Corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is forced pain intended to change a person's behaviour or to punish them. Historically speaking, most punishments, whether in judicial, domestic, or educational settings, were corporal in basis.

In modern world, corporal punishment has been largely rejected in favor of other disciplinary methods. Modern judiciaries often favor fines or incarceration, whilst modern school discipline generally avoids physical correction altogether. Although corporal punishment is still used in many domestic settings, it has been banned in over seventeen countries. Corporal Punishment in Canada is restricted to children under the age of 13, and only by parents or guardians, and only such punishment that does not leave marks.

There has been much dispute in recent years over where the line should be drawn between corporal punishment and torture, or whether a line should indeed be drawn at all.

History of corporal punishment

"The naughty children"; German Caricature of 1849.

While the early history of corporal punishment is unclear, the practice was certainly present in classical civilizations, being used in Greece, Rome, Egypt and Israel, for both judicial and educational discipline. Practices varied greatly, though scourging and beating with sticks were common. Some states gained a reputation for using such punishments cruelly; Sparta, in particular, used frequent part of a disciplinary regime designed to build willpower and physical strength. Although the Spartan example was unusually extreme, corporal punishment was possibly the most common type of punishment.

In Medieval Europe, corporal punishment was encouraged by the attitudes of the medieval church towards the human body, with flagellation being a common means of self-discipline. In particular, this had a major influence on the use of corporal punishment in schools, as educational establishments were closely attached to the church during this period. Nevertheless, corporal punishment was not used uncritically; as early as the eleventh century Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury was speaking out against what he saw as the cruel treatment of children.

From the sixteenth century onwards, new trends were seen in corporal punishment. Judicial punishments were increasingly made into public spectacles, with the public beatings of criminals intended as a deterrent to other would-be miscreants. Meanwhile, early writers on education, such as Roger Ascham, complained of the arbitrary manner in which children were punished. Probably the most influential writer on the subject was the English philosopher John Locke, whose Some Thoughts Concerning Education explicitly criticized the central role of corporal punishment in education. Locke's work was highly influential, and in part influenced Polish legislators to ban corporal punishment from Poland's schools in 1783.

During the eighteenth century the frequent use of corporal punishment was heavily criticized, both by philosophers and legal reformers. Merely inflicting pain on miscreants was seen as inefficient, influencing the subject merely for a short period of time and effecting no permanent change in their behaviour. Critics believed that the purpose of punishment should be reformation, not retribution. This is perhaps best expressed in Jeremy Bentham's idea of a panoptic prison, in which prisoners were controlled and surveyed at all times, perceived to be advantageous in that this system reduced the need of measures such as corporal punishment.

A consequence of this mode of thinking was a diminution of corporal punishment throughout the nineteenth century in Europe and North America. In some countries this was encouraged by scandals involving individuals seriously hurt during acts of corporal punishment. For instance, in Britain, popular opposition to punishment was encouraged by two significant cases, the death of Private Frederick John White, who died after a military flogging in 1847, and the death of Reginald Cancellor, who was killed by his schoolmaster in 1860. Events such as these mobilized public opinion, and in response, many countries introduced thorough regulation of the infliction of corporal punishment in state institutions.

The use of corporal punishment declined through the twentieth century, though the practice has proved most persistent as a punishment for violation of prison rules, as a military field punishment, and in schools.

Modern usage

In the modern world, corporal punishment remains a common way of disciplining children however its use has declined signifficantly since the 1950s. It has been outlawed in many countries however some legal systems permit parents to use mild corporal punishment on their children. Many parents in the modern world do not however or use it rarely. Race and gender have a significant influence on corporal punishment in the western world. Black children and male children are much more likely to be hit at home and school and corporal punishment of boys tends to be more severe, more frequent and more aggressive than corporal punishment administered to girls . Ironically, while the research suggests that corporal punishment is potentially counterproductive for children, it is even more counterproductive for boys than girls In terms of punishment in educational settings, approaches vary throughout the world. School corporal punishment is banned in most western nations and in industrialized nations outside the west. All of Western Europe, most of Eastern Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa have banned school corporal punishment, as have many other countries. In Australia, corporal punishment is banned in all state schools but continues in private schools in a couple of states. In the United States, 23 states allow corporal punishment in schools. There is some disagreement about how much paddling occurs in US schools. Some estimates place the number of paddlings at approximately 350,000 a year, while the National Association of School Psychologists places the number at 1.5 million cases a year. Evidence suggests that in the United States, racial and sexual discrimination play a large role in school corporal punishment, with black students being much more likely to be hit than white students, and male students being much more likely to be hit than female students, for the same infractions. Corporal punishment of male students also tends to be more severe and more aggressive . In some places, this sexual discrimination has the force of law. For instance, in Queensland, Australia, school corporal punishment of girls was banned in 1934 but corporal punishment of boys in private schools is still legal in 2007. Some societies retain widespread use of judicial corporal punishment, including Malaysia and Singapore. In Singapore, male offenders are typically sentenced to caning in addition to a prison term. The Singaporean practice of caning became much discussed in the U.S. in 1994 when American teenager Michael P. Fay was sentenced to such punishment for an offence of car vandalism.

When used in the home as a form of domestic punishment for children, smacking (spanking in American English) is most common form of corporal punishment. Although this form of punishment of children is either banned and/or declining in use in many countries.

The legality of punishment

While the domestic corporal punishment of children is still accepted in some countries (mostly Eastern) it is declining in many other, it is also illegal in a number of countries. The practice has been banned in Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ukraine and New Zealand. These developments are comparatively recent, with Sweden, in 1979, being the first country to forbid corporal punishment by law. In a number of other countries there is active debate about its continued usage. In the United Kingdom its total abolition has been discussed. The Australian state of Tasmania also is continuing to review the state's laws on the matter, and may seek to ban the use of corporal punishment by parents. The matter is also under review in other Australian states.

United Nations human rights standards prohibit all corporal punishment.

Such debates, however, do not always lead to the banning of domestic corporal punishment and The Supreme Court of Canada recently reaffirmed in Foundation v. Canada the right of a parent or guardian to use corporal punishment on children between the ages of two and twelve; this decision was contentious, being based upon s.43 of the Criminal Code of Canada, a provision enacted in 1892. Similarly, despite some opposition to corporal punishment in the USA, spanking children is legal, with some states explicitly allowing it in their law and 23 US states allowing its use in public schools.. A ban has been proposed in Massachusetts, on all corporal punishment of children, including by parents, and a series of laws in Minnesota severely restrict the use of corporal punishment of children.

In most parts of Eastern Asia (including China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea), it is legal to punish one's own child using physical means. In Singapore and Hong Kong, punishing one's own child with corporal punishment is either legal but discouraged, or illegal but without active enforcement of the relevant laws. Culturally, people in the region generally believe a minimal amount of corporal punishment for their own children is appropriate and necessary, and thus such practice is tolerated by the society as a whole.

The People's Republic of China and Taiwan have made corporal punishment against children illegal in the school system, but it is still known to be practiced in some form in many areas (see Corporal punishment in Taiwan). The most common forms of punishment are mild chastisements, such as shaking by the arm or shoulder, or slapping the back of the head or ear; more serious punishments, such as striking with the cane, are less common. Such incidents are increasingly leading to public outcry, and in recent years have lead to the dismissal of teaching staff. Similarly, in South Korea, corporal punishments occur for students if they forget their homework, violate school rules, or are tardy to school.

There is resistance, particularly from conservatives, against making the corporal punishment of children by their parents or guardians illegal. In 2004, the United States declined to become a signatory of the United Nations's "Rights of the Child" because of its sanctions on parental discipline, citing the tradition of parental authority in that country and of privacy in family decision-making.

Most countries have banned the use of corporal punishment in schools, beginning with Poland in 1783. The practice is still used in schools in some parts of the United States (approximately 1/2 the states but varying by school districts within them), though it is banned in others. Many schools, even within the 23 states, require written parent approval before any physical force is used upon a child.

Some nations retain judicial applications of corporal punishment to child offenders, for instance Iran. [4];

Criticism of corporal punishment

Academic studies have established that under some circumstances, corporal punishment of children can increase short-term compliance with parental commands, although comparisons in the same studies with alternative punishments such as one-minute time-outs did not establish that corporal punishment was more effective.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), however, in an official policy statement [5] (reaffirmed in 2004) states that "Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents be encouraged and assisted in the development of methods other than spanking for managing undesired behavior." In particular, the AAP believes that any corporal punishment methods other than open-hand spanking on the buttocks or extremities "are unacceptable" and "should never be used." The policy statement points out, summarizing several studies, that "The more children are spanked, the more anger they report as adults, the more likely they are to spank their own children, the more likely they are to approve of hitting a spouse, and the more marital conflict they experience as adults." Spanking has been associated with higher rates of physical aggression, more substance abuse, and increased risk of crime and violence when used with older children and adolescents."

The American Psychological Association opposes the use of corporal punishment in schools, juvenile facilities, child care nurseries, and all other institutions, public or private, where children are cared for or educated (Conger, 1975). They state that corporal punishment is violent, unnecessary, may lower self-esteem, is likely to train children to use physical violence, and is liable to instill hostility and rage without reducing the undesired behavior.

The Canadian Pediatrics Society policy on corporal punishment states "The Psychosocial Paediatrics Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society has carefully reviewed the available research in the controversial area of disciplinary spanking (7-15)... The research that is available supports the position that spanking and other forms of physical punishment are associated with negative child outcomes. The Canadian Paediatric Society, therefore, recommends that physicians strongly discourage disciplinary spanking and all other forms of physical punishment"

England's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Royal College of Psychiatrists have called for a complete ban on all corporal punishment, stating "We believe it is both wrong and impracticable to seek to define acceptable forms of corporal punishment of children. Such an exercise is unjust. Hitting children is a lesson in bad behaviour." and that "it is never appropriate to hit or beat children"

The Australian Psychological Society holds that physical punishment of children should not be used as it has very limited capacity to deter unwanted behavior, does not teach alternative desirable behavior, often promotes further undersirable behaviors such as defiance and attachment to "delinquent" peer groups, encourages an acceptance of aggression and violence as acceptable responses to conflicts and problems

UNESCO states "During the Commission on Human Rights, UNESCO launched a new report entitled "Eliminating Corporal Punishment - The Way Forward to Constructive Child Discipline." The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has consistently recommended States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prohibit corporal punishment and other forms of violence against children in institutions, in schools, and in the homes...To discipline or punish through physical harm is clearly a violation of the most basic of human rights. Research on corporal punishment has found it to be counterproductive and relatively ineffective, as well as dangerous and harmful to physical, psychological and social well being. While many States have developed child protection laws and systems violence still continues to be inflicted upon children"

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends that States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prohibit corporal punishment in institutions, in schools, and in the home.

Many opponents of corporal punishment argue that any form of violence is by definition abusive. Psychological research indicates that corporal punishment causes the destruction of trust bonds between parents and children. Children subjected to corporal punishment may grow resentful, shy, insecure, or violent. Adults who report having been slapped or spanked by their parents in childhood have been found to experience elevated rates of anxiety disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence and externalizing problems as adults. Some researchers believe that corporal punishment actually works against its objective (normally obedience), since children will not voluntarily obey an adult they do not trust. A child who is physically punished may have to be punished more often than a child who is not. Researcher Elizabeth Gershoff, Ph. D., in a 2002 meta-analytic study that combined 60 years of research on corporal punishment, found that the only positive outcome of corporal punishment was immediate compliance; however, corporal punishment was associated with less long-term compliance. Corporal punishment was linked with nine other negative outcomes, including increased rates of aggression, delinquency, mental health problems, problems in relationships with their parents, and likelihood of being physically abused.

Opponents claim that much child abuse begins with spanking: a parent accustomed to using corporal punishment may find it all too easy, when frustrated, to step over the line into physical abuse. One study found that 40% of 111 mothers were worried that they could possibly hurt their children. It is argued that frustrated parents turn to spanking when attempting to discipline their child, and then get carried away (given the arguable continuum between spanking and hitting). This "continuum" argument also raises the question of whether a spank can be "too hard" and how (if at all) this can be defined in practical terms. This in turn leads to the question whether parents who spank their children "too hard" are crossing the line and beginning to abuse them.

Before 1997, although there were many studies linking spanking with higher levels of misbehaviour in children, people could argue that it was the misbehaviour that caused the spanking. However, since that time several studies have examined changes in behaviour over time and propose a link between corporal punishment and increasing relative levels of misbehaviour compared to similar children who were not corporally punished. Reasons for corporal punishment possibly causing increased misbehaviour in the long run may include: children imitating the corporally-punishing behaviour of their parents by hitting other people; acting out of resentment stemming from corporal punishment; reduced self-esteem; loss of opportunities to learn peaceful conflict resolution; punishing the parents for the acts of corporal punishment; and assertion of freedom and dignity by refusing to be controlled by corporal punishment.

The problem with the use of corporal punishment is that, if punishments are to maintain their efficacy, the amount of force required may have to be increased over successive punishments. This was observed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, [6] which stated that: "The only way to maintain the initial effect of spanking is to systematically increase the intensity with which it is delivered, which can quickly escalate into abuse." Additionaly, the Academy noted that: "Parents who spank their children are more likely to use other unacceptable forms of corporal punishment."

Another problem with corporal punishment, according to the skeptics, is that it polarizes the parent-child relationship, reducing the amount of spontaneous cooperation on the part of the child. The AAP policy statement says "...reliance on spanking as a discipline approach makes other discipline strategies less effective to use." Thus it has an addiction-like effect: the more one spanks, the more one feels a need to spank, possibly escalating until the situation is out of control.

Corporal punishment, fetishism, and BDSM

Corporal punishment is sometimes fetishized, and is the basis of a number of paraphilias, most notably erotic spanking. This phenomenon was first noted by the German psychologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing, who suggested that sadism and masochism often developed out of the experience of children receiving corporal punishment at school. Whilst this has been a popular interpretation, it was disputed by Sigmund Freud, who suggested that a sexual interest in corporal punishment developed in early childhood and rarely related to actual experiences of punishment.

Ritual and punishment

Cat o' nine tails

Corporal punishment in formal settings, such as schools and prisons, is often highly ritualised, sometimes even staged in a highly theatrical manner. To a great extent the spectacle of punishment is intended to act as a deterrent to others and a theatrical approach is one result of this.

One consequence of the ritualised nature of much punishment has been the development of a wide variety of equipment used. Formal punishment often begins with the victim stripped of some or all of their clothing and secured to a piece of furniture, such as a trestle, frame, punishment horse or falaka. A variety of implements are then used to inflict blows on the victim. The terms used to describe these are not fixed, varying by country and by context. There are, however, a number of common types which are frequently encountered when reading about corporal punishment. These are:

• The bastinado.
• The rod. A thin, flexible rod is often called a switch.
• The birch, a number of strong, flexible branches, bound together in their natural state.
• The bamboo canes. A durable rottan cane is often called a rattan.
• The paddle, a flat wooden board or leather pad with a handle.
• The strap. A strap with a number of tails at one end is called a tawse in Scotland and northern England.
• The whip. Varieties include the Russian knout and South African sjambok, in addition to the scourge and martinet.
• The cat o' nine tails was a popular implement used in naval discipline.
• The hairbrush and belt are traditionally used in the United States and Great Britain as an implement for domestic spanking.
• The Wooden spoon, commonly used in Australia
• The wired clothes hanger, a common and easily available substitute for a bamboo canes in Hong Kong.

In some instances the victim of punishment is required to prepare the implement which will be used upon them. For instance, sailors were employed in preparing the cat o' nine tails which would be used upon their own back, whilst children were sent to cut a switch or rod.

In contrast, informal punishments, particularly in domestic settings, tend to lack this ritual nature and are often administered with whatever object comes to hand. It is common, for instance, for belts, wooden spoons, slippers or hairbrushes to be used in domestic punishment, whilst rulers and other classroom equipment have been used in schools.

Boys where beaten under the old tradition of "Beating the Bounds" where a boy was paraded around the boundary of an area of a city or district and would often ask to be beaten on the buttocks. One famous "Beating the Bounds" happened around the boundary of St Giles and the area where Tottenham Court Road now stands in London. The actual stone that separated the boundary is now under the Centerpoint office block. See "London" by Peter Ackroyd for more information on this subject.

Administration of punishment

In formal punishment medical supervision is often considered necessary to assess whether the target of punishment is in a fit condition to be beaten and to oversee the punishment to prevent serious injury from occurring. The role of the medical officer was particularly important in the nineteenth century, a time in which severe punishment was common, but growing public criticism of the practice encouraged medical regulation.

Corporal punishment can be directed at a number of different anatomical targets, the choice depending on a number of factors. The humiliation and pain of a particular punishment have always been primary concerns, but convenience and custom are also factors. There is an additional concern in the modern world about the permanent harm that can result from punishment, though this was rarely a factor before the nineteenth century. The intention of corporal punishment is to discipline an individual with the infliction of a measure of pain, and permanent injury is considered counterproductive.

• Most commonly, corporal punishment is directed at the buttocks, with some languages having a specific word for their chastisement. For example, the French call this fessée, the Spanish nalgada. The English term spanking refers to punishment on the buttocks, though only with the open hand. This part of the body is often chosen because it is painful, but is arguably unlikely to cause long-term physical harm. In the United Kingdom the term spanking is becoming more associated with sex play and the term smacking is used more often.
• The back is commonly targeted in military and judicial punishments, particularly popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, damage to both spine and kidneys is possible and such punishment is rarely used in the modern world.
• Although the face and particularly the cheeks may be struck in domestic punishment, formal punishments avoid the head because of the serious injuries that can result. In some countries, domestic and school punishments aimed at the head are considered assault.
• The hands are a common target in school discipline, though rarely targeted in other forms of corporal punishment. Since serious injury can be caused by striking the hand, the implements used and the numbers of blows must be strictly controlled.
• In Western Asia corporal punishment was directed against the feet. Although this was mostly used on criminals, a version was in use in schools in the region.

One common problem with corporal punishment is the difficulty with which an objective measure of pain can be determined and delivered. In the nineteenth century scientists such as Alexander Bain and Francis Galton suggested scientific solutions to this, such as the use of electricity. These were, however, unpopular and perceived as cruel. The difficulty in inflicting a set measure of pain makes it difficult to distinguish punishment from abuse, and has contributed to calls for the abolition of the practice.

Spanking

Political cartoon from 1860 depicting Stephen A. Douglas receiving a traditional “over-the-knee” spanking from Columbia as Uncle Sam looks on approvingly.

Spanking (or smacking) is the most commonly-used form of corporal punishment, consisting of one or more sharp smacks applied on the buttocks.

The verb to spank has been known in English since 1727, possibly onomatopeic in nature.

It is remarkable that English and several other languages have a specific, common verb for spanking, that distinguishes it from corporal punishment applied to parts of the anatomy other than the buttocks. Thus in Latin the only word derived from culus (buttocks) was culare, meaning 'to spank,' similar to the Italian sculacciare; in French, the verb is fesser, also from 'fesses' (buttocks). All of these terms testify to the historical or persisting prominence of this punitive target in many cultures.

Definitions

Spanking, by today's definition, consists of striking the buttocks, usually as a physical punishment, with either an open hand or various implements including a cane, a belt or strap, various types of whips such as the martinet and the tawse, a switch or other form of rod, a paddle, some curious devices such as the electric so-called spanker and trickster paddling machines, or various household objects designed for other purposes, such as a slipper, a wooden spoon, a bath brush, a wooden ruler or a hairbrush.

In the United States and Canada, all discipline applied to the posterior is usually known as spanking. In Britain and many Commonwealth countries smacking or whacking is used as the general term; with spanking usually referring to bare-handed discipline (as opposed to implement-specific forms of spanking such as paddling, caning, birching and slippering).

There are many alternative terms, often linked with an implement (such as belting, caning, whipping), but also sometimes used more generally (such as thrashing, dressing-down (though this often refers to the lecture that precedes the actual spanking and perhaps refers to the undressing of the buttocks that often occurs during the lecture) , whacking, wupping or whupping) or using terms for a stroke (usually in the plural), such as blow, swat (hence swatting), lick (hence licking) and less common ones including onomatopoeias such as "pop." There are still other terms for hits (e.g. blow, stroke, cut refer to the effect), sometimes rather describing the physical punishment, such as cut, strip - nearly all those terms can of course also apply to beatings elsewhere on the body, and even though a term as hiding or tanning suggests administering on the bare these can also be used more generally. Next there are descriptive terms for spanking using a synonym of buttocks and a generic term for (corporal) punishment, such as posterior chastisement, stern discipline, sometimes specifying the degree of nakedness of the spankee, as in panties-down, or Physical punishment.

• It is striking how the (mainly informal) terminology is usually determined by the punisher's point of view, with terms such as lesson, medicine, ordeal, therapy, (woodshed) treatment), even helping, sometimes adding -in see unnecessary- adjectives such as firm, (jolly) good, healthy, sound, well-deserved, even (long) overdue; if the spankee is taken notice of, then as helplessly suffering the painful effects, as in: blistering, grilling, roasting, humbling.
• Several languages exclusively use words that directly indicate the buttocks as the anatomical target zone, either plainly as the French fessée (from fesse 'buttock') or somewhat ironic, such as the Dutch billenkoek (buttocks + cake); a similar word pun in English is posterior alignment.
• Sometimes there is another specific term for a spanking on the seat of the trousers, as the Dutch pak voor de broek ('load (of swats) for -i.e. on- the pantaloons'). On the other hand expressions for a bad beating -not necessarily only for a spanking- can precisely refer to the preliminary baring, as 'a dressing down' and the Dutch verbs afranselen ('take off the (back) pack') and aftuigen ('unharnass', i.e. divest).
• Similarly there can be analogous words for spankers, as the Dutch bilslager ('buttock beater') and the French (Frère) Fesseur ('(brother) spanker'), both referring to a cleric, especially in the Jesuit order, specifically charged with the professional administration of spankings on the (typically bared) buttocks of naughty pupils in reputedly strict Catholic schools; the clergy seems to have had a real reputation as bodily chastizers (there was a tradition of 'mortification' of the flesh, including self-flagellation, not only as penance), for in Paris's St. Lazaire prison the rod was administered on the bare buttocks of criminals by a member of the Lazarist order referred to as the Père fouettard ('whipping father') as allegedly happened to the writer Beaumarchais.

Scope of punitive use

The two subsections group the various spanking spheres for convenience: the 'domestic' model spanks in a paternalistic mentality, intending or at least claiming to (re)educate the spankees, often 'for their own good', and more informally, which often includes the use of conveniently available objects made for another purpose, such as a hairbrush, belt, pointer (rod), Physical punishment yardstick or various household objects, etc.; meanwhile, the 'judicial' model essentially aims to enforce the social code, be it the (formal or customary) law or a substitute order, 'for the common good' (raison d'état, social cohesion, public safety and morality...), usually with a traditional, often even formally imposed implement.

Domestic model

Spankings are administered in particular to children by their educators, i.e. mostly (biological -, step-, adoptive- or foster-) parent or guardian and school -, orphanage etc. staff. Race and gender have a significant influence on child spanking. Black children and male children are much more likely to be hit at home and school and spanking of boys tends to be more severe, more frequent and more aggressive than spanking of girls . Ironically, the research shows that while corporal punishment is counterproductive for all children, it is even more counterproductive for boys than girls Many countries in Europe, as well as New Zealand, have outlawed domestic spanking of children. In 2007, the Australian government spent 2.5 million dollars on a campaign to convince Australian parents not to spank their children .

Spankings were however also, especially in the past, administered to other persons considered as legal (and/or moral) minors (sometimes illegally still treated as such), including;

• Wives (by their husbands) and women in general.
• Servants (especially domestics, not by coincidence also called (house)boy or maid; the British Lord Chief Justice declared their corporal punishment, like children's, indisputably justified in 1795);

• Often copied from domestic discipline, as in fraternites and sororities (originally living units where seniors and/or staff wielded the paddle rather like parents at home), and sports and other teams (though now nearly only as 'play' in hazing and rarely as actual coercive sanction) and other initiation context, as with recruits (in military, police and some other professions).

• Informal spankings in the domestic context can also occur in an institutional environment, parallel to the more formal punishments, when administered by the victim's peers.

Judicial model

Although non-erotic fiction usually shows or says corporal punishment for adults as administered above the waist, in most cultures and legal systems it was at least as common to administer on the buttocks, i.e. as a spanking, most forms of judicial and prison beatings (convicts by definition are at the mercy of the authorities; even today severe punishments, even the dreaded judicial 'Singapore' cane, are awarded to enforce internal prison rules in various countries).

For obvious practical reasons adults are rarely spanked over knee or lap, rather bending or bound over some object or construction (closely resembling the child's exposure, without the skin contact that is often undesirable or even indecent for the official spanker), in fewer cases standing or hanging (as usual for punishment above the waist) as against a wall or whipping post.

The parallel with child discipline is part of the deliberate use of public humiliation as part of punishments. Hence, the condemned is often bared, completely or partly to expose the buttocks, or only covered for modesty, with little protection against the instrument; this is still usual under sharia in many countries. While even the back is sometimes left clad for an Islamic whipping, as in Saudi Arabia, in (ethnically mainly Chinese) Singapore and (Muslim) Malaysia it is more common to cane the bare buttocks.

• Often the strong arm of the law — mainly (para)military and police, not seldom charged with the physical execution of corporal punishment — and some similarly hierarchical organisations, has particularly strict internal discipline, usually enforced internally (as by court-martial, or in 'minor' cases simply by the superior officer), which in many traditions entailed punishing the culprit's (often bared) tail-end;
  • especially navies, where order must be maintained in confined spaces at all cost, are renowned for stern discipline, and some measure of it not unknown in merchant naval traditions either, but usually only 'boys' (including midshipmen, though) were spanked, adult sailors rather had their back and/or shoulders lashed;
  • in general the treatment of boys under arms has at least a measure of the paternalistic 'educational' discipline, often meaning they are more likely to have the bare bottom punished;
  • when martial law is imposed (formally or de facto), at home (as in Pakistan under sharia-zealous former president general Ziah al Haq [7]) or under military occupation, such harsh practice is often extended to the civilian population (more difficult to control and/or less respected) as well, even limiting normal process of law; while regular corps discipline is generally conducted within quarters or correctional facility, to 'whip' the masses into obedience public administration is often preferred for maximized deterrence; yet in some cases the accusations of 'war crime'-type punishment are somewhat hollow insofar as the occupied country often already used similar physical coercion, e.g. Korea publicly caning the criminal's bare behind over a bench before and during the Japanese rule [8]

• Judicial corporal punishment is making a comeback in a number of post-colonial, non-Islamic countries, including the cat o' nine tails in various Antillean Commonwealth nations.
• Furthermore there is a wave of reviving or beefing up of (re)legalized traditional justice, as by tribal chief's courts, and their customary punishments not infrequently include spanking, sometimes even carried out by the regular police force.
• Even where corporal punishment remains illegal, or is very restricted, it rather often is a common weapon for so-called vigilante justice, sometimes tolerated or even legally legitimated by the authorities (as in various parts of Africa, e.g. Botswana), sometimes practiced by rebels (as in Nepal), often remarkably popular with the general public or a large section where official 'modern' western-style justice seems unable to stem crime, as in South Africa.

• The Empress Theodora is reported to have spanked a courtier:

“	Among the large number of men whom she treated this way were Leontius, who occupied the position of Referendarius, and Saturninus, son of Hermogenes the Magister, both of them just married. This Saturninus had married a second cousin, a maiden of good birth and excellent character, whose father Cyril had approved the match, Hermogenes having died earlier. No sooner had they shut themselves into the bridal chamber than Theodora seized the groom and carried him off to another chamber, where in spite of his heartbroken protestations he was married to Chrysomallo’s daughter. This Chrysomallo had once been a dancer and later a courtesan, but at the time of this incident she was living in the Palace with another Chrysomallo and Indaro. For there it was that after abandoning woman’s oldest profession and the life of the theatre they had established their headquarters. When Saturninus had slept with his new bride and found that she had been deflowered, he informed one of his intimate friends that the girl he had married was nothing but damaged goods. When this comment came to Theodora's ears, she said that he was showing off and had no right to be so puffed up, and ordered her servants to bend him over like any schoolboy. Then she gave his behind a fearsome beating and told him not to talk such nonsense in future.	”
—Procopius, Secret History

• Finally, there are cases of 'summary justice' which do not even fit the vigilante logic, but still intends to enforce a social order by improvised corporal punishment, such as some Bolivian bus drivers using a belt on strike-breaking colleagues [9] on the streets, or “In French pit villages the wives of striking miners confronted scabs and humiliated them by removing their trousers and spanking them.” -Lynn Abrams, The Making of Modern Woman (New York: Pearson Education Limited, 2002), 203.

Educational spanking

In some schools, spanking is allowed as a means of disciplining students. Such schools often allow elementary students (ages 6–11), intermediate students (ages10–13), and high school students (ages14 –18) to be so disciplined.

School corporal punishment is banned in most of the western world and other economically advanced nations. It is banned in every country in Western Europe, most countries in Eastern Europe, Canada, Japan, South Africa and New Zealand, among many other countries. In Australia, corporal punishment in schools is banned, partially or completely, in some states. Corporal punishment was made illegal in all state schools in the United Kingdom in 1986 and extended to include independent schools in 1996.

School corporal punishment is still permitted in 23 U.S. states, and of all 23 states, Ohio is the only one that requires schools to honor parental requests not to use corporal punishment. Schools or school districts usually specify the circumstances under which spankings may be administered and which personnel may administer them. In New Jersey and Iowa, all corporal punishment, including spanking, is prohibited in all schools, public and private. World Corporal Punishment Research has compiled "Regulations of individual schools or school districts" throughout the United States, state by state, and internationally, "with external links to present-day school handbooks" that specify the circumstances and personnel who are authorized to administer spankings.

In the USA, the degree to which spanking is used in schools in states which still allow it varies by state. For example, Ohio still permits spanking in school, but approximately 97% of the school districts in the state ban the practice. In Alabama, however, only two districts in the entire state, Montgomery and Birmingham, ban the practice.

Nine states give teachers protection from liability arising from the use of spanking, even if parents requested the school not use corporal punishment, and sometimes even if injury occurs. They are: Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Indiana.

Of the U.S. states permitting spanking in schools, Texas administers the most, with approximately 170,000 per year. While it is banned in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio, Houston still permits school spanking, as do almost all of the rural school districts.

Mississippi has the highest proportionate rate, with approximately 11% of the student body subjected to corporal punishment in any given school year.

Ohio is a "fence-sitter" state. Spanking is still legal in Ohio schools, but the law is written to sometimes be confused with a ban. The state law, Ohio Revised Code 3319.41, states that corporal punishment is banned unless school districts establish clear guidelines for a corporal punishment policy, and honor all requests of parents who do not wish their children subjected to corporal punishment. Approximately 97% of public school districts in Ohio ban spanking and corporal punishment anyway, which has been cited by some pro-spanking advocates as eliminating the need for legislation against school spanking in Ohio.

Twenty-eight states have banned spanking in schools. They are: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia,and Wisconsin. Rhode Island, the "honorary 29th" state, does not legally ban spanking in schools, but every school district in the state has banned since at least 1976.

Spanking is banned in all public schools in Canada as of 2005.

There is some disagreement about how much paddling occurs in US schools. Some estimates place the number of paddlings at approximately 350,000 a year, while the National Association of School Psychologists places the number at 1.5 million cases a year Evidence suggests that in the United States, racial and sexual discrimination play a large role in school corporal punishment, with black students being much more likely to be hit than white students, and male students being much more likely to be hit than female students, for the same infractions. Corporal punishment of male students also tends to be more severe and more aggressive. In some places, this sexual discrimination has the force of law. For instance, in Queensland, Australia, school corporal punishment of girls was banned in 1934 but corporal punishment of boys in private schools is still legal in 2007.

Circumstances

Spankings are usually used as a last resort, after previous, alternative methods of discipline have been unsuccessful. Even then, students are often allowed to elect an alternative punishment if they prefer to do so. In some cases, however, spankings are mandated, and no alternative is provided. Spankings are usually delivered with a paddle, with a predetermined number (often three to five) to the child's clothed buttocks. Spankings are usually given in private so as to protect the student's privacy.

Position

In its most common use as a means of domestic corporal discipline, spanking usually refers to a child lying, stomach down, across the spanker's lap — misleadingly referred to as taking a child 'over the knee' (though that is also possible) — and the parent or teacher bringing their open hand down upon the child's posterior. The buttocks are filled with nerve endings and the sting from sustaining repeated swats in quick succession is immediate and highly uncomfortable; hence the 'last resort' reputation of this form of punishment. Another way to administer is a spanking is called the "diaper position." In this position the child is laid on a flat surface and held legs-up, by the ankles, and spanked with an open hand. Still another possible spanking position would be the child being bent over a piece of furniture and touching their toes.

Spanking advocates argue that the buttocks are the safest place to administer corporal punishment since it produces a sharp stinging pain, but injury is usually unlikely; except that when the judicial cane (for instance in Singapore) is applied there, the kidneys can be damaged if accidentally hit.

Spankings are delivered over a diaper (usually merely to emphasize humiliation, but not to cause pain), over clothing, over the undergarments, or upon the bare buttocks depending on the amount of pain or humiliation intended; the latter is greatly increased by witnesses, such as the household, the class, or even a school assembly.

Most educators in modern-day Western societies consider avoidable humiliation inappropriate. Others consider the humiliation of exposing one's bare buttocks a legitimate or even essential part of the punishment, as the main purpose of spanking is to cause a psychological deterring effect through painful bodily degradation.

Controversy

Spanking — like corporal punishment in general — is a hotly debated social issue in many countries. Questions exist as to whether children and pets should be spanked (see the sections below), whether it is an effective method of discipline (and if so how it is best done, see above), and whether or at what point it constitutes child abuse. Most of the points mentioned apply more generally to most or all forms of physical punishment.

Arguments for spanking

Those who accept spanking often frame the issue as a matter of parental rights, stating that parents have the right to raise their children in the way they consider most appropriate. They also hold there is little evidence that moderate spanking is harmful. Further, many believe that discipline problems among children have recently increased, and partially attribute the increase to the decline of both parental authority and the use of spanking. Proponents of spanking also argue that moderate spanking is simple and effective, especially compared to non-spanking disciplines proposed by both academic psychologists and parents which may rely upon what they consider complicated or unrealistic methods that are often not implemented successfully.

Another argument used by proponents of spanking is that proper and effective spankings cause only temporary pain and no damage. It has been argued that when parents and children are engaged in a prolonged struggle for authority, the anger and bitterness that results can cause an emotional estrangement that far outweighs any possible negative effects from moderate spankings, while a sound spanking would "clear the air." Some advocates for spanking come from a behaviorist point of view, and argue that as spanking is a form of operant conditioning, the child associates a certain behaviour with the physical pain and/or humiliation caused by spanking. Since a child's learning process may be less complex than that of an adult, they claim that children are more likely to be influenced by such a conditioning.

Additionally, there is a widespread and deep skepticism among pro-spankers of all the arguments against spanking, and a general feeling that the practice of spanking recalcitrant children has proven its worth over a period of many centuries. They believe that the bias against spanking is arbitrary and an improper application of egalitarian principles to what they claim is an inherently unequal social relationship.

Christian advocates of spanking often refer to Bible verses mentioning "the rod," and assert that spanking is therefore an acceptable punishment from a Christian moral or religious point of view. Some attribute the quotation "spare the rod and spoil the child" to the Bible; in fact, it comes from a bawdy poem entitled "Hudibras" by Samuel Butler. The Bible verse itself reads, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. Proverbs 13:24 (NIV)." A later verse also advises, "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death. Proverbs 23:13-14 (NIV)."

Arguments against spanking

Anti-spanking advocates argue chiefly that spanking is abusive, that it is ineffective, and that it teaches children that physical violence is an acceptable way to deal with other people. They point to the fact that scientific research has failed to back up any of the claims in favor of spanking while research has consistently shown that the number one predictor of violent behavior is whether someone comes from a home where violence is practiced, including a home where children are subjected to physical punishment. Some believe that spanking contributes to physical abuse in cases of domestic violence, bullying at school and physical abuse on siblings. Most violent criminals were spanked as children and many cases of bullying at school have been linked to physical abuse cases. Spanking is also criticized for being a violation of human rights. Many are concerned by the fact that spanking is a sexual activity enjoyed by large sections of the adult population and are afraid that spanking might constitute sexual abuse or cause sexual dysfunction.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) official policy statement [10] states that "Corporal punishment is of limited effectiveness and has potentially deleterious side effects. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents be encouraged and assisted in the development of methods other than spanking for managing undesired behavior." The AAP states that any corporal punishment methods other than open-hand spanking on the buttocks or extremities "are unacceptable" and "should never be used." Furthermore, they state that "The more children are spanked, the more anger they report as adults, the more likely they are to spank their own children, the more likely they are to approve of hitting a spouse, and the more marital conflict they experience as adults Spanking has been associated with higher rates of physical aggression, more substance abuse, and increased risk of crime and violence when used with older children and adolescents."

The American Psychological Association opposes the use of corporal punishment in schools, juvenile facilities, child care nurseries, and all other institutions, public or private, where children are cared for or educated (Conger, 1975). They state that corporal punishment is violent, unnecessary, may lower self-esteem, is likely to train children to use physical violence, and is liable to instill hostility and rage without reducing the undesired behavior.

The Canadian Pediatrics Society policy on spanking states "The Psychosocial Paediatrics Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society has carefully reviewed the available research in the controversial area of disciplinary spanking (7-15)... The research that is available supports the position that spanking and other forms of physical punishment are associated with negative child outcomes. The Canadian Paediatric Society, therefore, recommends that physicians strongly discourage disciplinary spanking and all other forms of physical punishment"

England's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Royal College of Psychiatrists have called for a complete ban on all corporal punishment, stating "We believe it is both wrong and impracticable to seek to define acceptable forms of corporal punishment of children. Such an exercise is unjust. Hitting children is a lesson in bad behaviour." and that "it is never appropriate to hit or beat children"

The Australian Psychological Society holds that physical punishment of children should not be used as it has very limited capacity to deter unwanted behavior, does not teach alternative desirable behavior, often promotes further undersirable behaviors such as defiance and attachment to "delinquent" peer groups, encourages an acceptance of aggression and violence as acceptable responses to conflicts and problems

UNESCO states "During the Commission on Human Rights, UNESCO launched a new report entitled "Eliminating Corporal Punishment - The Way Forward to Constructive Child Discipline." The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has consistently recommended States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prohibit corporal punishment and other forms of violence against children in institutions, in schools, and in the homes...To discipline or punish through physical harm is clearly a violation of the most basic of human rights. Research on corporal punishment has found it to be counterproductive and relatively ineffective, as well as dangerous and harmful to physical, psychological and social well being. While many States have developed child protection laws and systems violence still continues to be inflicted upon children".

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends that States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to prohibit corporal punishment in institutions, in schools, and in the home.

Even without sexual motives on the part of the punisher, some maintain that spanking can interfere with a child’s normal sexual and psychological development. Because the buttocks are so close to the genitals and so multiply linked to sexual nerve centers, slapping them can trigger powerful and involuntary sensations of sexual pleasure. This can happen even in very young children, and even in spite of great, clearly upsetting pain.

Dr. Teresa Whitehurst said "The literature is replete with accounts of rape victims who never came forward to name their accuser or even to admit they'd been violated because they were so ashamed at their bodies' involuntary response to touch, thinking that this would suggest they enjoyed the assault. Nerve endings can and do function without our conscious consent. The pendulum is beginning to turn against spanking and paddling as science amasses more and more evidence regarding the sexual role played by the buttocks, and the ways in which any touch—with a hand or with a paddle—can create unwelcome but unavoidable arousal." Dr. Teresa Whitehurst, member of ChristCentered Christians for Nonviolent Parenting (CCNP); clinical psychologist; author of How Would Jesus Raise a Child? (Baker Books, 2003), Project Zero, Harvard's premier research institution.

Opponents also hold that spanking is ineffective and that other forms of discipline are more successful at teaching a child to behave properly. Also, unlike taking away a child's favorite toy, spanking is permanent and cannot be reversed if it is determined that it was not actually warranted. Spanking may lead, it is argued, to psychological damage and even possible PTS syndrome-related effects due to prolonged fear, feelings of mistrust , being un-loved and Love-shyness, alike with bullying at school or other forms of abuse.

The fact that a parent (or other caregiver) is allowed to inflict physical and emotional pain on a child, whereas the same act performed upon another adult would be tantamount to assault, also brings into question the appropriateness of this form of physical punishment. For example, when Michael Fay, a young American man, was caned in Singapore, some Americans expressed outrage against that form of punishment.

Opponents also claim that spanking teaches children that violence is an appropriate way to treat one who offends. Some believe that spanking, like clear-cut forms of physical abuse, may perpetuate a "cycle of violence" which contributes to violent behavior in the child as an adult. Children learn by example, and those subjected to the deliberate infliction of physical pain "to teach them a lesson" will, the argument goes, learn that this is an appropriate way to treat others who have wronged them.

It is also argued that there is a significant risk in regards to the trust of a parent. If children feel that they are being threatened by this form of chastisement, it is likely that they may have difficulty believing that the parents are there to protect them because of the claim "I would never hurt you" has been violated. This may impair their ability to follow their parents or do what they advise and to listen to them.

It is also attested by neurological studies on neuronal stengthening and pain in brain development that children have a much lower pain threshold than adults.

Spanking opponents who face opposition from the "Biblical" pro-spanking advocates can also use the "he who spares the rod hates his son" quote from Proverbs 13:24 to their advantage in a debate. The quote was attributed to Solomon, but his son Rehoboam grew up to be such a despised and hated ruler that his nation divided. However, this approach requires interpreting the rod as a physical device for beating, which a large number of Biblical scholars disagree with. Furthermore, it might be pointed out that the Old Testament from which the Proverbs quote comes contains numerous instructions that we do not follow today, such as that a child of unmarried parents may not enter a church (Deuteronomy 23:2), that a menstuating woman must sacrifice two turtles or pigeons to cleanse herself (Leviticus 15: 19-29), and, of particular relevance to child rearing, that parents of a stubborn child should kill the child (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

Some religious organizations outside Christianity, such as Hinduism and the Church of the Cosmic Order, oppose spanking as it is against their teachings. ^{[citation needed]}

Alternatives to spanking

Opponents of spanking state that there are numerous methods of non-violent child discipline which they think are at least as effective as spanking, and without the negative side-effects that they attribute to spanking.

Minimal use of spanking

Despite the intensity of the controversy over spanking, positions between the two extremes are also common. Many parents believe that spanking is not inherently abusive and can sometimes be an effective form of discipline, but also believe that it should usually be avoided. Some, for instance, use spanking only when a child does something dangerous and it is critical that an immediate, lasting impression must be made. Others point out that individual differences in temperament have a great effect on the way children respond to discipline, and criticize both extreme positions on spanking as taking a "one size fits all" approach. They argue that spanking may be the most effective form of discipline for some children, but that it should only be used on those particular children who respond well to spanking and do not respond to alternative methods of discipline.

Legal situation

School corporal punishment is banned in most western nations. All of Western Europe (including England), Canada and New Zealand have banned school corporal punishment. It has also been banned in most of Eastern Europe. In Australia, corporal punishment in schools is banned, partially or completely, in some states. In the United States, 22 states allow corporal punishment in schools. In each of these states, it is up to each school district to determine whether corporal punishment will be used, in what situations will it be applied, and the manner in which it is given – typically by a paddle. There are cases where school officials have lost their jobs for spanking students. There is some disagreement about how much paddling occurs in US schools. Some estimates place the number of paddlings at approximately 350,000 a year, while the National Association of School Psychologists places the number at 1.5 million cases a year. Evidence suggests that in the United States, racial and sexual discrimination play a large role in school corporal punishment, with black students being much more likely to be hit than white students, and male students being much more likely to be hit than female students, for the same infractions. Corporal punishment of male students also tends to be more severe and more aggressive . In some places, this sexual discrimination has the force of law. For instance, in Queensland, Australia, school corporal punishment of girls was banned in 1934 but corporal punishment of boys in private schools is still legal in 2007.

In the United Kingdom, the smacking of children by teachers was made illegal in state schools in 1986 and extended to all schools in 1996[11]. An amendment to the Children Act 2004 to ban smacking by parents was defeated by 424 votes to 75 in the House of Commons; however, an amendment to ban parents from smacking their children hard enough to leave a mark was accepted by 284 votes to 208, and came into force in January 2005 [12]. In January 2006, the UK’s four child commissioners called for a full ban on smacking, but this has been rejected by Tony Blair's government (Tony Blair has admitted spanking his own children). [13]

Spanking of children within families is illegal in some countries (for example, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary,Israel, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Israel, Latvia, Estonia, Greece, and New Zealand.

On May 16 2007, New Zealand passed the Child Discipline Bill which scrapped Section 59 of the Crimes Act 1961, which had previously allowed parents to use "reasonable force" in correcting their children. Child welfare groups expressed concern about the wide judicial discretion seemingly given even to cases of 'discipline' that involved physical implements. It had previously outlawed corporal punishment within its educational institutions in 1989. However, the new law orders police not to prosecute "inconsequential" offences.

Similar initiatives in the U.S. have repeatedly failed. Parental rights groups have formed since the 1990s to prevent spanking from being criminalized. Critics of these organisations ask why these organisations refer to corporal punishment as a parental 'right' without mentioning an equivalent need for parental responsibilities. Some critics also state that children's rights should come first, and parental rights should come second. Major groups in the United States seeking a ban on spanking are Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education [14] and EPOCH-USA [15] The Supreme Court of Canada has, as of 2004, upheld a law which allows spankings by parents, caregivers, and teachers, but has restricted the law to only apply to children ages two to twelve.[16]. However, Canada now bans spanking children younger than 24 months or older than 12 years, and bans the use of any implements (belts, paddles, etc.).

United Nations human rights standards prohibit all corporal punishment, including spanking.

Non-punitive and voluntary spankings

Spanking exists in spheres of life distinct from punishment. Note the issue of legal consent which may or may not represent a defence to criminal liability for any injuries caused during the spanking. Apart from the erotic and from fraternity/sorority type initiations, which have their origin in educational (domestic or boot camp) types of discipline, these include :

Folkloristic spanking traditions

Religious customs

On the first day of the Lunar Chinese New Year holidays, a week-long 'Spring Festival', the most important festival for Chinese people all over the world, thousands of Chinese visit the Taoist Dong Lung Gong temple in Tungkang to go through the century-old ritual to get rid of bad luck, men by receiving spankings and women by being whipped (as in the Ancient Roman -unisex- Lupercalia); the number of strokes to being administered (always lightly) by the temple staff is decided in either case by the god Wang Ye and by burning incense and tossing two pieces of wood, after which all go home happily, believing their luck will improve. [17]

Birthday spanking

There is a custom in certain circles , to allow a number of others (e.g., father at home, teammates in a club, classmates in certain training institutions) to administer a spanking to the bottom of the birthday boy or girl, as an annual rite of passage and probably a matter of bonding. Customarily, the person receives a number of spanks corresponding to their age, plus, "one to grow on"; that is to say, someone who was turning n would receive n+1 spanks. At a party, attendees might line up with their legs spread apart while the honoree crawls through their legs, known as a "spanking machine."

Crawling between the legs of a line of spankers is sometimes called paddy whacks. Traditionally, paddy whacks may be given as a playful punishment for tearing the wrapping paper of the last gift opened.^{[citation needed]}

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State of Dress/Undress for a Birthday Spanking----

These playful spankings which tend to occur in the United States are usually administered over the child's clothes. There may be some instances where parents give birthday spankings of their younger children over their underwear or on their bare buttocks. The reasons for this is most likely to give the occasion a ceremonial feel plus maybe extenuate the 'bonding' feel between parent and child. The removal of any child's garment of clothing for this ritual would almost certainly be limited to a close private family situation and where the child is comfortable in his/her state of undress or exposed bottom. It is practically certain that public birthday spankings would be administered in what the spankeee is wearing. n/c

Adult Spanking

Adult spanking is a highly contentious form of discipline spanking that is frequently mis-catagorized and misunderstood. The controversy stems from a multitude of sources. First, there are those that prefer to consider spanking in this form as something that can only occur between a parent and a child. This opinion is backed up by the APA who includes parent - child relationship as part of the definition . Second, there are precious little recognized legitimate scientific studies that have been conducted on the subject. The leading source of funding for such research is an organization that earns its revenue through the promotion of entertainment spanking services leading skeptics to question the legitimacy of the work [18]. Third, the lack of credible licensed practitioners often leads to individual claims of group membership through self-diagnosis, affirmation from others who have made similar claims and a variety of alternative therapists. A study by McNulty and Wardle suggests that attempts to seek help through typical support channels may lead individuals to seek comfort through unconventional means .

Adult spanking differs from traditional parent-child spanking in that the act is between two consenting adults. Adults engage in the activity for several different reasons. The most common is simply playful spanking amongst people engaging in other intimate activities. People who require spanking to be a part of their sexual play are considered spanking fetishists. There are two groups of people whose use of spanking is discipline related. The first group incorporates spanking as part of their overall belief system in how a husband and wife should interrelate (see domestic discipline).

The second group considers spanking to be an essential component of their recovery and/or development.These individuals subscribe to the notion that they require some form of retraining or reparenting to be able to function as adults . They claim that the act of spanking is a necessary mechanism for modifying the behavior of the adapted child ego state of the adult being spanked . The idea is extracted from Alexander’s claim that a corrective emotional experience was required to allow patients to repair traumatic influence of previous experiences . They claim is not without merit as preliminary studies into this class of adult spanking indicate that participants have suffered from some form of childhood abuse. However, there is evidence to suggest that these individuals are in fact “stuck” in the earlier stages of recovery and lack the appropriate support to move on .

Recreational context

Playful enactment

Child's play often imitates real life, especially featuring part of daily life, even the most unpleasant.

Thus it has been recorded by a captain in the Royal Navy that boys on board often enacted the beatings they were subjected to in reality, both the 'day to day' caning and the truly painful and humiliating public administration of a flogging with the boy's pussy (lighter version of the cat o' nine tails) taking turns in the actual position on deck, sometimes including the lowering of the trousers (but using a cane for lack of a cat) [19].

Spanking booth

This fun fair-type attraction is a disciplinarian variation of the kissing booth, where the volunteer(s) (sometimes rather assigned, e.g. pledges as part of hazing) must earn the donations (either for charity or the funds of the organizing society) by enduring swats, for example with a paddle, usually bending over and/or in ridiculous and/or exposing costume. The rules may or may not prevent an actual painful 'punishment' of the bottom.

• In large groups this may well take the form of a spanking tunnel, which is a double row of spankers (a characteristic of running the gauntlet) the spankee has to run through, or crawl on hands and knees, thus presenting the butt (sometimes bared) exposed to hand slaps or even to implements such as paddles (hence sometimes also called a paddle machine).
• This is also sometimes done in a variant manner with a single line of spankers whose legs remain spread wide while the spankee has to crawl on hands and knees through the tunnel so formed.

In either case it is usually kept mild, more horseplay than punishment.

Depictions in popular culture

Spanking has been depicted in countless books, movies and television programs. Some of the more memorable depictions of spanking are:

• McLintock! In this 1963 Western retelling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, John Wayne settles an uneasy relationship with his estranged wife Maureen O'Hara by taking her over his knee and spanking her.
• Kiss Me, Kate Another adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew, this time as a backstage musical. Broadway diva Lilli Vanessi is spanked by co-star Fred Graham in full view of the audience.
• The Bad Seed (1956) After a housewife's adolescent daughter proves to be a heartless killer, she gets punished during the film's final credits by being pulled over Mom's knee for a spanking.
• I Love Lucy The ditzy redhead was punished with a spanking at least four times by her husband Ricky during the run of the popular 1950s sitcom.
• Blue Hawaii When Jenny Maxwell complains that no one has ever cared about her enough to even give her a spanking, Elvis Presley obliges her by taking her over his knee in this 1961 musical.
• Kill Bill Vol. 1 After brutally killing dozens of her adversaries with a sword, Uma Thurman encounters a lone survivor who is young and clearly terrified of her. She approaches him as if to slay him like the others, but instead bends him forward and spanks him with the side of her sword.
• Animal House To be initiated into the Omegas fraternity Chip (Kevin Bacon) and other new member, are spanked numerous times, and after each is forced to say "Thank you sir, may I have another?!."

Birching

Birching is a corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders.

The implement

A birch rod (often shortened to "birch") is a bundle of leafless twigs bound together to form an implement for flagellation.

Contrary to what the name suggests, a birch rod is not a single rod and is not necessarily made from a birch tree, but can also be made from various other strong but flexible trees or shrubs, such as willow (hence the term willowing). A hazel rod is very tough, and therefore particularly painful; a bundle of four or five hazel twigs was used from 1960 until 1976 on the Isle of Man, the last place in Europe to use birching as a judicial penalty.

Another parameter for the severity of a birch rod is its size - i.e. its length, weight and number of branches. In some penal institutions, several versions were in use, which were often given names. For example, in Dartmoor Prison the device used to punish male offenders above the age of 16 - weighing some 16 ounces and a full 48 inches long - was known as the senior birch.

There have been differing opinions as to the utility of soaking the birch in liquid before use, but as it takes in water the weight is certainly increased without compensatory air resistance, so the impact must be greater if the operator can use sufficient force.

In the 1860s, the Royal Navy abandoned the use of the cat o' nine tails on boy seamen. The cat had acquired a nasty reputation because of its frequent use in prisons, and was replaced by the birch, with which the wealthy classes were more familiar, having been chastised with it at their private schools. The judicial system followed the Navy's example and switched to birches also. In an attempt to standardise the Navy's birches the Admiralty had specimens according to all prevailing prescriptions, called patterned birch (as well as a patterned cane), kept in every major dockyard, for birches had to be procured on land in quantities, suggesting some were worn out on the sore bottoms of miscreant boys.

The term judicial birch refers to the severe type in use for court-ordered birchings, especially the Manx hazel birch. A 1951 memorandum (possibly confirming earlier practice) ordered all UK male prisons to use only birches (and cats o' nine tails) from a national stock at south London's Wandsworth prison, where they were to be 'thoroughly' tested before being supplied in triplicate to a prison whenever a procedure was pending for use as prison discipline.

By contrast, terms like Eton birch (after the most prestigious private school in England) are used for a birch made from birch tree twigs.

Position

File:Koerperstrafe- MA Birkenrute.png

Medieval schoolboy birched on the bare buttocks

The recipient, if small enough, can go over the spanker's lap or knee but would often be bent over an object (as in the expression 'over a barrel') to raise the buttocks, and even tied down if likely otherwise to move about too much.

In some prisons a wooden apparatus known as birching donkey or birching pony, referring to the silhouette of an equine, was specially constructed for birchings. As there were no detailed rules, prisons and police stations over the empire devised, adapted and used myriad contraptions under even more numerous names that juvenile and adult offenders were bent over to have their bare buttocks professionally lashed; some models also allowed a standing or leaning position for other implements.

A simple alternative position known from school discipline is horsing (again an equine etymology), where the person to be punished is hung by the arms from the neck and over the back of another person (e.g. a classmate), or on the shoulders of two or more colleagues.

A particularly ingenious device was a flogging table with two holes in it through which the offender's arms were inserted but otherwise left free and untied. When the offender's feet were tied into position and a strap fastened immediately above the waist, the offender would be immobilized but, having free (but useless) movement of hands and arms, would thrash about in the upper body in futile attempts at escape. This imparted a particular sense of helplessness to the offender as correction was applied.

History

It was the most common school, home and judicial punishment in Europe up to the 19th century when caning gained increasing popularity. According to some accounts even the legendary sting of the cat o' nine tails was less feared than the birch in certain prisons. The birch was always applied to the bare buttocks (as also on the continent), a humiliation usually befalling boys (like the boy's cat, likewise on the naked posterior), the 'adult' cat to the back or shoulders of adults — although in the 20th century judges increasingly ordered the birch rather than the cat, even for robbery with violence (the only offence for which adult judicial corporal punishment was ordered in the latter decades of its use in mainland Britain).

Judicial birching in the 20th century was used much more as a fairly minor punishment for young boys, typically for petty larceny, than as a serious penalty for adult men. In this juvenile version, the birch was much lighter and smaller, and the birch was administered by the police, usually immediately after the magistrate's court hearing, either in a room in the court building or at the nearest police station.

In the United States, the paddle and whip-type implements including the prison strap have been more prominent.

Today birching is rarely used for judicial punishment, and has also almost completely died out as a corporal punishment for children. In Britain birching as a judicial penalty, in both its juvenile and adult versions, was abolished in 1948, although it was retained until 1962 as a punishment for very violent breaches of prison discipline. The Isle of Man (a small island between Britain and Ireland with its own legal system as a British Crown dependency) caused a good deal of controversy by continuing to birch young offenders until 1976. The birch was also used on offending teenage boys until well into the 1960s on the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey. In the Caribbean Commonwealth republic Trinidad and Tobago the 1953 Corporal Punishment Act (http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_123_ing.pdf Interamerican Court of Human Rights March 11, 2005 judgment in Caesar v. Trinidad & Tobago - §49) allows the High Court to order males, in addition to another punishment (often concurrent with a prison term), to undergo corporal punishment in the form of either a 'flogging' with a knotted cat o' nine tails (made of cords, as in the Royal Navy tradition) or a 'whipping' with a 'rod' [i.e. switch] of tamarind, birch or other switches and allows the President to approve other instruments; in 2000, the original minimum age was raised from 16 to 18, the legal threshold of adulthood (e.g. cases in 1999 on CorPun); corporal punishment in schools was completely banned, but there is reportedly wide support for a controlled reintroduction as recommended in 2004 by a government-initiated study.

Non-punitive uses

• It remains as a nostalgic sadomasochistic practice, mainly in Northern and Eastern Europe.
• In Finland, Scandinavia, Estonia and Russia there is also a tradition to strike one's body with soaked birch twigs in the sauna to increase blood circulation, opening the pores and as a form of massage. As these birch rods do not have their leaves removed, and are often softened by keeping them in water prior to use, there is no pain involved.

Caning

Rattan cane

Caning is a physical punishment (see that article for generalities and alternatives) consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a wooden cane, generally applied to the bare or clad buttocks (see spanking), shoulders, hand(s) (palm, rarely knuckles) or even the soles of the feet (see falaka). The size and flexibility of the cane itself and the number and mode of application of the strokes (usually more numerous and faster when wielding a light, flexible cane) vary significantly.

Scope of use

Caning was a common punishment in many parts of Middle East & Africa, Asia and Europe and several European colonies in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but has now been banned in most developed countries. It is often considered a cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment within the meaning of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, but remains legal in numerous nations.

In some countries, caning is or was used as a judicial punishment for juveniles and in some cases for adults, but it is perhaps best known as a method of educational discipline in schools or at home. The western use of the cane dates principally to the late nineteenth century, when educationalists sought to replace birching — effective only if applied to the bare flesh — with a form of punishment more suited to contemporary sensibilities. The cane, if applied expertly, transmits much pain even through layers of clothing.

Judicial use

Judicial caning, carried out with a long, heavy rattan and generally much more severe than the canings given in schools, was a feature of some British colonial judicial systems, and in some cases is still in use in the post-independence era, particularly in south-east Asia (where it is now being used far more than it was under British rule) and in some African countries. The practice is retained in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (but not Thailand); in Indonesia it was introduced only recently in the special case of Aceh, on Sumatra, which since its 2005 autonomy has introduced a form of shariah, applying the cane to the clothed upper back with Muslim modesty. African countries still using judicial caning include Botswana, Tanzania, Nigeria, and (for juvenile offenders only) Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Other countries that used it until the late 20th century included Kenya and South Africa; while some Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago use birching, another traditional punishment in the Commonwealth tradition, but using a bundle of branches, not a single cane.

In Singapore, healthy males under 50 years of age can be sentenced to a maximum of 24 strokes of the rotan (rattan) cane on the bare buttocks; the punishment is mandatory for over 30 offenses, mostly violent or sexual crimes, but also some immigration violations, drug violations and acts of vandalism. It is also imposed for certain breaches of prison rules. The punishment is also applied to foreigners, despite controversy in the West.

Two examples which received intense media scrutiny are the canings in Singapore in 1994 of Michael P. Fay, an American student who had vandalised several automobiles, and in the UAE in 1996 of Sarah Balabagan, a Filipina maid convicted of homicide.

Educational use in home and school context

The frequency and severity of canings in educational settings have varied greatly, often being determined by the written rules or unwritten traditions of the school. The western educational use of the cane dates principally to the late nineteenth century, in order to replace birching - which is only effective if applied to the bare flesh - with a form of punishment more suitable to contemporary sensibilities. For example, in some schools corporal punishment was administered solely by the head teacher, but in many English and Commonwealth private schools authority to punish was also given to certain senior students (often called prefects). A typical punishment in an English elementary school in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century consisted of one or two strokes on the hand. In many secondary schools in England and Wales it was in use, mainly for boys and only infrequent for girls, until the early 1980s, while elsewhere other implements prevailed, such as the Scottish tawse. In this setting it was more often administered to the clothed buttocks, typically with the student bent over a desk or chair, and usually with a maximum of six "strokes" (known as "six of the best"). Such a caning sometimes left a student with weals and bruises making it painful to sit down for days after the caning. This kind of school punishment for boys is still quite standard in a number of formerly British territories including Singapore, Malaysia and Zimbabwe. It had also been very common in New Zealand (abolished 1990) and South Africa (abolished 1995).

In Malaysia, although the Education Ordinance 1957 specifically outlaws the caning of girls in school, the caning of girls, usually on the palm is still rather common, especially in primary schools but also occasionally in secondary schools.

The cane was also used more or less frequently on boy inmates at the British reformatories that were known from 1933 to 1980 as Approved Schools.

Voluntary use

Caning is also a more severe but not uncommon sadomasochistic practice. In nineteenth century France the practice was dubbed "The English Vice," as it was believed that the English, in particular, derived sexual pleasure from corporal punishment, probably because of its widespread use in British schools. This term is still in occasional use.

Cane types and terminology

Canes can be manufactured for disciplinary purpose in different sizes and weights, determining the potential severity of the punishment. The main types are often known by the age groups of intended victims, especially in the domestic context:

'Light' canes (about 8 mm in diameter and 60 cm long, according to some sources) are called junior canes, normally considered sufficient to punish young school children (except sometimes for the gravest offenses), and hence also known as school cane. However, in America, where the paddle took the place of the cane for discipline, the name junior cane was rather given to a ceremonial walking stick students parade with.

These terms are commonly used with reference to canes and caning:

• The term nursery cane is sometimes used for even lighter canes, as it would be used for children under school age
• The senior cane is a heavier type (about 10 mm thick, 75-80 cm long) than the junior cane and is frequently used for older children (or except for the lightest offenses); maybe synonymous is the adult cane.
• The reformatory cane was reserved for the worst, '(otherwise) incorrigible' juveniles. About 12 mm thick and 36-48 inch long, this cane was often reserved for older inmates and was used in severe cases; a similar term is Borstal cane (after the Borstal, a Commonwealth type of reformatory).
• The Singapore cane, used in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei for the judicial and prison punishment of adult criminals, is 13-15 mm in diameter and 1.2 m long, and can cause deep wounds and permanent scars.

The different varieties of rattan used are sometimes preferred because of their intrinsic severity. Of these, the common kooboo is considered lighter (if the same size) than the denser Dragon Canes; other common types bear geographical names such as Malacca (a peninsular Malaysian state) and Palembang (a city on Sumatra, Indonesia).

For misbehaving children in Asia, most parents rather use available objects such as a wooden ruler or the handle end of a feather duster, which is usually made of narrow bamboo-like material, metal rods and coat hangers, which can often cause severe bruising to the buttocks.

In some spheres the cane, which is typically used by a certain disciplinarian, is commonly called after him. Thus in the Royal Navy the bosun's cane was frequently used on the backsides of boys without ceremony (as opposed to publicly kissing the gunner's daughter, a formal bare bottom flogging on deck ordered by the captain or a court martial, usually involving birch or cat o' nine tails) on the spot or in the gun room, for daily offenses (at least one mid 19th-century captain had every single junior boy given six cane strokes every morning on various pretexts! ^{[citation needed]}) considered too insignificant to require written formalities or orders from an officer (who certainly could and routinely also did order the cane, actually wielding it was considered unsuitable for a gentleman), but more severe than the bimmy. The cane in the hands of a corporal (especially of the Marines on board many fighting ships, often ordered to carry out formal punishment of crew members as well) was called stonnacky. In an attempt to standardize the canes (but the effective wielding is impossible to capture in written rules) the Admiralty had specimens according to all prevailing prescriptions, called patterned cane (and birch), kept in every major dockyard.

In ancient China, suspects or criminals were often caned, as punishment or interrogation, with large sticks or planks the size of an oar suited for today's small sailing boats. The victim usually bleeds from the wound at the buttocks, can get infections if not treated instantly and generally must spend days in bed.

• Other, even lighter types of cane (e.g. as used for plant care) can also be used for physical discipline, especially in fetishist and BDSM circles; in fact the term caning is also used, sometimes even in stead of an existing specific term, for corporal punishment with an else-named but similar device, such as a pointing stick or ruler, especially if made of wood.
• While the rattan never caught on in North America, the rather equivalent hickory stick (made from the native hickory tree) has also been a frequent, feared implement for school discipline, but like the freshly cut, flexible switch and other alternatives it gave way in the US almost exclusively (that is where corporal punishment persists or reemerges) to paddling with a flat wooden implement, while in Canada the strap was most used for severe physical discipline except in some private schools where even coils of electrical wiring or the broken handles of ice hockey sticks were sometimes used to beat students.

Effects

Caning with a heavy judicial rattan of the Singapore/Malaysia kind can leave scars for years, especially where a large number of strokes are inflicted. However, this should not be confused with an ordinary caning with a typical light rattan (as formerly in English schools), which would cause only transient weals.

Paddle

For other uses, see paddle (disambiguation)

A spanking paddle is a usually wooden instrument with a long, flat face and narrow neck, so called because it is roughly shaped like the homonymous piece of sports equipment, but existing in more varied sizes and dimensions, (length, width and thickness) used to administer a spanking to the buttocks; it would be too hard and heavy to use safely on the back.

Types and terms

• A spanking paddle can sometimes be called shingle, apparently after its form, or be given names (rather like weapons in military and police units), especially when used in an organisation, that allude to its hot effect on the paddled posterior, such as ass-burner, butt-buster. Educators and children in households where a paddle is used for discipline sometimes award the paddle such nicknames also, such as "Lola's bane," "The 'Board' of Education," and "Mother's Little Helper." (Confusingly, sometimes non-wooden flat devices, such as leather straps, are wrongly called paddles, even in official institutions.)
• For a paddling various terms exist, some referring to wood, the usual material, such as giving wood, the woodshed treatment [from the rural tradition that such punishments were administered in such an annex], or more general terms for spanking (see in that article), for corporal punishment or for discipline such as punishment, a lesson, (rightly) deserved, (hide-)tanning, medicine, therapy, etc., and even incorrect terms that strictly speaking refer to a different method of physical punishment, such as a whipping; it is also possible to specify the anatomical target (thus indirectly affirming it is a form of spanking), e.g. arse whupping.
• The term fraternity paddle (its more recent counterpart is sorority paddle) was introduced for the instrument for hazing or punishment, which was often kept by an alumnus (e.g. to discipline his or her children) or deliberately analogous (e.g. in BDSM role play), especially if it carries Greek-organization markings. It is still commonly offered by pledges ("little Brothers" or -sisters) to their "big Brothers" or "big Sisters" as a gift. It is a symbol of their induction to the sorority or fraternity.
• Paddles are often made from (expensive but durable) hardwood, such as maple, oak, mahogany or walnut, and finished with varnish or teak oil; plastic causes less pain due to lower density, though some modern paddles are made of Lexan (fiberglass being too likely to break—allegedly that occasionally happens even to hardwood; of course the measurements are also relevant).
• Nevertheless some paddles are sometimes not factory-made but home-made or home-modified objects, e.g. a baseball bat with the action end flatted to half or less, as used on cadets in Columbia Military Academy; especially in domestic discipline (and in BDSM) various pervertibles are used, including the kitchen utensil cutting board (wooden and paddle-shaped)
• As a paddle is flat and inflexible, unlike a cane or whip, it is too blunt to cause stripes—only bruises can result from excessive force—, and because of its size it is unfit for a particularly painful 'bulls-eye' in the butt-crack (affording the spankee at least a modicum of protection).
• Generally the physical impact is therefore not greatly increased, only the humiliation, if administered bare-arse, except in the case of the holed paddle, which has holes drilled in it in order to make the surface unsmooth and reduce air resistance (since the 1930s US teacher Harold Spencer discovered this way to reduce the un-aerodynamic cushioning effect of air, the original, oblong model was known as Spencer paddle), which causes the victim to blister much faster (these holes may be beveled to reduce the chances of blistering).
• Furthermore a long model (including the handle) increases the leverage and hence the force applied on the punished skin. While a big blade looks frightening, it spreads the force over a larger surface, and so with equal weight it would hit less intensely. A narrow shape can be more cane-like, to concentrate all the force of one or several consecutive blows on a single buttock or parts of it, rather than across the entire behind, to cause more intense pain and worse bruising.
• On the other hand, if the damage allowed is limited, inflicting strokes less intensely allows prolonging the duration of the ordeal of the paddling, as to work over different parts of the butt; prolongation is also possible by pausing, which has the added effect of causing the victim to suffer further mentally (and ponder the offense being punished) while having to wait for the next painful installment.
• However the term paddle is sometimes used for devices of similar dimensions in other materials, often more flexible (even leather), which are therefore generally better called strap etcetera.
• As there is quite a market for paddles in regions where paddlings are still (or again) administered in hazing or education and in family households, as well as in erotic spanking, there are companies which cater for one or more of these markets, often in combination with other items (disciplinarian or not), for fraternity/sorority, home, and erotic use, but most of the terms and names these use are rather arbitrary. There are also various roadside and resort novelty shops that sell paddles (small and large); these are often decorated with humorous motifs and instructions such as "Board of Education," "Heat for the Seat," "How to Paddle Your Wife," and "Frontier Tail-blazer."
• Very similar, though usually not named paddle, can be the wooden 'sword' (often bamboo and usually flattened; otherwise it is rather a cane) used for corporal discipline, mainly on the buttocks, but also on the hands, in the Far East, such as the Japanese shinai (used to train fencing in martial arts), which is common practice in popular, expensive private 'after hours' schools (see [20]).
• Often a child is paddled while others, e.g. the siblings (who are thus deterred), are present so the child is further humiliated.

Scope of use

It is commonly used in the (mainly Southern and rural) United States as a method of spanking (see that article; i.e. physical punishment on the buttocks), called paddling after it (the corresponding verb is to paddle), especially on children by school educators. (see also cobbing) It is not infrequently found and used in homes to punish children.

Judicial punishment

Fiction often gives the impression that official corporal punishments (court sentences and additional prison discipline) were generally applied to the back and/or clothed, but in fact in many legal and cultural traditions the bare buttocks were and are more often beaten, even publicly, with a variety of instruments, whip- and multi thong-types as well as wooden implements, including the notorious cane, birch, but also flatter, solid ones that fit the description of a paddle (regardless what name is used, e.g. 'sword'), as shown on this CorPun photo from China circa 1900.^[21]

Social discipline

• Some school traditions enforce(d) rules by paddling offenders. In the University of Missouri until World War II,^[22], any freshman found on the 'quad', the most prestigious square on campus, had to offer his 'insolent' posterior for punishment along a paddle line formed by swatting seniors.
• Paddling is also a traditional -in many cases abandoned- method of hazing (see that article; nowadays mostly physically 'painless'), indeed the most common painful method, especially in Greek fraternities and sororities, both as a rite of passage and as internal punishment (rather rare; occasionally even for seniors breaking major rules), but in some even additionally in so-called paddle games, the rules of which are designed to determine when which pledge(s) must suffer a paddling or sometimes how many strokes of the paddle, usually received from the upperclassmen or one assigned pledge-master; sometimes, however, they were ordered to administer the paddle to each-other (winner to loser, trading licks or even in a chain-formation). Paddles can be carried ostentatiously as a symbol of disciplining authority even when no actual use is intended, small models even worn from the belt, or in sompe traditions the pledge is made to wear it as a reminder of submission to its use. Currently they are more commonly inscribed or branded with personal and/or fraternity/sorority symbols (often Greek initials) and or text, etc., and offered as gifts by pledges being admitted into membership to the official mentoring "big brother"/"big sister" in the fraternity or sorority as a symbolic relic. The ornamental use of paddles as personal trophies that may be displayed (e.g. in a fraternity/sorority house) or handed down as a memento or family heritage has given the paddle longevity. The ornate and expensive nature of such paddles reflects their use in real or faux discipline being far less likely in the modern Greek system, notably where legal or academic rules curbe hazing methods as abuse.

Other play and traditions

Of course the paddle is also a favorite implement for non-disciplinary spankings, as is often the case with paddle games (such as trading blows) or a paddle machine or spanking pyramid.

Paddling as academic Punishment in U. S. Schools

The paddle is the most popular implement in US schools that still allow spanking. Typically, with two or more administrators present, the student is told to bend over and receives the prescribed amount of hits (called licks, swats, pops or whacks) of the paddle, normally in an office, not publicly. In a single-gender school, the student may even be told to drop outer clothing and possibly underwear too, heightening the humiliation factor of having to receive the paddling dressed down or even bare bottom (nearly exclusively in private run schools, however). Most urban public school systems in the United States have banned spanking and all other forms of corporal punishments. However, there is a growing trend to restore paddling in some areas in recent years ^{[citation needed]}. Some private schools still use corporal punishment. As of 2007, 23 states allow corporal punishment in schools and approximately 350,000 cases of physical punishment are reported in schools each year. Evidence suggests that in the United States, racial and sexual discrimination play a significant role in school corporal punishment, with black students being much more likely to be hit than white students, and male students being much more likely to be hit than female students, for the same infractions.

External links

• Nordics first to ban corporal punishment on children
• Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance spanking page
• Mississippi Teacher Corps Focus Paper on Corporal Punishment
• List of worldwide ban on Corporal Punishment
• references on CorPun website (on all corporal punishments) - search also for birch
• illustration of widely different sizes of birch at Eton and Christ's Hospital schools, on the "Corporal Punishment Archive" website
• Further details of Knoppler Paddle and more
• CORporalPUNishment website index of topics, see Paddling
• Agony&Ecstasy

• CorporalPunishmentResearch, a vast repository of material concerning corporal punishments
• Ralph Oliver Graef, 'Caning - Die Prügelstrafe in Singapur' Juristenzeitung 1996, 1171'[23]
• Ian Gibson, The English Vice: Beating, Sex and Shame in Victorian England and After, London, 1978. ISBN 0-7156-1264-6
• Janet Hardy, The Toybag Guide to Canes and Caning, Greenery Press, 2004. ISBN 1-890159-56-5.

Template:BDSM

• World Corporal Punishment Research (corpun.com) — objective website with large, constantly improved documentation, especially on discipline of boys
• Spanking facts and Research: Info and discussion about females who were spanked growing up
• Etymology Online
• Ecstagony- Dictionary of spanking implements, generally with punitive use
• Funk & Wagnalls Standard dictionary
• IMDb keyword spanking (in motion pictures)
• Is Corporal Punishment An Effective Means Of Discipline? (American Psychological Association)
• Corporal Punishment Articles (APA Psychological Bulletin Journal)
• A wiki devoted to Spanking Art, including a good deal of non-erotic spanking material.
• Christian anti-spanking critique, with reference to the theologian Paul Tillich

Anti-spanking

• End All Corporal Punishment of Children
• Project NoSpank
• The Center for Effective Discipline (StopHitting.com)
• Growing up Paddled, Belted, Switched or Swatted - Spanking is Never OK! Article written by Vicki Polin, MA, LCPC, Michael J. Salamon, PhD, FICP; and Na'ama Yehuda, MSC, SLP, TSHH
• Canadian government advice against spanking
• Why It Hurts To Spank A Child
• Chris's Anti-spanking Web Page An advocacy site containing the writings of the creator of the alt.parenting.spanking newsgroup on Usenet
• Nopaddle.com A site examining the practice of paddling in the American south
• Children are Unbeatable Organisation aimed at banning smacking in the United Kingdom

Children's views

• Results of a 1998 survey in England and Wales
• Comments on CBBC Newsround website
• Smacking: Right or wrong? CBBC Newsround

Pro-spanking

• Family Integrity
• A pro-spanking activism group
• Spanking (Focus on The Family)

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