Noun

Singular corporal punishment

Plural corporal punishments

corporal punishment (plural corporal punishments)

1. A form of punishment achieved by inflicting blows to the victim's body.

Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to discipline or reform a wrongdoer or change a person's behavior. The term usually refers to striking the offender with an implement, whether in judicial, domestic, or educational settings.

Corporal punishment may be divided into three main types:

• parental or domestic corporal punishment, i.e. the spanking of children or teenagers within the family;
• school corporal punishment, i.e. of school students by teachers or other school officials;
• judicial corporal punishment, involving the official caning or whipping of convicted offenders (whether adult or juvenile) by order of a court of law.

The corporal punishment of minors within the home is lawful in all 50 of the United States and still widely approved by parents, but as of 2009 it has been officially outlawed in 24 countries around the world.

Corporal punishment in school is still legal in some parts of the world, including about half the States of the U.S., but has been outlawed in others, including Canada, Japan and the whole of Europe.

Judicial corporal punishment has virtually disappeared from the western world but remains in force in many parts of Africa and Asia.

See also:

• Home: Family: Parenting: Discipline (16)
• Society: Issues: Education (486)
• Society: Issues: Violence and Abuse: Youth (53)

• Corporal Punishment Resources
  vachss.com
  Directory of articles, agencies, organizations and websites to find help for and information about corporal punishment and physical punishment of children issues.
• Children are Unbeatable!
  childrenareunbeatable.org.uk
  United Kingdom-wide alliance of organizations and individuals seeking legal reform to give children the same legal protection against being hit as adults. News, opinion, children's views, membership list, and advice on positive, non-violent discipline methods.
• Tennesseans for Nonviolent School Discipline
  geocities.com
  Member organization seeking to have corporal punishment removed from public schools. Articles about the adverse effects of paddling, and a list of state school systems that do not allow corporal punishment.