Customer Reviews

No Fear : A Police Officer's Perspective

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading Det. Surgenor's book, I was very, very impressed. I, too, am a Christian police officer (retired, 27.5 yrs. service) like Surgenor. I have seen FAR more than I ever wanted to see, and I find Det. Surgenor's research to be very well researched. It is apparent that reviewer Mr. Dugan is unfamilier with the gathering of juvenile statistical data. All police officers are aware of the shortcomings of the Uniform Crime Reports and know from firsthand experience that Surgenor's claim that juvenile crime is skyrocketing is accurate. Mr. Dugan's attempts to destroy Surgenor's statistics are born of ignorance of the system (ignorance is bliss...?) As a retired police officer, I have researched Surgenor's figures and have found them to be right on the button. Thank you for the oppurtunity to rebute Dugan's 'expert' opinion.

As a parent, I know that my child behaved before she reached the age of reason in part because she knew that IF she stepped over the line, she WOULD receive that spanking! Her knowledge that I wasn't afraid to use it was enough to make it a rare occasion. That knowledge may have saved her from a terrible fall one day when I was forced to scream at her while bolting up the stairs so she didn't catapult herself over the balcony while bouncing on a chair she had pulled over to the railing without my knowledge. She froze at my screams, and it didn't take but a tap on the bottom when I reached her to make sure she didn't do it again. The spanking and noise so impressed her, I didn't need to do it again for several years. It was FEAR of spanking that controlled her behavior when I said "No!"

As a child abuse defense attorney living in New Hampshire, I also have to fight the effects of radical anti-spanking professor Murray Straus and other "experts" the state Division of Children, Youth, and Families call in to testify that spanking is harmful. Eli Newberger, of Boston Children's hospital, testified in one of my cases that he believed in parental spanking. In HIS book, "The Men They Will Become," he states that he believes the US should ban it, as have Sweden and other countries (p. 81).

Bob Surgenor balances the shoddy research of the anti-spankers like Murray Straus and Eli Newberger with sound facts, and correctly points out that above all, spanking works. I highly recommend this book, especially for parents that are having problems early on. Getting your child's attention early saves a lot of problems down the road!

It is a shame that a book like this had to be written. Author Surgenor probes the reasons behind today's rising tide of juvenile crime. And it is rising. The book includes figures from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports that show the direction the problem is going. American society is breeding a new generation of adult criminals right now. Unlike the social apologists who can do nothing but wring their hands, Surgenor offers solutions. It is all there by someone who knows what he is about.

... because of the terrible review cdduggan gave it. More on that later. I'm glad I decided to purchase it. This is one of the best books on corporal punishment I've seen.

I found it most helpful in its analysis of the anti-spanking leadership in the nineties, and the author calls them out by name: Murray Straus (author of Beating the Devil Out of Them), Nancy Asdigia, Randy Cox, Kathryn Kvals, Jan Hunt, Dennis Embry, Penelope Leach, Anita Mathur. He dissects their arguments, claims, opinions, and research at length. He also relates his encounter with Dr. Heidi Feldman on p. 94-5, where some interesting info on the Academy of Pediatrics' stand on spanking is given.

Also important was his reporting on Child Services. Some social workers are strongly anti-spanking, and either ignorant of or willfully defiant of parental rights. A few cases are related of lying, bullying and deceits bordering on criminal by a few workers who appear to think no rules apply to them.

Naturally I don't agree with everything in the book, and I think there were some omissions. The comparatively low drug abuse rate by people who were moderately spanked was not mentioned, nor was the fact that the non-violent Amish community generously spanks their children, leading to generally obedient and relatively peaceful offspring. For all the talk of Proverbs I never read about King David's failure to discipline his children (Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah) possibly being part of the inspiration for those proverbs (prophet Nathan told David that God would provide parenting for Solomon).

Also, I'm of the opinion that children over seven, particularly boys, should be subject to chastening if necessary, while it was never clear to me what Surgenor believes. Nevertheless, I still rate it as five stars.

Now to that review. Please read the cddugan one-star in its entirety. Now, here is my point by point rebuttal.

The question of juvenal crime statistics has the entire fourth chapter devoted to it, in which Surgenor explains in detail how after 1992 the Uniform Crime Reports figures are misleading due to a change in the method of gathering data, and how they underreport crime. There are statistics and graphs he presents that show clear and disturbing trends upwards.

Most of the "personal anecdotes" in this book are in fact a police officer's perspective. Most touching was a story of handing out a traffic ticket to a tearful teen girl, then him feeling rotten about doing it, only to have the girl come back in a year to thank him for saving her life.

Surgenor points out correctly that people and groups simply claiming to be Christian aren't necessarily so. He relates at length in ch. nine his long email conversations with Sagendorf, which Surgenor initiated, and which left Sagendorf looking pathetic. I never saw a "litmus" test where you must believe in spanking to be a Christian. Rather he seems to want to educate believers as much as anybody.

The author is a Christian, well read in the Bible, believes Bible prophesy, and speculates on how we get from present to future. Yes, so? If you are agnostic/different faith/different doctrine and you want to skip those parts, fine.

In Surgenor's opening dedication to his parents, he talks of a Dad who "...made me feel safe and secure...", a mom whose "love for me was immeasurable", and mom joining dad creating "an atmosphere of cooperation and unity" in his home. He speaks at length in ch. five about avoiding going over the line to child abuse. In ch. fifteen he gives non-spanking punishment examples for certain situations. He relates he was slapped on the back of his head a few times, and never in the face. So the author believes that most children feel a need and desire for rules and discipline? Yes he does, and then cddugan also opines that he thinks Surgenor "deems children violent, hateful and evil by nature". Which is it?

On p.90 Surgenor cites "a former gang member who is gathering research" as his source for gang members seeking a sense of family. That "gang rules" are part of this family feeling is presented as a rational theory. This is the page on which he quotes a Berkeley researcher by name who supports the need for sensible spanking, and quotes two psychiatrist by name who support his own findings (in police interviews of hundreds of cases of abuse against parents) that children who physically abuse parents, particularly mothers, were almost always raised without the use of corporal punishment (Surgenor found something on the order of 98 to 99 per cent).

The quote from p. 21 is accurate. Here's from p. 22: "So somewhere between killing the person and doing nothing there is a logical answer".

On p. 190 Surgenor clearly states the need for balanced discipline leading to a kid who has respect for authority and who is also caring and compassionate. On p.24 is one example of his recommending balanced punishment and rewards.

Boxing ears is child abuse and dangerous. Its unfortunate listing on p.12 is at variance with the rest of the book. The author undoubtedly meant "cuffing" the ears. People often get the two confused.

Once again, Surgenor dealt with the issue of crime reporting AT LENGTH in his book. Hundreds of police interviews which consistently show violent teens that physically attack their parents overwhelmingly being raised in homes with no corporal punishment should count as some kind of research. Perhaps the best research in this book was into the anti-spanking movement itself.

A few words about the other one-star review by Rowe. If spanking kids teaches them to use violence, then taking away privileges might teach them stealing, and time outs might teach them to use unlawful restraint and false arrest. The word that is missing here is AUTHORITY. Spanked kids learn the dangers of rejecting it. Most three year olds are smart enough to figure it out, even if some adults can't.

Jesus never used physical force? The Jesus Who whipped money changers and kicked over their tables? The Jesus Who told the Laodiceans that He chastens those He loves? Please.

No Fear is an excellent book! Robert Surgenor's careful research and analysis of the causes of the horrendous rise in juvenile crime would be helpful to anyone. Parents of young children who seem defiant or "troubled" would be wise to read this before their children are "too far gone" to be reached. I always thought there was some correlation to the non-punitive discipline methods advocated today and the rise in juvenile crime. No Fear has just confirmed it. I highly recommend it!

Finally, an author who knows the solution to the problems we have with today's youth! Mr. Surgenor gives parents the answers they need on how to discipline - all through a biblical basis. The book clearly points out how society and parents lack of proper discipline has caused us to be in such turmoil. He takes us back to the days when parents ruled the household and spanking was used. Readers can see that there is a direct correlation between undisciplined students and crime. Thank you Mr. Surgenor for sharing your wisdom!

This is a book every parent should read. Get your kids in line before they get out of line. I see too many parents who do not discipline their kids properly. In their family, the kids are the athority figure, doing what they want while the parents make excuses for them. Look up "backbone" on Amazon and buy one!

The good part for me with this book comes from the officer's observations all through his career. Though, in psychology and sociology, there are always many ways to view a result. The other possible problem with the book is that it assumes parents of children really are in control of the parents awareness all through 6t5he process of the type of pain that they are inflicting. He assumes rationality where in fact there is not always rationallity in the minds of parents when disciplining their child. Even when the parent has taken a goood time out themselves. Anger, jealosy, irrationalism... these things are not all that easy to remove oneself from when working with your own flesh and blood!
Also, in general, I tire of this "need" for biblical justidfication. There is a bunch of that in this book. I don't it was helpful or necesary. He uses of contrasting his own experience with what he was seeing in the 1980's and 1990's with parents and kids, make it an interesting read.

This book is a "must read" for anyone with questions about whether or not you should spank your child. It is also a "must read" for educators, legislators, and those clinicians who say "spanking is wrong and only teaches violence".
Very well-written by a career police officer with children of his own, the author is able to cite statistics from the real world about the increase in domestic violance BY CHILDREN AGAINST THEIR PARENTS - and how high those numbers are when the child has had NO corporal punishment at home. The author also writes at length about how the most violent juvenile offenders he sees are nearly unanimously from homes where there was no spanking!
He writes clearly and concisely, and in terms you can understand. He also manages to yank apart all of the popular non-spanking theories of the day. He is also an amateur Biblical scholar, but is well-read enough that he can debunk the religion-based theories against spanking, quoting chapter and verse.
READ THIS BOOK is you are raising children in your home!

This book completely destroys the rhetoric of the anti-spanking crowd who says that spanking a child makes them anti-social and violent. There are plenty of statistics in this book to prove otherwise!