Corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended as correction or punishment. Historically speaking most punishments, whether in judicial, domestic or educational settings were corporal in basis. The practice is generally held to differ from torture in that it is applied for disciplinary reasons and is therefore intended to be limited, rather than intended to totally destroy the will of the subject. The physical and psychological effects of certain severe or prolonged forms of corporal punishment are more or less indistinguishable from those of torture.

In the modern world, corporal punishment has been largely rejected in favour of other disciplinary methods. Modern judiciaries often favour fines or incarceration, whilst modern school discipline avoids physical correction. Although corporal punishment is still used in many domestic settings it has been banned in seventeen countries.

Corporal punishment in history

These approaches to corporal punishment were continued into Medieval Europe. This was encouraged by attitudes of the medieval church towards the human body, with flagellation being a common means of encouraging self-discipline. In particular this had an influence on corporal punishment in schools as educational establishments were closely attached to the church during this period. Nevertheless, corporal punishment was not used uncritically; as early as the eleventh century Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury was speaking out against what was seen as the cruel treatment of children.Wicksteed J. The Challenge of Childhood. London: Chapman & Hall Ltd., 1936: 34-35

From the sixteenth century onwards, new trends were seen in corporal punishment. Judicial punishments were increasingly made into public spectacles, with the heavy public beatings of criminals intended as a deterrent to others. Meanwhile, early writers on education, such as Roger Ascham, complained of the arbitrary manner in which children were punished.Ascham R. The Schoolmaster. London: John Daye, 1571: 1 Probably the most influential writer on the subject was the English philosopher John Locke, whose Some Thoughts Concerning Education explicitly criticised the manner in which corporal punishment was central to education. Locke's work was highly influential and when Poland banned corporal punishment from its schools in 1783, its legislators were influenced by Some Thoughts Concerning Education.Newell P. A Last Resort? Corporal Punishment in Schools. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972: 9

During the eighteenth century the frequent use of corporal punishment was heavily criticised, both by philosophers and legal reformers. Merely inflicting pain on miscreants was seen as inefficient, influencing the subject merely for a short period of time and effecting no permanent change in their behaviour. Critics believed that the purpose of punishment should be reformation, not retribution. This is perhaps best expressed in Jeremy Bentham's idea of a panoptic prison, in which prisoners were controlled and surveyed at all times. A perceived advantage of such systems was that they reduced the need of measures such as corporal punishment.Bentham J. Chrestomathia. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983: 34, 106

A consequence of this mode of thinking was a diminution of corporal punishment throughout the nineteenth century in Europe and North America. In some countries this was encouraged by scandals involving individuals seriously hurt during acts of corporal punishment. For instance, in Britain, popular opposition to punishment was encouraged by two significant cases, the death of Private Frederick John White, who died after a military flogging in 1847, and the death of Reginald Cancellor, who was killed by his schoolmaster in 1860.Middleton J. Thomas Hopley and mid-Victorian attitudes to corporal punishment. History of Education 2005 Events such as these mobilised public opinion, and in response, many countries introduced thorough regulation to the infliction of corporal punishment in state institutions.

The use of corporal punishment declined through the twentieth century, though the practice has proved most persistent as a punishment for violation of prison rules, as a military field punishment, and in schools.

Modern usage

In terms of punishment in judicial and educational settings, approaches vary throughout the world. The practice has, for instance, been almost completely abandoned in Europe and North America, whilst other societies retain widespread use of judicial corporal punishment, including Malaysia and Singapore. In Singapore, male violent offenders and rapists are typically sentenced to caning in addition to a prison term. The Singaporean practice of caning became much discussed in the U.S. in 1994 when American teenager Michael P. Fay was sentenced to such punishment for an offence of car vandalism.

Corporal punishment is also dictated as a punishment in traditional Islamic Sharia law, and applied in countries like Saudi Arabia.

Corporal punishment of children

Opinions on corporal punishment of children are varied. Whilst the practice is accepted and embraced in many countries, it is also illegal in a number of others. There is pressure in some countries, such as the United Kingdom to have any form of corporal punishment of children made illegal and treated as child abuse. Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Cyprus, Denmark, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, Iceland, Romania, Ukraine and Hungary have banned the corporal punishment of children entirely. In the USA, spanking children is legal, with some states explicitly allowing it in their law and a few states even allowing usage by schools. It is legal in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts via a court decision (which involved usage of a belt), though a ban has been proposed.

Corporal punishment has been used in schools in many countries, although in many countries this practice has now been made illegal. Corporal punishment in schools was often in the form of hitting the child's hand with a leather belt, or in the case of older children, hitting the buttocks with a cane. Many educators use a milder form of corporal punishment called "spanking", usually slapping the child's buttocks with the palm of their hand; alternatively, they may administer a single smack on the hand with their own hand. Others punish their children with a switch, belt, paddle, or cane although this practice is less common than in years past.

In most part East Asia (including China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea), it is legal to punish one's own child using physical means. In Singapore and Hong Kong, punishing one's own child with corporal punishment is still either legal, only discouraged, or illegal but without active enforcement of the relevant laws. Culturally, people in the region generally believe a minimal amount of corporal punishment for their own children is appropriate and necessary, and thus such practice is tolerated by the society as a whole.

China and Taiwan have made corporal punishment against children illegal in the school system, but it is still known to be practiced in some form in many areas, with punishment ranging from mild chastisement (most common); including shaking by the arm or shoulder, or a slap to the back of the head/ear, to more serious punishments (least common); including the striking of a student with a hand or cane. Such incidents are increasingly leading to public outcry, and in recent years have lead to the dismissal of teaching staff.

There is resistance, particularly from conservatives, against making the corporal punishment of children by their parents or guardians illegal. In 2004, the United States declined to become a signatory of the United Nations's "Rights of the Child" because of its sanctions on parental discipline, citing the tradition of parental authority in that country and of privacy in family decision-making.

Most countries have banned the use of corporal punishment in schools, beginning with Poland in 1783. The practice is still used in schools in some parts of the United States (approximately 1/2 the states but varying by school district within them), though it is banned in others.

The Supreme Court of Canada reaffirmed the right of a parent or guardian to use corporal punishment on children between the ages of two and twelve, under s 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code (a provision enacted in 1892), leading to many complaints.[link]

Arguments for and against

The purported advantages of this approach include easier reintegration in society (generally, physical wounds heal quickly, while prison may adversely affect relationships and job prospects), greater deterrence rates, less recidivism, and fewer costs to society. Proponents of corporal punishment also invoke arguments of authority such as those found in a literal reading of the Bible or Qur'an, or simply 'traditional means to defend traditional values'.

Since the late 20th century, with an increased interest in human rights, populations of some developed countries are moving towards considering judicial corporal punishment barbaric, and usually associate such punishment with dictatorships, police states, and fundamentalist regimes.

Proponents of the corporal punishment of children, whilst accepting that excessive physical punishment amounts to child abuse, argue that corporal punishment, properly administered, can be the most effective form of discipline for unruly children and adolescents. Polls consistently show that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that corporal punishment is sometimes necessary. Without recourse to milder forms of physical punishment, parents may use forms of emotional violence that are actually more abusive.

This opinion is not shared by the American Academy of Pediatrics, however, which in an official policy statement[link] (reaffirmed in 2004) states that "Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents be encouraged and assisted in the development of methods other than spanking for managing undesired behavior." In particular, the AAP holds that any corporate punishment methods other than open-hand spanking on the buttocks or extremities "are unacceptable" and "should never be used". The policy statement points out, summarizing several studies, that "The more children are spanked, the more anger they report as adults, the more likely they are to spank their own children, the more likely they are to approve of hitting a spouse, and the more marital conflict they experience as adults.Straus MA. Spanking and the making of a violent society. Pediatrics 1996; 98:837-842 PMID 8885984 Spanking has been associated with higher rates of physical aggression, more substance abuse, and increased risk of crime and violence when used with older children and adolescents.Cohen P. How can generative theories of the effects of punishment be tested? Pediatrics 1996; 98:834-836 PMID 8885983"

Some proponents of corporal punishment argue that those opposed to it simply do not understand the stresses of parenthood. Opponents counter that this argument raises the question of whether corporal punishment is meant as a constructive lesson for the child, or as a form of stress-relief for angry parents.

Opponents argue that any form of violence is by definition abusive. Some psychology research indicates that corporal punishment causes the destruction of trust bonds between parents and children. Children subjected to corporal punishment may grow resentful, shy, insecure, or violent. Some researchers have shown that corporal punishment actually works against its objective (normally obedience), since children will not voluntarily obey an adult they do not trust. A child who is physically punished may have to be punished more often than a child who is not. Researcher Elizabeth Gershoff, Ph.D., in a 2002 meta-analytic study that combined 60 years of research on corporal punishment, found that the only positive outcome of corporal punishment was immediate compliance; however, corporal punishment was associated with less long-term compliance. Corporal punishment was linked with nine other negative outcomes, including increased rates of aggression, delinquency, mental health problems, problems in relationships with their parents, and likelihood of being physically abused.

Opponents also note that much child abuse may in fact begin with spanking: frustrated parents turn to spanking when attempting to discipline their child, and then get carried away (given the arguable continuum between spanking and hitting). This "continuum" argument also raises the question of whether a spank can be "too hard" and how (if at all) this can be defined in practical terms. And if a spank can, indeed, be "too hard," is the parent then crossing the line and beginning to abuse their child? The American Academy of Pediatrics,[link] for instance, holds that "The only way to maintain the initial effect of spanking is to systematically increase the intensity with which it is delivered, which can quickly escalate into abuse" and that "Parents who spank their children are more likely to use other unacceptable forms of corporal punishment."Graziano AM, Hamblen JL, Plante WA. Subabusive violence in child rearing in middle-class American families. Pediatrics 1996; 98:845-848 PMID 8885986

Corporal punishment, fetishism, and BDSM

Ritual and punishment

One consequence of the ritualised nature of much punishment has been the development of a wide variety of equipment used. Formal punishment often begins with the victim stripped of some or all of their clothing and secured to a piece of furniture, such as a trestle, frame, punishment horse or falaka. A variety of implements are then used to inflict blows on the victim. The terms used to describe these are not fixed, varying by country and by context. There are, however, a number of common types which are frequently encountered when reading about corporal punishment. These are:

• The bastinado.
• Rods, varying in size and flexibility. A thin, flexible rod is often called a switch.
• The birch, a number of strong, flexible branches, bound together in their natural state.
• Bamboo canes of various types, most notably durable species of rottan, known as the rattan.
• The paddle, a flat wooden or leather pad with a handle is commonly used for corporal punishment in America.
• Straps of various types, occasionally with a number of tails at one end. In Scotland and northern England, this is known as a tawse.
• Whips are common in judicial punishment and prison discipline, with varieties including the famous Russian knout and South African sjambok, in addition to the scourge and martinet.
• The cat o' nine tails was a popular implement used in naval discipline.

In contrast, informal punishments, particularly in domestic settings, tend to lack this ritual nature and are often administered with whatever object comes to hand. It is common, for instance, for belts, wooden spoons, slippers or hairbrushes to be used in domestic punishment, whilst rulers and other classroom equipment have been used in schools.

Administration of punishment

Corporal punishment can be directed at a number of different anatomical targets, the choice depending on a number of factors. The humiliation and pain of a particular punishment have always been primary concerns, but convenience and custom are also factors. There is an additional concern in the modern world about the permanent harm that can result from punishment, though this was rarely a factor before the nineteenth century. The intention of corporal punishment is to discipline an individual with the infliction of a measure of pain, and permanent injury is considered counterproductive.

• Most commonly, corporal punishment is directed at the buttocks, with some languages having a specific word for their chastisement. For example, the French call this fessée, the Spanish nalgada. The English term spanking refers to punishment on the buttocks, though only with the open hand. This part of the body is often chosen because it is painful, but is arguably less likely to cause long-term physical harm.
• The back is commonly targeted in military and judicial punishments, particularly popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, damage to both spine and kidneys is possible and such punishment is rarely used in the modern world.
• Although the face and particularly the cheeks may be struck in domestic punishment, formal punishments avoid the head because of the serious injuries that can ensue. In some countries, domestic and school punishments aimed at the head are considered to be assaults.
• The hands are a common target in school discipline, though rarely targeted in other forms of corporal punishment. Since serious injury can be caused by striking the hand, the implements used and the numbers of blows must be strictly controlled.
• In Western Asia corporal punishment was directed against the feet in the falaka. Although this was mostly used on criminals, a version was in use in schools in the region.

See also

• Birching
• Caning
• Child abuse
• Domestic violence
• Emotional abuse
• School discipline
• Spanking therapy

References