Corporal Punishments: Historical Legacy and Contemporary Legal Status
Sneha Tanwar,
Dr Amrita Rathi (Associate Professor)
UILS, Chandigarh University
ABSTRACT
Corporal punishment—i.e., the deliberate application of physical force for behavior control or disciplining—has been an timeless control technique of universal popularity in a broad variety of cultural, religious, and legal contexts. The essay that follows gives a thorough analysis of its past development from its initial usages in ancient civilizations like Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Confucian China, where it was administered regularly in the family home, schools, and courts of law. It goes on to explore how physical punishment accelerated in medieval European governments and went on to disseminate with colonialization, planting punitive values into governance and education systems of lands like Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Although well entrenched in tradition, physical punishment has been more and more met in recent decades, especially in the broader context of evolving international human rights norms. The piece examines its own legality around the world and discovers that there's a bit of patchwork policy there, also—some have banned it completely, but many still allow it in domestic, academic, or judicial applications. Special attention is given to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and international agency activism, like that of UNICEF and Save the Children, which has played significant roles in catalysts for legal change and the protection of children's rights.
With a focus on empirical evidence, the article identifies the social and psychological impacts of corporal punishment such as increased aggression, emotional maladjustment, academic underachievement, and continuation of violent patterns of behavior. The article critically analyzes cultural and religious arguments sustaining the practice and delves into ethical balancing acts between dominant tradition and modern standards for child protection. In addition, the research offers humanization of punishment through non-violent practices with a focus on empathy, communication, and emotional intelligence.
Drawing on case histories of Sweden, India, and the United States, the article follows out the different paths to reform and ongoing threats of gaps in implementation, cultural- level resistance, and popular opinion. It concludes that corporal punishment is inherently incompatible with the values of dignity, respect, and nonviolence on which discourse about child rights today is based. The report calls for a worldwide shift toward models of discipline based on rights and informed by empathy, underpinned by strong legal frameworks, advocacy through education, and community-driven change.
KEY WORDS: Corporal punishment, Child rights, Historical legacy, International human rights law, psychological impact, Legal reform
