BetterBehaviourSolutions: Punishment and Consequence. What’s the Difference?

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Punishment and Consequence. What’s the Difference?

When dealing with influencing any person’s behaviour, it is not uncommon to comes across what I term the ‘versus’ factor. That is two opposing points of view. For example; Encouragement vs Praise, Logical Consequence vs Punishment, Consistency vs Equality, or Cooperation vs Competition.

Each of these raises their head from time to time and need to be dealt with. So let’s focus on probably the most common one that people get into trouble with. The reason for this is that it tends to be human nature to seek revenge or retribution for any indiscretion. Let’s look at Logical Consequence as opposed to Punishment.

Firstly lets define the two so as we have a clear perspective of each. Specifically when looking at influencing inappropriate behaviour the term ‘punishment’ refers to any consequence that decreases the likelihood that a particular or specific behaviour will be repeated. It does not necessarily mean the administering of unpleasant or undesirable consequences, though this is by far the most popular definition and use of the term according to teachers and parents.

Punishment in its aversive form is frequently arbitrary, having no logical connection with the inappropriate behaviour that triggered its application. Teachers are of particular note here if punishments that in no way logical and are purely arbitrary i.e. Jonathan calls out in class and is made to stay in at lunchtime; Sam fails to hand in his homework and has to pick up papers in the playground at morning tea.

The focus of punishment is on retribution, getting even by making the student suffer for their sins, and the choice of punishments is often at the discretion of the teacher and therefore can be highly subjective and emotive. Within the educational environment the role of punishment is thus limited to teaching the student that the teacher has all the power, and compliance is the best way of avoiding pain and suffering. This was the rationale behind the cane, the smack, the belt and other forms of corporal punishment, and is still the rationale behind the issuing of lines (“Write out 200 times ‘I will not chew in class’”), paper duty (“Pick up 50 papers for me”), detention and loss of ‘fun’ activities such as sport (“You waste my time and I’ll waste yours”).

Parents need to be aware of the same downfalls when attempting to influence their child’s behaviour. Punishment in its aversive form can be physically and emotionally damaging to children and can also be damaging to our relationship with them. Punishment creates the possibility of children developing fear or resentment towards the person who is supposed to be supporting and caring for them. They may view the punisher as a bully, and hypocritical based on the mixed messages that they send “You must respect others”; “Hitting is bad”.

However, Logical Consequences are actions taken in response to behaviour, that are designed to stop the behaviour in the current situation, repair any damage done to the relationships with those involved, and prevent the offender from re-offending in the future. The focus is on restitution and rehabilitation. Logical consequences have a ‘cause-effect’ relationship with the triggering behaviour, whether that behaviour is appropriate or inappropriate.

Unlike punishment, logical consequences can also be positive. The ‘cause-effect’ relationship is structured carefully to ensure that, unlike natural consequences, the impact is as immediate as possible and does not endanger student welfare. Within a school or classroom environment a teacher may use logical consequences such as “Brian, if you keep swinging on your chair, I will have to ask you to take your work and sit on the carpet”: “Keith, if you tease Susan again you will be moved to the desk in the corner”. A key to logical consequences is that they usually involve prior warning and the offering of choice, which is respectful and promotes self-responsibility for behaviour i.e.” John, you can do your Maths now, or you can do it in your own time at morning tea. I’ll be back in a minute to see what your decision is”.

Logical consequences are clearly established and agreed when setting rules or expectations for appropriate behaviour. The logical nature of the consequences means that they can be delivered non-emotively and, when received help to focus attention on the behaviour triggering the consequence rather than any perceived power of the person imposing them. The consequence should be fair, immediate, and clearly defined in terms of where, when, how and why, aimed at avoiding any form of physical or emotional impact on the student. The fairness and non-emotive delivery of logical consequences help to maintain positive relationships . Unlike punishments, which are often generic, the magnitude of the logical consequence matches the magnitude of the behaviour offence, and there is always an attainable endpoint.

Consequence vs Punishment example for schools

Offence Punishment Logical Consequence

Calling Out Lunchtime detention 5 minute ‘No contribution’ rule applied

Failure to do homework Miss sport to complete Negotiate how/when to be completed

Bullying (teasing) 1 week playground withdrawal Mediation/Apology to victim

Dropping Litter Pick up 20 pieces of paper Pick up the litter that was dropped

Backchat Lunchtime detention/ 1 minute discussion/Private Public apology apology

One final note on logical consequences. Always favour the certainty of the consequence over the magnitude or even the immediacy of the consequence. Once a child has overstepped the mark and earned themselves an enforced consequence, you must follow-through with this, and preferably as soon as possible. If it involves any type of withdrawal from the setting, or loss of personal time, then make this a finite and short time.