Clearly, the story of learning is unfinished without a return to the topic of punishment. Sin is always punished in this World, whatever may come in the next. On 6^th January 2015, former Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, age 60, was sentenced for two years for corruption. He was convicted of taking loans, clothing and private plane trips and other gifts from businessman Jonnie Williams. Prosecutors had sought to put McDonnell behind bars twelve years , while his defense team had pressed for community service and no prison time. Bob McDonnell’s wife, Maureen McDonnell, who was also found guilty of corruption charges in the case, is due for her sentencing hearing on 20^th February 2015. As Governor Jerry Brown of California knows, there is always some penalty in health, in comfort, or in peace of mind to be paid for every wrong.  It is unheard of that a person would be governor of the same state for four terms, and it is actually illegal, in California.

Spankings, reprimands, fines, jail sentences, firings, failing grades, and the like are commonly used to control behavior.  Recall that punishment lowers the probability that a response will occur again. To be most effective, punishment must be given contingently (only after an undesired response occurs).  Fines and imprisonments and corporal punishments operate more forcibly on the human mind than all the fears of damnation. Punishers, like reinforcers, are best defined by observing their effects on behavior. A punisher is any consequence that reduces the frequency of a target behavior. It is not always possible to know ahead of time what will act as a punisher for a particular person. For example, when Ian’s mother reprimanded him for throwing his toys, he stopped doing it. In this instance, the reprimand was a punisher. However, Kenny is starved for attention, of any kind from his parents, who both work full time.  For Kenny, a reprimand, or even a spanking, might actually reinforce toy throwing. Remember, too, that a punisher can be either onset of an unpleasant event, or the removal of a good state of affairs (response cost).

Punishers are consequences that lower the probability that a response will be made again. If a reporter is fired for lying and slandering a person, that termination of their employment is directly punishing because the reporter is noted for being unethical and reprimanded. Looking for another job will be difficult because the reporter did something wrong to get fired and others news agencies will not want to hire them, once the perspective employer fines out why he or she was terminated, and that adds to the punishment, in form of response cost.  Punishments are of service to the offenders. Rewards should be only to the meriting, and the former are to be dealt out rigorously in willful cases. How effective is punishment? Many people assume that punishment stops unacceptable behavior. Is this always true? Actually, the effectiveness of punishers depends greatly on their timing, consistency, and intensity. Punishment works best when it occurs as the response is being made, or immediately afterward (timing), and when it is given each time a response occurs (consistency). Thus, you could effectively (and humanely) punish a child that cries incessantly, every Sunday morning, from 7am until 11am, by asking it to stop each time it cries. Ten to fifteen such treatments are usually enough to greatly reduce crying.  This would not be the case if you applied punishment haphazardly or long after the crying stopped. If you discover that your son dug up a tree and ate it while you were gone, punishing the boy hours later will do little good.

Severe punishment (an intensely aversive or unpleasant stimulus) can be extremely effective in stopping behavior. If a 65-year-old Dave sticks his finger in a light socket and gets a shock, that may be the last time he ever tires it. More often, however, punishment only temporarily suppresses a response. If the response is still reinforced, punishment may be particularly ineffective, and responses suppressed by mild punishment usually reappear later. If 25-year-old Maria sneaks a snack from the refrigerator before dinner and is punished, she will probably try sneaky snacking again, sometime later (the beautiful little angel). She may not even want to eat again. It is worth nothing, however, that intense punishment may permanently suppress responding, even for actions as basic as eating. Parents and teachers have three basic tools to control simple learning: Reinforcement strengthens responses; non-reinforcement causes responses to extinguish; punishment suppresses responses. If punishment is used at all, it should always be mild. However, remember that mild will be ineffective if reinforcer are still available in the situation. That is why it is also best to reward an alternate, desired response. For example, a child who has a habit of taking toys from her brother should not just be reprimanded for it. He should be praised for cooperative play and rewarded for sharing his toys with others. Punishment tells a person that the response was wrong. However, it does not say what the right response is, so it does not teach new behaviors. If reinforcement is missing from the formula, punishment becomes less effective.

There are side effects of punishment. What are the draw backs of using punishment? A basic problem is that punishment is usually aversive (painful or uncomfortable). As a result, people and situations associated with punishment tend, through classical conditioning, to become feared, resented, or disliked. The aversive nature of punishment makes it especially poor to use when teaching children to eat politely or in toilet training. Escape and avoidance—a second major problem is that aversive stimuli usually encourage escape and avoidance learning. In escape learning, we learn to make a response in order to end an aversive stimulus. For example, if you work with an excessively cheerful and outgoing person, you may at first escape from conversations with him to obtain relief. Later you may dodge him altogether. This is an example of avoidance learning (making a response in order to postpone or prevent discomfort). Each time you sidestep him, your avoidance is reinforced by a sense of relief. In many situations involving frequent punishment, similar desires to escape and avoid are activated. For example, children who run away from punishing parents (escape) may soon learn to lie about their behavior (avoidance) or to spend as much time away from home as possible (also an avoidance response).

Aggression—a third problem with punishment is that it can greatly increase belligerence. Researchers have shown that people consistently react to pain by attacking whomever or whatever else is around. A common example is the nice old lady, who has a hot flash, and attacks the first people she can think of when she awakens from her nightmare of a painful procedure, at Planned Parenthood.  We also know that one of the most common responses to frustration is aggression. Generally speaking, punishment is painful frustrating or both. Punishment, therefore, sets up a powerful environment for learning belligerence. When a child is spanked, the child may feel angry, frustrated, and hostile. What if the child then goes outside and hits his brother? The danger is that destructive acts may feel good because they are releasing anger and frustration. If so, violence has been rewarded and will tend to occur again in other infuriating situations. One classic study found that overly aggressive adolescent boys had been severely punished for hostility at home. Since aggression was suppressed at home, parents were often surprised to learn that their good boys were in trouble at school for fighting. A more recent study of classroom discipline problems found that physical punishment, yelling, and humiliation are generally ineffective. Good reinforcement, in the form of praise, approval, and reward, it much more likely to quell classroom disruptions, defiance, and inattention.

There are times when punishment may be necessary to manage the behavior of a child, or even another adult. If you feel that you must punish, here are some tips to keep in mind. Do not used punishment at all if you can discourage misbehavior in other ways. Make liberal use of good reinforcement, especially praise to encourage good behavior. Also, try extinction first: see what happens if you ignore a problem behavior; or shift attention to a desirable activity and then reinforce with praise. Apply punishment during, or immediately after, misbehavior. Of course, immediate punishment is not always possible. With older children and adults, you can bridge the delay by clearly stating what act you are punishing. If you cannot punish a child immediately, wait for the next instance of misbehavior. Use the minimum punishment necessary to suppress misbehavior. Often, a verbal rebuke or a scolding is enough. Avoid harsh physical punishment. (Never hit a child in the head, for instance.) Taking away privileges or other good reinforcers (response cost) is usually best for older children and adults. Frequent punishment may lose its effectiveness, and harsh or excessive punishment has serious negative side effects (discussed in a moment).

Be consistent. Be very clear about what you regard as misbehavior. Punish every time the misbehavior occurs. Do not punish for something one day and ignore it the next. If you are usually willing to give a child three chances, do not change the rule and explode without warning after a first offense. Both parents should try to punish their children for the same things and in the same way. Expect anger from a punished person. Briefly acknowledge this anger, but be careful not to reinforce it. Be willing to admit your mistake if you wrongfully punish someone or if you punished too severely.  Punish with kindness and respect. Allow the punished person to retain self-respect. For instance, do not punish a person in front of others, it at all possible. A strong, trusting relationship tends to minimize behavior problems. Ideally, others should want to behave well to get your praise, not because they fear punishment. The most common error in using punishment is to rely on it alone for training or discipline. The overall emotional adjustment of a child disciplined mainly by reward is usually superior to one disciplined mainly by punishment. Frequent punishment makes a person unhappy, confused, anxious, aggressive, and fearful.

Parents and teachers should be aware that using punishment can be habit forming. When children are being noisy, messy, disrespectful, or otherwise misbehaving, the temptation to punish can be strong. The danger is that punishment often works. When it does, a sudden end to the adult’s irritation acts as a negative reinforcer; this encourages the adult to use punishment more often in the future. Immediate silence may be golden, but its cost can be very high in terms of the child’s emotional health. Sparing the rod will not spoil a child. In fact, the reverse is true: two recent studies found that young children with behavior problems had been harshly punished at home. And if your child is abused and their toys damaged, and you blame them for damaging the toy, but then punish them six to nine months later, and they did nothing wrong, you tortured that Child. Then end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sin. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to sever others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. However, rejoice that you participate in the suffering of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief, or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear the name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, if it is this hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly sinner?  So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.