Illogical consequences
Illogical consequences are consequences we try to impose and which have nothing to do with the problem at hand. We are using our power to punish or try and take something away from someone that they want to get them to comply with something completely different.
Illogical consequences are very deceptive, because it looks like they work. in the short term it can seem to work very well, and thatâs what makes them so appealing and reinforcing. If you, say, throw a kid in time out, or an adult into the time out for big kids which we call âjail,â then the activity they were engaged in will, by definition, be stopped. But consequences are supposed to teach something, to help someone learn what they should do differently next time. Natural consequences allow people to make associations between actions and their inherent consequences, and punishments or consequences that are disconnected from the offense do not meet this standard. We tell them to âthink about what they didâ, which they do not, because they donât understand the connection between what they did and sitting in the corner.
From an ethical standpoint, I believe illogical consequences can lead to a dogmatic deontological kind of ethics. Without having the opportunity make the association between an action and a harmful consequence, one might become convinced that it must be the act itself that is bad.
References
- Cassels, Tracy. Why Punishment Doesnât Work. Evolutionary Parenting: https://evolutionaryparenting.com/why-punishment-doesnt-work/.
Metadata
Type:đ” Tags: Psychology Status:âïž