History of Corporal Punishment

Origins of Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishment is derived from the Latin word for body, and the intent of the action is to physically harm the person who undergoes the punishment both psychologically and physically. We think of corporal punishment, in today's society, in the context of the educational system, in which teacher's physically punish students who do not follow rules or misbehave in the classroom. Corporal punishment, however, is not limited to children, and it was used on adults for centuries with the same intended result in mind. While corporal punishment has no clear origin, civilizations have used the public physical punishment of individuals for millennia as a means of enforcing rules and mitigating misbehavior. Documented examples of corporal punishment date back to the Roman empire; a well-known victim of corporal punishment was Jesus, who was flogged in the days leading up to his crucifixion. (1)

Early Punishment Methods

In early tribal cultures, banishment was a common method to punish a member of the society who had disobeyed the laws of that civilization but did not warrant the death penalty for their actions. The earliest forms of physical punishment, however, was flogging, which was practiced most notably by the Roman empire. Flogging consists of beating someone with a whip or leather strap; this method was prevalent in ancient times because the tools used to punish the individual were easily accessible, and flogging could be performed in public areas, where psychological humiliation could add to the punishing effects of the practice. (2) Birching plays off the idea of flogging by using tree branches to physically punish the back of an individual. While flogging was seen as a much harsher, painful form of corporal punishment used in prisons and armies, birching was commonly used by teachers in the 18th and 19th, as well as early 20th, century educational system. Common materials used in 18th and 19th century schools to punish children included, but were not limited to, sticks, bamboo canes, rulers, shoes, belts, and hands. All these forms had the same intention of punishing the misbehaving individual by both physically hurting them and psychologically embarrassing them in front of peers. In the 1800s through the early 1900s, beating children with leather straps was common place in the textile mills, and children that did not work quick enough would have their heads dunked in cold water. (2)

Flogging

Birching

Corporal Punishment Transition in Educational System

The first push back against corporal punishment came in the British schools system in the late 19th century. At the Allston Grammar School in Cambridge in 1866, a student, Josephine Foster, was flogged twenty times because of disorderly behavior, specifically whispering to fellow classmates. Her parents brought the school to court on account that the extremity of the punishment did not fit the misbehavior. While the case was closed in favor of the school and corporal punishment was not banned, this trial became the first of many examples of students and families resisting the use of corporal punishment in the school system. (3) The 19th century also saw the enlightenment philosophies of humanism and human rights begin to take effect, which helped in the push to remove physical methods of discipline from the schools. By the early 20th century, such extreme tools for physical punishment like leather whips were phased out and replaced by canes, rulers, and dunce caps. (1) Although the physical element of corporal punishment would remain, these methods, particularly those found in the educational system of the developed world, focused on the psychological punishment of being humiliated in front of an individual's peers. Continued growth in humanitarian ideals of the developed world led to the passage of judicial laws that would banish caning and other forms of physical punishment in public schools of many European countries. In the United Kingdom in particular, the Criminal Justice Act of 1948, abolished flagellation (whipping, flogging, lashing, caning) in the labor system and the educational system. (4) Across the world, countries followed the progressive movements of the British and enacted their own laws to prevent corporal punishment in schools. The United States, however, has not yet enacted a nationwide ban of corporal punishment across all fifty states, but some states have already banned corporal punishment methods in public schools.

Infographic highlights current state of corporal punishment laws in certain countries

As the graphic shows, most countries throughout the world today have banned the practice of corporal punishment in the educational systems. In the places which do not have full bans, countries in the underdeveloped or developing world, such as Egypt and Burma, do not have laws restricting the practice of corporal punishment, whereas more developed countries, like Australia and the USA, are moving toward full bans.

The Disconnect in Understanding

Students in London public schools have the opportunity to travel to the past by experiencing a live, hands-on reenactment of a Victorian era school at the Ragged School Museum. Students write on slate boards, recite the alphabet, and even experience the effects of corporal punishment first hand, just as it was practiced on schools students centuries ago.

The teacher reprimands a child and makes him wear a dunce cap to the enjoyment of his fellow peers.

Actress Sally Armstrong plays Miss Perkins, a stern, Victorian era elementary school teacher at the Ragged School Museum. After spending a few hours in the authentic, one-room school, the students gain a perspective of life in what seems to them to be desolate conditions. Each of the 16,000 students that experience the conditions each year are exposed to the same forms of discipline and corporal punishment that existed in the Victorian era. As one child explains, "Now, you can ask the person sitting next to you if they know the answer, but if you're in the Victorian times you'd probably get caned or something." (5) This response reveals a clear disconnect in understanding between generations of children today who take modern methods of discipline for granted. Even after a few hours, children quickly learn to fear the teacher who wields the cane, and this, in turn, eliminates any opportunity for collaboration and socialization between children. When asked about the teacher, another child responds by saying: "I wouldn't like her as my teacher today because she's very strict and shouting." (5) The students immediately form a dislike for the teacher; though its merely an act, this negative relationship diminishes any opportunities for the children to work with the teacher to better understand the course material. The children's responses after the Ragged School Museum point toward an ongoing trend between the practice of corporal punishment in all settings and worse behavior/standardized exam scores. The experience, nevertheless, continues to shock every children who enters the museum, as they cannot seem to comprehend how such a system existed in Britain as late as fifty years ago.

Current Global Trends in the Abolishment of Corporal Punishment

As countries globally began to get a better understanding of the adverse physical and psychological effects of corporal punishment on children, many countries started to move toward abolishing the practice in all settings, which includes both in the educational system AND at home. In 1979, Sweden led this movement to abolish corporal punishment in all settings by amending its Children and Parents Code to state that "children are entitled to care, security and a good upbringing. Children shall be treated with respect for their person and individuality and may not be subjected to corporal punishment or any other humiliating treatment” (art. 6. 1). While most countries in the world have abolished the practice of corporal punishment in public schools, only 52 countries since Sweden in 1979 have abolished it in all settings. (6) Those, nevertheless, who have abolished corporal punishment in all settings are mainly comprised of developed, European countries, which often have the most progressive mindsets of all global nations. Other developed countries, such as the United States, lag behind in such legislature, as corporal punishment is only banned in public schools in 30 states, and corpora punishment methods, like spanking, continue to be widely practiced across the country. All things considered, the current trend of corporal punishment laws suggests that it will be steadily phased out globally over the next few decades as more and more countries continue to abolish it in all settings each year.

Current trends suggest a movement toward the worldwide abolishment of corporal punishment practices

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Works Cited

(1) Lambert, Tim. A Brief History of Corporal Punishment. 2018, www.localhistories.org/corporal.html. Accessed 20 May 2018.

(2) Lambert, Tim. A Brief History of Punishments. 2018, www.localhistories.org/pun.html. Accessed 21 May 2018.

(3) DiPietro, Joanie. Corporal Punishment in Beverly and Cambridge, MA: Just, or Just Plain Mean? Jan. 2003, www.primaryresearch.org/PRTHB/schoolhistory/dipietro.pdf. Accessed 22 May 2018.

(4) Corporal Punishment. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/corporal-punishment. Accessed 22 May 2018.

(5) McCammon, Sarah, narrator. A ‘Ragged School’ Gives U.K. Children a Taste of Dickensian Destitution. Recorded 1 Apr. 2018. By Sam Alwyine-Mosely, MP3 file, National Public Radio, 2018.

(6) States Which Have Prohibited All Corporal Punishment. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, 2017, www.endcorporalpunishment.org/progress/prohibiting-states/. Accessed 22 May 2018.

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