In the Sun (not exactly the most reliable news source but anyway) today I read a small byline about a man in Saudi Arabia being sentenced to be flogged 20 times for using his mobile phone on a plane (they mess up the navigation systems) and refusing to turn it off. I personally think that the man in question would rather crawl on his belly through broken glass rather than take another punishment like that and as such I was wondering how effective it would be if corporal punishment was included in countries like America or the UK to be used for offences like vandalism and theft. I can see three possible advantages:
- It would free up some space in prisons.
- This in turn would save a not insubstantial amount of taxpayers money which could be spent on the prison service.
- Jail is seen by some as a ‘soft touch’. There is nothing soft about Corporal punishment.
However I can also see a couple of disadvantages, namely
- It could lead to permanent physical damage.
- It could lead to some psychological damage.
- It is seen by many in the western world as a barbaric and outmoded form of punishment, we cannot go back to go forwards.
I myself am in two minds over the issue. I personally think it IS barbaric and the threat of permanent physical damage is a very real one. However I have few doubts in my mind that it would actually work. What do you think?
Well, what are your thoughts on the use of corporal punishment to discipline children?
Corporal punishment for children must be used with extreme caution. A swat on the backside as the parent catches the child about to run out into traffic can get the message across quite effectively, as can a spanking for a serious offense. The trouble is, your average parent uses corporal punishment as a form of “discipline” because the child simply does something that is annoying.
I think corporal punishment would be far more effective for adults than for children. If someone knew that his behavior was creating a hazard for others (talking on the cell phone while driving, for instance) but didn’t care enough about the safety of others to not engage in such behavior, the threat of the humiliation of a public whuppin’ would probably be a very effective deterrent.
As far as corporal punishment for kids goes I don’t see anything wrong with it so long as, like Thea said, it’s not overused and doled out as a punishment for trivial offences.
However I personally am against official corporal punishment in institutions like schools because all it does is turn the child against the institution, an institution he most likely despises anyway. Spanking a child with a flat hand for fighting with a sibling and spanking a child with a cane for talking in class are at diametrically opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to the validity of the use of corporal punishment.
I am only proposing it as a measure to punish adult offenders. I think that there are some people, (vandals, football hooligans etc…) who understand the language of pain far better than any other. I also think that once they’ve experienced proper physical pain due to the actions they’ve committed they will learn to control their actions and become responsible for them.
In the near-future setting of ‘Snow Crash’, long prison terms are very uncommon due to their high cost and the privatization of law enforcement. Most crimes either get a fine or some kind of corporal punishment and, if the crime is bad enough, have warnings tattooed on their forehead - so there’s people walking around with ‘Poor Impulse Control’ or ‘Racially Insensitive’ on their faces. Pretty cool idea, if you ask me.
I really like the idea of bringing back corporal punishment for adults, but since I have been abused by the legal system I realize something that works in an ideal world might have serious problems in the real one. On the other hand, I think I’d rather be wrongfully flogged than wrongfully imprisoned…
Can we try to set up a series of crimes and their punishments?
We already have corporal punishment at one extreme of the spectrum. What degree short of death, if any, constitutes cruel and unusual?
I’ve heard in the news about people having to walk around with sandwich boards saying “I am a child support deadbeat” or the like. Or post a sign in front of their house. So that seems to kind of cover the opposite end of the spectrum.
Small jump from there to the stocks. What types of offenses would warrant stocks. How do you make them ADA compliant? Do we let passersby taunt those in the stocks? Make contact? Throw stuff at them?
Then we go to whuppins. How many lashes for what offenses?
And then on to cutting off the hand of a thief, the tongue of a libeller, and for an adulterer?
So now we’ve progressed back up to the death penalty. I guess we might as well make them into spectacle sport, if the guy in the stocks is on public display, why not the guy getting offed? And should we include torture while we’re at it?
Interesting questions. What type of society do YOU want to live in?
Any proposals for appropriate corporal punishment for telemarketers? (joke)