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Spanking (or smacking) is the most used traditional form of physical punishment, consisting of a beating applied on the buttocks.
Linguistics
Technically spanking is a form of the verb to spank, known in English since 1727, possibly imitative of the sound of spanking. The noun (meaning a single slap) is recorded since 1785. Sometimes the word is used, by extension, for punishments applied to other parts of the body, usually the arms and legs. On the other hand, spankings are often described, again technically incorrect, by less specific terms such as whipping, etc.
"Spank" can also be defined as "a die operation to form a male end taper in order to reduce diameter of steel tube or to bring the tube 'back into round' after fabrication" This may help explain the phrases "spank bank" and [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spank_the_monkey "spank the monkey".
The homonyous adjective spanking, known in English since 1666, meaning "very big or fine," or later (especially said of horses) "moving at a lively pace" (1738), stems perhaps independently from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish spanke "to strut").
It is remarkable that English and several other langauges have a specific, common verb for spanking, not for punishments applied to other parts of the anatomy. Thus in Latin the only word derived from culus 'arse' was culare meaning 'to spank' or 'to chase'; in French, the verb is fesser, from fesses 'buttocks'. Other specific related terms are discussed in the next section. They all testify to the historical or persisting prominence of this punitive target in many cultures.
What and how
Definitions
Spanking, by today's definition, consists of striking the buttocks repeatedly, usually as a corporal punishment, with either an open hand or various implements including a cane, a belt or strap, various types of whips (see flagellation) such as martinet and tawse (traditional in France resp. Scotland), switch or other form of rod, paddle (the U.S. favorite), some curious devices as produced for U.S. masonic lodge initiations (such as the electric so-called spanker, and trickster 'paddling machines'), or still various (e.g. 'household') objects designed for other purposes (grabbing for an improvised implement can occur in any punitive context except the most formal punishments when it is strictly prescribed), such as a slipper (common in Commonwealth domestic discipline, also said when other footwear is used), a wooden spoon, a bath brush, wooden ruler or the hairbrush.- In the U.S. and Canada, all posterior discipline 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 hand discipline (as opposed to implement-specific forms such as caning, birching and slippering), though the American generalisation became acceptable recently, and to erotic spanking. However when the buttocks suffer an onslaught from footwear on the foot (not wielded by hand) the term booting is commonly used instead of spanking.
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" (hence the word pun "pop culture"). There are still other terms for hits (e.g. blow, stroke, cut refer to the effect), sometimes rather describing the physical effect, such as cut, stripe - 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 bare-bottom 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 se 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 convieniently available objects made for another purpose, such as a belt, pointer, ruler, yardstick or various household objects, etc., for which the generic term pervertible was devised in the context of BDSM (which often enacts or includes real punishments); 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; in some cases it serves as requested conversion of other punishment, e.g. allowing the teenager to attend an important event even while grounding is in effect, at the price of a number of spanks in proportion to the cancelled grounding time. 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 (though girls are less often spanked in many cultural traditions where boys are, or clad rather then on the bare buttocks)
- 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);
- slaves in the broad socio-economic sense, not just on plantations and in households; even in various postcolonial countries, underage and/or illegal workers, even structural debtors, are still (often illegally) punished, even beaten, at the boss's displeasure in sweatshops, prostitution (the client may even be allowed to spank just for his pleasure) etc.;
- as divinity is often seen as the wise, ultimate 'paternal' authority, its will is often law for the faithful, and may be enforced - to save the mortal from its wroth, even eternal damnation- by penitence, a word meaning punishment, which can take many forms, also corporal; while self-inflicted flagellantism rarely aims as low as the buttocks but rather at the back for practical reasons (and modesty if performed in public), the sinner who is painfully 'helped' by another believer (often clergy) can well be made acutely contrite in the rear;
- in the minds of colonial authorities, most adult autochthonous freemen were long considered culturally 'immature' and in need of paternalistic education (and sometimes forced religious conversion), justifying harsher and more humiliating discipline (even when no longer acceptable in the mother country)*, and often it was in line with traditional justice, which often left in place under indirect rule, and ironically only replaced by western style justice after decolonization, as a symbol of the nation’s independence, or the end of Apartheid.
- However the practice has been adopted elsewhere. It is 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).
- Finally informal spankings as in the domestic context can occur in an institutional environment, but parallel to the more formal punishments, when administered by the victim's peers (e.g. the other crew, room mates...).
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 very 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 president general Ziah- 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 abuse are somewhat hollow in sofar 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 [http://www.corpun.com/krjur1.htm
- Judicial corporal punishment is making a comeback in a surprising number of post-colonial, non-Islamic countries, including the cat o' nine tails in various Antillean Commonwealth nations.
- Furthermore there is a wave of reviviving 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.
- In at least one instance, an empress took it upon herself to dole out a spanking to an unruly subject:
- Finally, there are cases of 'summary justice' which don't 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 * 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
Many American schools, private and public, allow spanking as a means of disciplining students. Such schools often allow both elementary students (ages 6 through 13) and high school students (ages 14 through 18) to be so disciplined. However, schools or school districts usually specify the circumstances under which spankings may be administered and which personnel may administer them.World Corporal Punishment Research *has compiled "Regulations of individual schools or school districts" throughout the nation, 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.
- Circumstances
Spankings are usually used as a last resort, after previous, alternative methods of discipline have been unsuccessful. However, 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 ususally delivered with a paddle, with a predetermined number (often three) to the child's buttocks. Spankings are given in private so as to protect the student's privacy.
- Authorized personnel
Usually, the principal delivers the spanking. However, in some cases, a teacher is also permitted to spank a student. Parents are also frequently permitted to spank their children at school. When school officials spank a child, a witness must be present.
Position
In its most common usage as a means of domestic corporal disciplining, spanking usually refers to a child lying stomach down across the educator's lap — misleadingly referred to as taking a child 'over the knee' (OTK), though literally that is also possible — and the parent or teacher bringing their open hand down hard on 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.It is generally believed that this is the safest manner in which to spank since striking a standing child could cause back injury. Spanking advocates argue that the buttocks are the safest place to administer corporal punishment since it produces a sharp stinging pain but injury is unlikely; indeed even the terrible judicial cane in, say, Singapore is applied right there, with protective padding just in case the back, especially the kidneys, get accidentally hit.
However there are alternative positions, mainly used for adults (rather too big and/or heavy to put over lap or knee, so the spanker may find it more difficult to hit with full force; also the physical contact with the spankee, who if male often gets (semi-) erect as an involuntary bodily reflex, may be considered unpleasent and/or indecent) but also for more grave and/or formal discipline, even of minors, using an implement.
One option is to have the spankee standing, usually against a wall, tree, or pole. While this means the buttocks are not raised or tensed, which reduces the impact of the hits, and thus the intended pain, severe blows may hurt the spine as it is not free of the body weight as in resting positions; leaning can largely remediate this, especially if the support has a slight inclination.
If the spankee is made to bend over from his standing position, the painful and humiliating exposure is improved, but the spine risk remains. Especially when bending so deep as to (be be able to) grab the ankles or touch the toes, maximizing exposure even beyond the OTK level, forceful blows may well make the spankee lose balance and fall, again an uncontroled injury risk.
A spankee lying down, on the contrary, is safest from injury, and the least exposed. As a patient well beneath him is unpractical for the spanker, except if the implement is quite long and flexible as a whip, the spankee is often lying on a rather high surface, such as on a table.
Still another position is hanging from a beam etc., normally tied down, often by the wrists. Again the spine is safe, the posterior exposure reduced, but here the weight on the arms is a discomfort, increasingly painful with duration, in fact also used as a corporal punishment in itself (here accessory), the wrists may be cut by the caughs or ropes. A variation is hanging upside down, tied by the ankles; similar in effect for spanking, except the legs thus carry the weight, rather devised for a falaka (beating on the foot soles).
- An alternative method is to have the spankee (adult or minor) bending over an object. This is rarely done for a hand spanking, but often for serious discipline using an implement, as it frees the hand(s) of the spanker to wield it with greater force, or even take a run (some claim this to be mere show).
As long as it is strong, big and stable enough to hold the spankee and his weight, almost anything can be used, though a smooth surface is preferable to avoid scaving injuries; however the ritual character of repeated spanking often leads to a firm preference for a fixed spot (as in the expression the woodshed treatment) and object.
Especially in the informal (e.g. domestic) context, often furniture is used, such as a bed, chair or stool, poof, ottoman or sofa, table, (work - or other) bench; another example is retained in the expression 'over a barrel' (meaning at someone's mercy, literally at the spanker's to whom the posterior is perfectly exposed).
Variations of positions bending over a support for spanking include:
- the spankee standing on both feet (or kneeling), bending over to rest only the hands on the support (limited exposure and support)
- the spankee kneeling on a high support (e.g. ottoman or bed) and stooping over to place both hands on the floor below (raising the buttocks particularly high, while allowing 'comfortable' support but little spine relief)
- the spankee standing (or kneeling) with the belly resting on the support (very 'comfortable' and safe, less exposed), as in the military tradition of formal spankings of boys, mainly in the Royal Navy (but also in some army units with artillery) were known as "kissing the gunner's daughter", i.e. bending over and resting the abdomen on (a cloth over) the barrel of a cannon ('gun') to receive lashes with a cane (far more frequently used informally, often on the spot or in the gunroom), birch (also the only formal instrument in schools and specific trainings ships) or cat o' nine tails (abolished 1862), either on the seat of the trousers or baring the bottom, so traditional that aboard ships where no operational artillery mouth was present a practice gun was used. However for less formal chastisement the miscreant's stern was similarly exposed by bending or being tied over a nautical capstan or bitt(s) — both also publicly on deck — or inside, e.g. 'brought to the chest', or even ordered to grab his ankles on the spot.
- A spankee is said to be horsed, past participle of the verb to horse (to mount), when either -and thus the expression is used absolutely- hanging 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, who thus act as the horse, offering the thus firmly tensed and exposed backside posterior as a conveniently raised target to receive severe punishment, mainly flagellation (such as tawsing) or caning, often wholly or semi-divested (as for a traditional school birching)
- A variation that can apply to nearly every support or other apparatus (some models have permanent strapping devices or holes for body parts included) is whether to tie the spankee down; this is not only done to prevent flight attempts or as a symbolic subjugation, but mainly to assure that the exact, well-exposed position is maintained, thus allowing the spankee to concentrate on the pain, paradoxically also sometimes granted as a mercy when a hit in invalid position would not be counted or even punished with extras
- With nearly all the mentioned positions, one more parameter affects the efficiency of the position: the further the legs are apart, the more the buttocks are tensed, the extra sensitive crack in between more exposed and often the genitalia (if divested) embarrassingly visible. This is why experienced discipliners often stipulate the spankee must assume such a position, e.g. each limb along a leg of a punishment horse or lie or stand spread-eagled (as on a saltire cross).
Procedure
Some child specialists say that if a parent must administer a spanking, it should not be done in anger (indeed discipline must be rational and consistent, not emotional satisfaction) — and only as a last resort when other forms of discipline have failed. They say that for a spanking to be educational it must be perceived as logical and just: the spankee must know what exactly it is for, the severity fitting the 'crime,' preferably according to previous warnings; and the threat should be systematically carried out, not whimsically, nor the severity altered without justification. Especially with young children, it should follow quickly upon being caught, and some warn against consecutive comfort such as hugging as that might confuse the child, maybe even lead it to think that the beating (and the crime leading to it) earned it the affection. Some recommend preceding the spanking with an explanation to the child of exactly why the spanking will happen — or in the case of older children, having the child explain this reason to the parent — so that the child understands what the misdeed was.Spanking is generally considered corrective punishment, without intention of permanent injury; however, such intentions do not always have their desired result. There are questions over what level of pain is appropriate until it crosses the threshold into abuse. Up until the mid-20th century it was perfectly acceptable in most communities for a spanking to cause a child to cry in pain throughout and have trouble sitting down afterward, even leaving stripes or bruises for days, sometimes even lasting scars. Today some (including courts in some countries) consider even mere redness of the skin abusive, though others would call it effective discipline.
Spankings are delivered over a diaper (nearly only in playfull context emphasizing humiliation, not painful enough for real punishment), over clothing (may be specified, e.g. sport kit; otherwise arbitrarily unequal protection may be unfair, especially in an institutional context with rules for the number of strokes), over the undergarments only, or upon the bare buttocks in increasing order of intended pain (though tight trousers and a wedgie can make a blunt implement, as a cane, feel even worse), and potential humiliation; the latter is greatly increased by witnesses, such as the household, the class, or even a school assembly.
The removal of the clothing by the spanker may be seen as humiliating as the child is made to experience being undressed by someone other than oneself. It also procures a feeling of helplessness in that the child is no longer in control of the situation.
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 desired psychological effect is to deter, more than inflicting pain as such.
As a rule the humiliation resulting from a punishment diminishes as it is used more frequently: suffering the same fate as (nearly) all one's peers is far less embarrassing then being (nearly) the only one to be made to bend over, with trousers down.
Furthermore the deterring effect of pain can be lessened or even outweighed by macho pride in 'taking it like a man', as attested by the documented pleas of British Royal Navy captains to have corporal punishment under regulations prescribed to be publicly administered on the 'bare stern' and with another instrument then used on the bare backs of adult sailors, because they believed discipline was badly served as cocky boys considered a 'man's punishment' a virile badge of honor, worth the physical pain.
Controversy
Spanking — like corporal punishment in general — is a hotly debated social issue in many countries. Questions exist as to whether children 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 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 claimed 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 on the bare bottom would "clear the air." Some advocates for spanking come from a behaviorist point of view, and argue that spanking is a form of operant conditioning, whereby the child associates a certain behaviour with the physical pain and/or humiliation caused by spanking. Since a child's learning process is believed to 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.
Some advocates of spanking refer to Bible verses mentioning "the rod", and assert that spanking is therefore an acceptable punishment from a Judeo-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 poem 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)"
Arguments against spanking
Anti-spanking advocates make a number of arguments against spanking, on a number of grounds: 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. It is also possible that this may contribute to physical abuse in cases of bullying at school and physical abuse on siblings in family battles that occur between the children. Many cases of bullying at school have been linked to physical abuse cases.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.Tom Johnson: The Sexual Dangers of Spanking Children
Because shame is such an isolating emotion, and due to fear of social repercussions, most of those who are thus affected in this way are unwilling to openly talk about their experiences. Hence many people are unaware of this aspect of corporal punishment.
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 and being un-loved, alike with bullying at school or other forms of abuse.
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 lower pain threshold than adults.
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.Other criticisms and questions about spanking
Some people opposing spanking have speculated on the links between eroticism and the spanking of children (see also erotic spanking). They regard the spanking of children as a form of pedophiliac sexual abuse, and also claim that childhood spanking may lead to the development of paraphiliac behavior in later life.[http://www.nospank.net/dugan2.htm Donnelly and Straus (1994), for example, theorized that childhood spanking could lead to the development of masochistic tendencies. Donnelly, D. & Straus, M. (1994) The fusion of sex and violence, in M. A. Straus (Ed.) Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in American families. Boston: Lexington/MacMillanThis speculation generally outrages supporters of spanking, who contend that no such link exists.
In any case, these speculations have never been proven. Additionally, some people who enjoy erotic spanking report that they were never spanked as children.
The legal situation
Corporal punishment of children in school is illegal in many western countries; it remains legal in roughly half of the U.S. states, although it is commonly practised only in the South. 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.In the UK, The smacking of children by teachers was made illegal in state schools in 1986 and extended to all schools in 1998. 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 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). [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4636240.stm
Spanking of children within families is illegal in some countries (for example, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, Israel and Latvia). Similar initiatives in the U.S. have repeatedly failed. Parental rights groups have formed since the 1990s to prevent spanking from being criminalized.
Canada has tightened its laws as of early 2004, and the laws now say that only those between the ages of two and twelve (inclusive) may be spanked.
Non-punitive and voluntary spankings
Spanking, combining physical discipline and buttocks, has always aroused attention , and 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 (southern Taiwan; is this unique?) to go through the century-old ritual to get rid of bad luck, men be receiving spankings and women to be 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. *Birthday spanking
This 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 (less commonly - girl), as an annual rite of passage and probably a matter of bonding — the same procedure is more commonly used as an initiation or part of it, e.g. during hazing.Another probably anecdotal tale is that of the ancient Egyptians using spanking on the birthday to prepare the person for the afterlife, i.e. soften the body for the tomb.
Another hypothetical origin for birthday spankings is the single smack on the bottom which doctors (or midwives) give to newborn infants, to start them breathing and thus begins their lives.
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) *.
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 innocent 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).
In either case it is usually kept mild, more horseplay than punishment.
Spanking therapy
This term is used for an unorthodox therapy for which the patient voluntarily accepts to submit to spankings by the therapist as a means of correcting bevavioral flaws they have agreed upon in advance; it is only advised after diagnosing a rare mental condition.Spanking could be said to occupy a rare place in the entire context of aversion therapy, where the patient under treatment is given negative, painful, embarrassing or otherwise unpleasant consequences, in an effort to reprogram their thinking and concious behaviour. Some adolescents who are diagnosed with the condition known as ADHD, are said to have responded positively to being spanked when they were "out of control" - however this is a controversial technique and remains unproven scientifically. The spectre of physical and sexual abuse by a therapist looms too large over such actions; and tends to negate any potential therapeutical advantages.
Adult spanking
Adult spanking is a voluntary use of spanking in which all the same triggers that make childhood spanking effective alledgedly apply at an adult level. This use of spanking is not driven by erotic or sexual needs, but rather the need to have limits placed on behaviors in a fashion identical to the way spankings (or other punishments) are intended for misbehaving children. The adult being spanked receives a sense of comfort from the experience. Participants refer to this as the act of being "reset" because it transforms them from a state of confusion to a state of well-being. Participants firmly believe in the behaviorist point of view and see spanking is a form of operant conditioning, whereby the spanked individual learns to associate certain behaviors with the physical pain and/or humiliation caused by the spanking event. Since the adult regresses to a childlike state during and leading up to the spanking event, participants claim that this enables them to benefit from the conditioning and learn new behaviors. Unlike children however, the adult spankee never grows up to reach an age where spankings are inappropriate. Participants view and tend to come to depend on the activity as an essential part of their existence.Footnotes
See also
Sources, references and external links
- Family Integrity
- World Corporal Punishment Research (corpun.com) — objective website with large, constantly improved documentation, especially on child discipline
- Etymology Online
- Ecstagony- Dictionary of spanking implements, generally with punitive use
- Funk & Wagnalls Standard dictionary
- IMDb keyword spanking (in motion pictures)
- A pro-spanking activism group
- The Center for Effective Discipline (StopHitting.com)
- Project NoSpank (NoSpank.net)
- Is Corporal Punishment An Effective Means Of Discipline? (American Psychological Association)
- Corporal Punishment Articles (APA Psychological Bulletin Journal)
- Spanking (Focus on The Family)
- Plain Talk About Spanking — an online anti-spanking booklet (Project NoSpank)
- Canadian government advice against spanking
- Why It Hurts To Spank A Child
- A wiki devoted to Spanking Art, including a good deal of non-erotic spanking material.
- Leading research and community for voluntary spanking
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