and the Objective Test in Provocation, 16 MELB. U. L. REV. 67 (1987).
104. Stanley Yeo, Sex, Ethnicity, Power of Self-Control and Provocation Revisited, 18 SYDNEY L. REV. 304 (1996).
105. This argument that ethnic-minority parents receive disproportionate attention for their allegedly improper parenting could be viewed as a form of racial profiling.
106. The United Nations Secretary General launched a study on violence against children which included corporal punishment. See UNITED NATIONS, WORLD REPORT ON VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN (2006), available at http://www.unviolencestudy.org/. The report provides some evidence of an emerging norm. 2009 was announced as the target date for universal abolition.
107. See Michael D.A. Freeman, Upholding the Dignity and Best Interests of Children: International Law and the Corporal Punishment of Children, 73 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 211 (Spring 2010).
108. Elizabeth T. Gershoff, More Harm than Good: A Summary of Scientific Research on the Intended and Unintended Effects of Corporal Punishment on Children, 73 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 31 (Spring 2010).
109. This was evident in the discussion of discipline in Korea and Nigeria, when families claimed that corporal punishment was culturally accepted even though there were strong social movements developing to prohibit it.
110. Convention on the Rights of the Child art. 37, opened for signature Nov. 20, 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.
111. See A. v. United Kingdom, 90 Eur. Ct. H.R. 2692, 2699 (1998).
112. Campbell v. United Kingdom, 48 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) (1982).
113. A., 90 Eur. Ct. H.R. at 2699.
114. Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young Peoples' Application [2009] NICA 10 (Civ) (N. Ir.). The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland found that the Commissioner was not a victim and therefore not entitled to seek a ruling on this matter. The Court seemed concerned that deciding that the common-law defense was no longer available would constitute the imposition of retrospective change in law. As there would be no way to limit the application of the ruling to future cases, it seemed unwise to decide the matter in the absence of an actual case or controversy.
115. See MONIKA SAJKOWSKA, PROTECTING CHILDREN AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT (2004).
116. COUNCIL OF EUROPE PUBLISHING, ABOLISHING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF CHILDREN: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (2007).
117. See, e.g., Legal Status and Human Rights of the Child, Adv. Op. OC-17/2002, Inter-American Court of Human Rights (2002).
118. Caesar v. Trinidad & Tobago, 2005 Inter-Am. Ct. H.R. (ser. C) No. 123, ¶ 73 (2005).
119. Doebbler v. Sudan, No. 236/2000 (African Comm'n on Human & People's Rights (2003)).
120. Child Rights Information Network, Ban on Corporal Punishment in the Home-Referendum and After, http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=22344.
121. For the court cases handed down by national supreme courts, see Endcorporalpunishment.org, Key Judgments, http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/hrlaw/judgments.html (last visited Oct. 10, 2009).
122. With Robert E. Larzelere & Diana Baumrind, Are Spanking Injunctions Scientifically Supported?, 73 LAW & CONTEMP. PROBS. 57, 69 (Spring 2010) (noting that current research indicates that customary spanking is not associated with any more-adverse outcomes in children than is any other type of corrective discipline).
123. After evaluating the major reviews on the effects of corporal punishment, Ripoll-Nunez and Rohner urge caution in drawing any definitive conclusions about the effects of punishment.
124. They call for much cross-cultural research with morecareful conceptual and methodological rigor.
125. Philip Alston, The Best Interests Principle: Toward a Reconciliation of Culture and Human Rights, in THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD: RECONCILING CULTURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS 1, 18 (Philip Alston ed., 1994). The critics mentioned by name are Robert Mnookin and David Chambers.
126. See Leigh Kathryn Jenco, "What Does Heaven Ever Say?" A Methods-Centered Approach to Cross-Cultural Engagement, 101 AM. POL. SCI. REV. 741, 741-55 (2007).
127. Jenco asks important questions about how to approach questions of consensus: "Is there a way to conduct cross-cultural inquiry so as to supplant, rather than embrace, the Eurocentrism [some] assume is unavoidable? And how must the way we practice not only cross-cultural theory but also political theory in general be changed to reflect this new approach?".
128. Even the United States may be changing to be opposed to spanking. See Murray Straus & Michael Donnelly, Theoretical Approaches to Corporal Punishment, in CORPORAL PUNISHMENT OF CHILDREN IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE 3, 5 (Michael Donnelly & Murray A. Straus eds., 2005).
129. If it was possible finally to ban the execution of juveniles, perhaps outlawing corporal punishment will be as well. The Supreme Court upheld the use of corporal punishment in schools in 1977 in Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977).