Corporal Punishment

History and Examples of Corporal Punishment

Corporal punishments predate the birth of the prison. Indeed, early jails and prisons were designed merely to hold offenders until their corporal punishment could be carried out. A common strategy until around 1800 was to hold an offender in the stocks. Just as every community now has a jail, historically every village had stocks. For this punishment, offenders were placed in hinged heavy timbers with holes cut in them to hold arms and/or legs, so that they were “powerless to escape the jests and jeers of every idler in the community” (Earle, 1896/1995, p. 37). Stocks could be used to hold offenders prior to another penalty or as a form of punishment itself.

Another method commonly used at this time was the pillory. The pillory was similar to the stocks in design (and ubiquity) but held “the human head in its tight grasp, and thus holds it up to the public gaze” (Earle, 1896/1995, p. 44). Individuals held in this structure were further humiliated by the public who would throw at them “rotten eggs, filth, and dirt from the streets, which was followed by dead cats, rats” and “ordure from the slaughter-house” (Andrews, 1890/1991, pp. 85, 86). They might also have their ears nailed to either side of the head hole or cut off entirely (‘cropped’) for additional ridicule. Some communities put offenders in the pillory during public market days to increase their exposure.

Whipping posts were usually similar to the pillory in design, although they also could be little more than a post to which an individual was secured. Some communities tied an offender to a whipping cart and walked him or her through town “till his body became bloody” (Earle, 1896/1995, p. 70). This technique, which was popular until the 1800s, could be done with a variety of implements such as reeds, birch rods, and whips; famously the cat-o'-nine-tails was made of a rope that was unraveled and knotted at the ends to inflict maximum discomfort.

Finally, more permanent methods of corporal punishment existed such as branding, maiming, and amputation. Branding involved burning a sign into someone's flesh that forever labeled him or her a criminal. Often the sign would vary depending on the crime. Maiming could take many forms and was usually aimed symbolically at addressing the crime: A blasphemer would have his tongue cut out or fixed to the side of his cheek, thieves would have a hand cut off, and so on. In extreme cases, offenders' hearts could be cut out, or their limbs amputated.

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