Re: Spanking in foster homes

["Patrica Ryan" <soc_ryan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi: I was shocked to see that Virginia was thinking about allowing foster
parents to spank. During the 80's we were instrumental in developing two
training manuals, one for foster care workers (Preventing Abuse in Foster
Care by Emily Jean McFadden) and one for foster parents (Fostering
Discipline by Patricia Ryan). For over a decade I have been working with
foster parent groups with the goal of showing that physical punishment was
not only not necessary but potentialy harmful when used with foster children
and discussing alternative forms of discipline (with emphasis on teaching
rather than controlling behavior). It appears from the article that many
private agencies are taking the same line.

Is there anything I can do that might be helpful here? Patricia Ryan, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus (former director of the National Foster Care Resource
Center at Eastern Michigan University)