Corporal punishment is punishment inflicted on the body. Methods of corporal punishment include beating, branding, flogging, mutilation, and torture. In the past, many courts ordered corporal punishments in response to criminal behavior. National governments and international human rights groups have banned or condemned most of these practices, however. The term corporal punishment is also sometimes used to describe physical discipline—such as slapping or spanking—given to some children by parents or schoolteachers.
For adult lawbreakers.
The practice of corporal punishment dates back to the world’s earliest known law codes. In the 1700’s B.C., Babylon’s Code of Hammurabi detailed a variety of severe physical punishments for crimes. For example, a son found guilty of striking his father would have his hand cut off. By inflicting injury and pain on criminals, authorities hoped to make them unable or unwilling to commit future crimes. Governments around the world continued to rely heavily on corporal punishment for more than 3,000 years.
During the A.D. 1700’s, many people began calling for more humane treatment of criminals. In response, many governments began a gradual shift toward nonviolent imprisonment as the chief form of criminal punishment. By the mid-1900’s, many of the world’s developed nations had enacted laws against corporal punishment.
Corporal punishment still takes place in some parts of the world, including several countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In addition, the controversial practice of capital punishment (putting criminals to death) continues in some nations. The United States is the only Western industrialized nation where executions still take place. Some people believe that capital punishment is a fair method of dealing with some crimes. Others argue that capital punishment is a cruel, extreme form of corporal punishment that should never be used.
For children.
Many people believe that mild bodily punishment—such as light slapping or spanking—is sometimes acceptable and effective in raising a child. Other people believe that such disciplinary actions either are child abuse or lead to it, and should therefore be outlawed. Most countries have laws that limit the disciplinary actions that adults can use on children. Many governments—including those of the United Kingdom, most European nations, and more than half the states of the United States—forbid all forms of corporal punishment in public schools.
