Corporal punishment

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Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to correct behavior or to punish. Historically speaking, most punishments, whether in judicial, domestic, or educational settings, were corporal in basis.

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

There has been much dispute in recent years over where the line should be drawn between corporal punishment and torture, or whether a line should indeed be drawn at all.

History of Corporal Punishment

While the early history of corporal punishment is unclear, the practice was certainly present in classical civilizations, being used in Ancient Greece, Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt and Kingdom of Israel, for both judicial and educational discipline. Practices varied greatly, though scourging and beating with sticks were common. Some states gained a reputation for using such punishments cruelly; Sparta, in particular, used frequent and heavy punishment as part of a disciplinary regime designed to build willpower and physical strength. Although the Spartan example was unusually extreme, corporal punishment was possibly the most common type of punishment.

In Medieval Europe, corporal punishment was encouraged by the attitudes of the medieval church towards the human body, with flagellation being a common means of self-discipline. In particular, this had a major influence on the use of 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 he saw as the cruel treatment of children.

From the sixteenth century onwards, new trends were seen in corporal punishment. Judicial punishments were increasingly made into public spectacles, with the public beatings of criminals intended as a deterrent to other would-be miscreants. Meanwhile, early writers on education, such as Roger Ascham, complained of the arbitrary manner in which children were punished.

During the eighteenth century, the frequent use of corporal punishment was heavily criticized, 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, perceived to be advantageous in that this system reduced the need of measures such as corporal punishment.

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. Events such as these mobilised public opinion, and in response, many countries introduced thorough regulation of 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.

CP in fetishism and BDSM

Corporal punishment is sometimes fetishized, and is the basis of a number of paraphilias, most notably erotic spanking. This phenomenon was first noted by the German psychologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who suggested that sadism and masochism often developed out of the experience of children receiving corporal punishment at school. Whilst this has been a popular interpretation, it was disputed by Sigmund Freud, who suggested that a sexual interest in corporal punishment developed in early childhood and rarely related to actual experiences of punishment.

Ritual and punishment

Corporal punishment in formal settings, such as schools and prisons, is often highly ritualised, sometimes even staged in a highly theatrical manner. To a great extent the spectacle of punishment is intended to act as a deterrent to others and a theatrical approach is one result of this.

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, "Spanking 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:

Implements

The bastinado
The rod.
A thin, flexible rod is often called a switch
The birch
a number of strong, flexible branches, bound together in their natural state.
The bamboo canes
A durable rottan cane is often called a rattan.
The paddle
a flat wooden board or leather pad with a handle.
The strap
A strap with a number of tails at one end is called a tawse in Scotland and northern England.
The whip
Varieties include the 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 some instances the victim of punishment is required to prepare the implement which will be used upon them. For instance, sailors were employed in preparing the cat o' nine tails which would be used upon their own back, whilst children were sent to cut a switch or rod.

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.

Boys where beaten under the old tradition of "Beating the Bounds" where a boy was paraded around the boundary of a area of a city or district and would often asked to be beaten on the buttocks. One famous "Beating the Bounds" happened around the boundary of St Giles and the area where Tottenham Court Road now stands in London. The actual stone that separated the boundary is now under the Centerpoint office block. See "London" by Peter Ackroyd for more information on this subject.

Administration of punishment

In formal punishment medical supervision is often considered necessary to assess whether the target of punishment is in a fit condition to be beaten and to oversee the punishment to prevent serious injury from occurring. The role of the medical officer was particularly important in the nineteenth century, a time in which severe punishment was common, but growing public criticism of the practice encouraged medical regulation.

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 fess├⌐e, 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 unlikely 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 result. In some countries, domestic and school punishments aimed at the head are considered assault.
  • 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. Although this was mostly used on criminals, a version was in use in schools in the region.

One common problem with corporal punishment is the difficulty with which an objective measure of pain can be determined and delivered. In the nineteenth century scientists such as Alexander Bain and Francis Galton suggested scientific solutions to this, such as the use of electricity. These were, however, unpopular and perceived as cruel. The difficulty in inflicting a set measure of pain makes it difficult to distinguish punishment from abuse, and has contributed to calls for the abolition of the practice.

See also [ Whip and Rod ]

An Account of Corporal Punishment Among All Nations and for All Purposes by R. Yelyr

See also Judicial CP , Just and Painful and/or Corporal punishment throughout History

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