Parenting Without Punishment

This book provides the following important information:

• How to shape a child’s behavior without punishment
• Why punishment can actually increase bad behavior
• How parents can use bad behavior to their advantage
• How to manage resistant and oppositional children
• How to use “time-out” correctly and effectively
• Why parents often have to change their own behavior

Parents spend so much time and energy trying to make their children behave, you would think they would have a deliberate, thought-out system for accomplishing this goal. Most parents, however, lament that not only do they not have a pre-determined plan, but that the “method” most of them use — punishment — doesn’t seem to work and it is very unpleasant to administer. It seems that the majority of parents simply don’t know any other way to manage bad behavior in their children, so they resort to what their parents did with them — traditional punishment.

In his groundbreaking book, Dr. John Maag explains that the problem with punishment is that it simply doesn’t work. It is always contingent on a child’s bad behavior, it is based on principles of negative reinforcement and it is always reactive — in other words, a recipe for disaster. In its place, Dr. Maag suggests that parents try his method — a proactive approach that focuses on emphasizing and encouraging a child’s good behavior rather than trying to decrease his bad behavior. In addition, Dr. Maag suggests using such bad behavior as a focal point for determining which behaviors need to be changed. Although this might seem obvious, it’s much more complicated than one would expect. Neither radical nor far-fetched, Maag’s system, based on traditional applied behavior analysis techniques, is completely sensible and effective.

Step-by-step directions, practical examples, fill-in charts and questionnaires show parents how to effectively manage a wide range of problem behaviors in their children, from minor problems to depression and attention deficit disorder (ADD) Maag’s method stresses consistency and positive reinforcement that will shape a child’s behavior far more profoundly than will punishment.

Filling a long-standing need, Parenting Without Punishment will help parents and teachers promote responsible, independent, creative and secure future adults.