Punishment occurs every day in families, schools, and workplaces. But often the

Punishment may fail for the following reasons:
People often administer punishment inappropriately or mindlessly.
The recipient of punishment often responds with anxiety, fear, or rage.
The effectiveness of punishment is often temporary, depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person or circumstances.
Most misbehavior is hard to punish immediately.
Punishment conveys little information.
An action intended to punish may instead be reinforcing because it brings attention.
As well as avoiding the above reasons that punishment fails, the following guidelines are important when punishment must be used:
It should not involve physical abuse.
It should be accompanied by information about what kind of behavior would be appropriate.
It should be followed, whenever possible, by the reinforcement of desirable behavior.