Corporal punishment or physical punishment (physical discipline in some contexts) is a punishment intended to cause physical pain on a person. It is usually inflicted in settings with a substantial disparity of power between the partakers.
Corporal punishment is commonly practiced on minors, especially in home and also school settings, usually employing more modest forms. Common methods in this regard often include spanking or paddling.
It is however also used on adults, particularly prisoners in some countries. In history most cultures have practiced corporal punishment on adults in settings of imprisonment or slavery. Frequently employed methods are flagellation and caning. In some countries bastinado is still practiced on prisoners as well.[1]
Official punishment for crime by inflicting pain or injury, including flogging, branding and even mutilation, was practised in most civilisations since ancient times. However, with the growth of humanitarian ideals since the Enlightenment, such punishments were increasingly viewed as inhumane. By the late 20th century, corporal punishment had been eliminated from the legal systems of most developed countries.[2]
The legality in the 21st century of corporal punishment in various settings differs by jurisdiction. Internationally, the late 20th century and early 21st century saw the application of human rights law to the question of corporal punishment in a number of contexts:
Family or domestic corporal punishment—typically, punishment of children or teenagers by parents or other adult guardians—is legal in most of the world. 49 countries, most of them in Europe and Latin America, have banned the practice as of July 2016.[3]
School corporal punishment—of students by teachers or school administrators—has been banned in many countries, including Canada, Kenya, South Africa, New Zealand and nearly all of Europe. It remains legal, if increasingly less common, in the United States.
Judicial corporal punishment, as part of a criminal sentence ordered by a court of law, has long disappeared from European countries.[4] However, it remains lawful in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.[5] Closely related is prison corporal punishment or disciplinary corporal punishment, ordered by prison authorities or carried out directly by staff. Corporal punishment is also allowed in some military settings in a few jurisdictions.
Other uses of corporal punishment have existed, for instance as once practised on apprentices by their masters. In many Western countries, medical and human-rights organizations oppose corporal punishment of children. Campaigns against corporal punishment have aimed to bring about legal reform to ban the use of corporal punishment against minors in homes and schools.
