[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When we hear the phrase “corporal punishment,” the first images we may think of are of men being flogged as a form of punishment. Corporal punishment was used widely in American and European history but was slowly phased out to make room for a newer, more profitable punishment model — incarceration. Although it may not be used commonly in the countries we frequent on vacation, corporal punishment is still utilized in places such as Malaysia, Guatemala and Syria.

FEATURE OPINION: SOCIETY’S IGNORANCE HINDERS CURRENT CULTURAL REFORMATION 

Incarceration is a multi-million dollar industry that hemorrhages state funds and perpetuates the stereotype that punishment based on depriving inmates of mental and emotional security is more humane than the corporal punishment or physical torture we often see in other parts of the world. We subconsciously characterize these countries as primitive or less developed and blame religious and cultural practices for its application when in fact corporal punishment is just another method used to deter crime. Incarceration is just as harmful to individuals as corporal punishment — they are simply different systems. One does not have more merit than the other.

We ought to consider both discipline structures to be at the same level in terms of a moral standard (or lack thereof). We rarely encounter people endorsing corporal punishment, but the largely negative effects of incarceration are kept quiet for the most part, away from the media and from the public. In terms of effectiveness, multiple studies have found that incarceration does not actually deter crime in most cases. Criminals who are released are likely to become second-time offenders. They slip back into the same harmful routines because their sentence ultimately did nothing but maim them psychologically.

This brings us to the more serious side of incarceration. The lifelong effects of being locked up in prison include post traumatic stress, anxiety and depressive disorders, social withdrawal and increased violent tendencies. The mental torture experienced in prison, as well as the deprivation of freedom and autonomy, hold no benefit to anyone in the system — or out of it for that matter.

In addition, incarceration hurts more than just the imprisoned individual in question. Prison sentences have short- and long-term effects on children and family members. The confusion, uncertainty and lack of information that surrounds incarceration many times leaves children unable to build coping mechanisms and focus in other parts of their lives. One study found that in a group of 166 children aged six to eight, 70 percent of those with incarcerated mothers showed poor academic performance, and five percent exhibited classroom behavior problems.

Corporal punishment, on the other hand, primarily affects the criminal without directly affecting his or her family and friends in negative ways. Only the offender is punished, not the innocent people in their lives. It has long been looked at as the sort of cruel and unusual punishment which the Eighth Amendment forbids, but corporal punishment is a viable alternative to incarceration. Both systems have their negative aspects, but corporal punishment poses less detriment to family, society and the individual in question. Although the physical harm experienced during corporal punishment is not pleasant, the mental trauma endured throughout incarceration is a wound which may never heal.

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