Section 59 One Year On

I have just had a look at this blog, and noticed that my last post was exactly one year ago today.

http://s59news.blogspot.com ran for 51 days, between 8 March 2007 and 28 April 2007.  It formed the news updates section of the www.politik.co.nz website (down currently, but will be up and running again shortly I hope).  At the end of April 2007, I decided to write updates for the Section 59 blog, and simply direct www.politik.co.nz visitors there.  The Section 59 blog has 366 posts from when it started on 11 September, 2006.  I have been greatly supported in this work since 10 November 2007 by Simeon Brown, who I also run the NZ Debate blog with.

As we approach the 2008 General Election, and as, once again the Anti-Smacking Law debate is raised again, the Section 59 blog will continue to comment on and link to articles relating to the issue.

This will be the last post on the S59 News blog - thanks for reading!

Kind Regards,

Andy Moore
blogging at starstuddedsuperstep.com

Robert E. Larzelere: In New Zealand

ROBERT E. LARZELERE PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
Dept. Human Development & Family Science - Oklahoma State University

will be asking the questions...
• what is the sound scientific evidence on the benefits / harms of smacking?
• how does appropriate smacking compare with other forms of parental
correction in terms of short-term and long-term outcomes?
• do smacking bans reduce child abuse according to international experience?

Doctor Larzelere, one of the World's Foremost Researchers on Child Correction For Past 30 Years is...
• One of three social scientific expert witnesses on the side of successfully defending a
similar section to NZ's s59 of Canada's Criminal Code.
(The social scientific expert witnesses on the other side included Joan Durrant. Durrant
has been painted as the authority on smacking bans in NZ yet was ignored in her own
country!)
• Member of Task Force on Corporal Punishment - American Psychological Association.
• One of 7 experts invited to present at 1996 Scientific Consensus Conference on the
Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Corporal Punishment - co-sponsored by
American Academy of Pediatrics.

Doctor Larzelere is the author of 70 publications including...
• Comparing child outcomes of physical punishment and alternative disciplinary
tactics: A meta-analysis. Larzelere, R. E., & Kuhn, B. R. (2005). Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review,
8, 1-37.
• Sweden's Smacking Ban: More harm than good. Larzelere, R. E. (2004) Frinton on Sea, Essex, UK:
Families First
(Refutes research presented by Joan Durrant which has been used as evidence for repealing
s59 by NZ's Children's Commissioner, UNICEF, Barnados, Plunket and other groups
supporting repeal.)
• Children and Violence in the Family: Scientific Contributions
Larzelere; R. E. (2005) A Submission to the UN Global Study on Children and Violence
• Physical discipline and child behavior problems: A study of ethnic group
differences.
Polaha, J., Larzelere, R. E., Shapiro, S. K., & Pettit, G. S. (2004). Parenting: Science and Practice, 4, 339-360.
• Ordinary physical punishment: Is it harmful?
Baumrind, D., Larzelere, R. E., & Cowan, P. A. (2002). Comment on Gershoff (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 128, 580-589.
• The effects of discipline responses in delaying toddler misbehavior recurrences.
Larzelere, R. E., Schneider, W. N., Larson, D. B., & Pike, P. L. (1996). Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 18, 35-57

For more information on Doctor Robert E. Larzelere and his visit to New Zealand, click here.