# If a very severe whipping was offered instead of years of imprisonment would you take that deal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195 "2009-08-29T20:37:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/21 "2009-08-30T11:49:15Z")
I would take the whipping over even one week in prison. I would utterly hate being in prison. I hate being forced to live with others. I despise the type of people who generally wind up in prison, especially burglars and drunks. Being a handsome young man, I would probably be coerced into homosexual sex with another inmate; the only way to prevent it would probably be to stab or beat someone to death, which would add additional years to my sentence. The food would be horrible; I would constantly miss the outside world; I would be unable to make love, swim, jet-ski or use the internet. Someone would have to take care of my cat, which would disrupt their routine. Fuck prison. Why would anyone possibly choose prison? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/22 "2009-08-30T12:39:23Z")
The lashing. I’d even wear a hair shirt. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/23 "2009-08-30T18:22:31Z")
Ever seen an episode of Locked Up Abroad? Bring out that whip and I will gladly bend over, compared to the horror stories those people went through in sometimes less than 10 years! ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/24 "2009-08-30T18:41:24Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Too bad Michael Fay isn’t a board member because then we could get a first hand perspective. I’ve been caned- not in Singapore, but I doubt the procedure changes significantly from place-to-place- and can attest to the fact that it hurts like bloody hell at the time, but the aftermath isn’t the Huge Hairy Deal everyone was making it out to be when the Fay case was in the spotlight. I’d take the whipping, unless it was a very nice prison, in which case it might be nice to have someone else taking care of me for 10 years. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/25 "2009-08-30T19:12:03Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > I’ve been caned- not in Singapore, but I doubt the procedure changes significantly from place-to-place- and can attest to the fact that it hurts like bloody hell at the time, but the aftermath isn’t the Huge Hairy Deal everyone was making it out to be when the Fay case was in the spotlight. So, was this voluntary or involuntary?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/26 "2009-08-30T19:30:04Z")
As long as there was no permanent damage done, I would take the whipping over anything down to about 90 days. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/27 "2009-08-30T19:33:31Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Really severe lashings can be pretty terrible and possibly fatal but I doubt it would come to that with modern medicine and a somewhat restrained lasher. It still happens in some countries like Singapore and people don’t usually die from it. If the pain is that bad, you will most likely grey out or black out once your pain sensors get overloaded. The human body can take a lot of punishment. > > We had a minor version of that in my public schools in Louisiana. We could exchange each lick for corporal punishment for a day in either detention or a day of suspension. No one ever refused the licks because it was over quickly and didn’t cause any permanent damage. It really wasn’t that bad at all and I got a number of them over the years even through high school. There was no way I was going to sit in detention for 3 days when I could have 3 licks done in 1 minute. > > I would take the lashing as long as I thought that it would be administered professionally and the scarring wouldn’t be that bad. Ten years without seeing my children much is a worse punishment than just about anything. I didn’t realize one choice was having people lick me. I choose that. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/28 "2009-08-30T20:12:57Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > So, was this voluntary or involuntary?😃 Which time? 🆒 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/29 "2009-08-30T20:34:22Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Which time? 🆒 😃 :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/30 "2009-08-30T21:54:44Z")
A lashing in a flash. There is no temporary pain that would compete with years of confinement. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/31 "2009-08-30T21:57:37Z")
This might be relevant, depending on why the OP asked the question: I had **two** friends when I was younger who chose 6 months in jail over 5 years probation, because they didn’t want to be drug tested for 5 years :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/32 "2009-08-31T02:59:34Z")
I would go with the lashing. One cannot guarantee that they won’t get the lash while in the prison. hh ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/33 "2009-08-31T06:07:12Z")
Definitely the lashing, and since that seems like such a no-brainer for most people, I too think it is interesting to note how short the imprisonment would have to be before it would be preferable to the lashing. For that question, I definitely have different answers for before I was a mother and now that I’m a mother. My baby’s only 11 months old. To not see him (or rather, have me gone and him have no idea where I went) is such a sad thought that I think I would take the lashing instead of a very short time in prison. Maybe even a month. Crazy. Before I was a mother, I think prison would have to be a good six months before I’d take the lashing. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/34 "2009-08-31T08:17:16Z")
If the OP doesn’t mind, I’d like to try a related one. What if, by some magical means (or some new discovery/implant) they could, instead of the sentence, make you suffer pain(/sickness/\) for a given duration instead. For example, give you pain roughly equal to a very bad headache/minor migraine nonstop for the 10 years, no medicine will make it subside (but of course, it would help any pain you got on TOP of it). Feel free to elaborate on other scenarios, like what balance you would accept. (Almost crippling pain for 5 years? A never ending paper cut on every finger for 20?) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/35 "2009-08-31T14:17:42Z")
And why wouldn’t the OP mind? In fact, everybody, let’s talk about dolphins. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/36 "2009-08-31T16:15:45Z")
In China Mieville’s novel _The Scar_, a character has to make this exact choice. She chooses the lash. It sounds very painful and humiliating. She becomes very ill for quite a while, and is permanently, severely scarred by it. However, I imagine 10 years in prison would scar one in other ways. Not I choice I hope ever to have to make, but I would choose the lash and hope that I would pass out or be able to go into a dissociative state or something to cope with it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/37 "2009-08-31T16:43:01Z")
> [@tesseract](#): > > Before I was a mother, I think prison would have to be a good six months before I’d take the lashing. So now you’re up to about 18 years?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/38 "2009-08-31T17:24:07Z")
The lashing. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/39 "2009-08-31T17:39:33Z")
> [@astro](#): > > You’re caught doing something against the law and are found guilty. The law offers you the option to receive a severe, maybe even potentially fatal, whipping that will likely leave the skin on your back in bloody tatters, but if you take it you go free.The alternative is to spend 10 years in prison. Do you take the deal? I’d take the lashing instead of 10 _months_. I don’t do cages well. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195/40 "2009-08-31T18:26:02Z")
Everyday spent in prison would be a whole day you’d feel like a sucker. I’d take the lash. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-very-severe-whipping-was-offered-instead-of-years-of-imprisonment-would-you-take-that-deal/508195.md?page=3)