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Emma Lee
Eng 1013
13 October 2014
Corporal Punishment: The Discipline Misconception
Flogging, whipping, and branding: these are not words that people would necessarily
associate with the discipline of children. Yet pediatric professionals frequently employ a term
that originally defined all of these actions and use it to categorically describe any physical
discipline of a child. This term that is so often taken out of context is corporal punishment. In
numerous articles and studies on topics such as parenting techniques or methods of discipline,
this erroneous terminology can be found abundantly. Typically, the term corporal punishment
refers to any number of methods used by parents to physically discipline their children, the most
common and controversial of these being spanking. Due to todays modern usage of the term, the
average person might be rather surprised to discover that its origins lie in forms of torture, and
not of discipline. The fact that a majority of experts use such a harsh and inaccurate term to
describe domestic discipline is evidence of their subversive attempt to present a false and
negative view of the practice.
In the Oxford English Dictionary, corporal punishment is listed under the word corporal
as a noun meaning the punishment inflicted on the body; originally including death,
mutilation, branding, bodily confinement, irons, the pilloryusually confined to flogging or
similar infliction of bodily pain. The word corporal finds its roots in Latin and refers to the
body (Corporal), and punishment is widely defined as rough physical treatment or injury
(Punishment). Thus, corporal punishment is by definition the infliction of bodily injury as a
form of reprimand. It has been around for centuries, originating in ancient Babylonian law, and

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the term was consistently associated with flogging, whipping, and even amputation. Corporal
punishment was considered the one of the most extreme penalties, surpassed only by death or
exile.
The history of corporal punishment distinguishes it as a inhumane and barbaric institution
that has been long since retired because of these very characteristics. However, medical and
psychological professionals saw fit to repurpose the term, and used it to describe the practice of
physical discipline within the home. In addition to this faulty definition, the already unsound
term is itself overused. Zealous pediatricians and psychiatrists frequently take it upon themselves
to brand any examples of discipline that they disagree with to be corporal punishment. People
are constantly being told that firm, hands-on parenting equates to corporal punishment. Since
corporal punishment in its proper definition is a practice proven to have adverse affects on
children, parents are frightened away from using any physical discipline whatsoever, for fear that
they will be condemned by pediatric experts. Thus, professionals are ultimately using scare
tactics in order to push their opinions into widely accepted public use.
Not only is the term corporal punishment ultimately used erroneously in child discipline
vernacular, it appears to be firmly entrenched in this incorrect residence. Encyclopedias and
dictionaries have been updated to include this interpretation in their official definitions. One
example in particular is The Encyclopaedia Britannica, which features this phrase in its
definition of corporal punishment: In a broad sense, the term also denotes the physical
disciplining of children in the schools and at home. Additionally, Funk & Wagnalls New World
Encyclopedia secondarily defines the term as used to describe the physical discipline of
children in schools or at home. It would seem that this new and flawed definition of corporal
punishment is here to stay.

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Taking these facts into account, one would be justified in questioning the use of a term so
long associated with severe physical harm to describe forms of parental discipline that are often
implemented in love. This type of academic labeling is offensive to those who utilize physical
methods of punishment as a part of a deliberate and careful parental strategy. Sadly, parents who
spank or otherwise physically discipline their children are frequently stereotyped as dictatorial or
abusive, and the improper use of the term corporal punishment only fuels this misconception.
Today the term corporal punishment has simply become a method by which the physical
discipline of a child is socially condemned. As previously defined in the Oxford English
Dictionary, corporal punishment has long carried a negative connotation, related to gruesome
forms of punishment and torture including mutilation, flogging, bodily confinement and beating.
This extreme definition is quite shocking considering its current popular usage, and it gives a
glimpse into how professionals today really view physical discipline. Their attitude towards it is
generally negative, and this has had a serious effect on the terminology used in the fields of
pediatric medicine and psychology.

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Works Cited
Corporal Punishment. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. 1st ed. 2014.
EBSCOh. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.jbu.edu/ehost/
detail/detail?vid=2&sid=9dab73f4-f829-419b-9371-8d9f91d27cc0%40
sessionmgr4001&hid=4208&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=funk&AN=CO220/900>.
"corporal punishment." Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Academic Edition. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/138384/corporal-punishment>.
"corporal, adj. and n.3." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2014. Web. 5
October 2014. <http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.jbu.edu/view/Entry/41820?/ redirectedFrom=/
corporal+punishment#contentWrapper>.
"punishment, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2014. Web. 5 October
2014. <http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.jbu.edu/view/Entry/154677?redirectedFrom=
punishment#eid>.