Judicial Corporal Punishment

As one who has spent most of his adult career in Corrections and dealt with many young & older offenders, judicial CP may be what is needed. It's not permitted now but there was a time, I was told my older colleagues when I began my career a few decades ago, that our young centers (called reformatory then) used a leather strap on a boy's bare rear-end and before his peers, as an example for them, when a policy was violated.

Many young clients today grew up without knowledge of CP at home or in our schools. Some boys came from single-mom homes & were too big/tough for a mom to tan their hide as adolescent/teenage & they needed it for their mischief. In counseling I have discovered they would've accepted it had they realized it then that it would change their current life/incarceration. CP doesn't have to be brutal/abusive & has gotten an unfair rap as such. In my youth, schools paddled our seat bending over a desk & most dads whacked our bottoms at home with trousers & sometimes underpants down & we survived and benefited.

Rick

Couldn't agree with you more Rick....two different sides to a story....saw some buttocks caned ....while I was in the Dept of Justice......juvenile boys would drop their paints..... laying over a bench......receiving a few cane strokes .....almost like at school caning for me....or from dad.....!!!! I agree .....CP doesn't have to be brutal or abusive....but has to teach a damn good lesson to the buttocks..... JOH

Apparently you have experienced the juvenile justice system too. Were these primarily juvenile boys pre-teen or teenagers? Any that were 18+ (young adult males) that were caned?

If brought to the bench for a caning did they readily submit or resist and need to be restrained? Were they expected to drop pants or pants lowered for them and was it strip to skivvies or bare?

Our system has prohibited CP for some 50-60 years now, so never an option or a punishment method I observed in my career. When I initially began my career I heard stories from then 'old-timers' who spoke of juveniles brought before peers to be an example for other boys & then strapped bare butt...no cane, but similar to the belt many of us got from our dads. I've seen young men...mainly 14-25 who I felt could've benefited from such a whipping & some likely not in present circumstances had they been spanked by dad or a dad-figure as boys growing up.

Rick

Hi Rick.. Think I sort of missed your points when you referred to REFORMATORY SCHOOLS...I was more thinking/commenting on "judicial punishment"....and as far as I know it became "illegal" sometime during 1996....( at school & judicial caning as an option of punishment) ...of cause it's still happening at schools....HeHe !!! We also had reformatory schools ....probably still have....and I'm absolutely sure CP was used for punishment....most likely the cane....but probably not much different from a school caning or caning at home....I'm "guessing" here ...never met/spoken to anyone who attended a reformatory school..... perhaps someone will read this and provide us with some "insider information"...!!! I was referring to when a court of law actually sentenced a juvenile/man to an amount of "cane strokes"....!! I "witnessed" quite a few of these canings during 1980-1986.....and strangely enough....at that stage I never really thought it was the correct way to use the cane as punishment....although it was probably "better" than going to a reformatory school or jail...!!!!! It definitely happened to men 18+....up to the age of 30....if I remember correctly....below 18 were seen as juveniles.....received the "light cane".....above 18 the "heavy cane"....slightly thicker and longer than the light cane....!! I can't remember anyone had to be "restrained" .....but I'm sure it must have happened....it was more like...."taking the pain & get it over with as soon as possible"....also remember RJ....for most ...if not all of these boys/men.... probably received PLENTY canings at home/school.....so it wasn't really a "new experience"....little more painful ....I suppose....perhaps some of them might even have hated the medical exam ...to see if they were "fit for a caning" more than the actual caning....JUST JOKING...!! Mostly it was given bare....in some cases with underpants......but never with pants on.....that I can remember.....!! I TOTALLY agree with you....spanking definitely has a place for almost ALL boys growing up....as long as a "dad-figure" sorts out the problem after a certain age....!! You ONLY received TWO spankings at school...and I'm sure you remember them well.....I received many "whippings" at school.... don't even "remember" most of them....( remember I didn't have detention as an option)....if a BOY misbehaved the cane was the answer....although I remember EACH & EVERY spanking from my dad..... I think school spankings can become impersonal & without "emotion".....bending over.... 3...4...6... strokes and there you go....of cause it hurt like hell.....but it was totally different form a caning from dad....not just the bare bum....but it was much more than just the "pain"......disappointment.....forgiveness......I hope you understand what I'm trying to say....the way a spanking is given....it's much more important than the "pain"....probably why I thought years ago... the judicial caning wasn't the way to go....I promise you ...it CAN'T get more IMPERSONAL than that....also the fact that quite a few times juveniles/men had to come back for a second/third helping of the cane.....doesn't say much of the "success rate" of judicial punishment.....HeHe.....JUST my personal opinion.....I just think it would've helped a lot more....if their DADS paid attention to their backsides at the appropriate age....and I'm referring here to the young men 14-25 that you were referring to....perhaps you feel differently....if you do ...I would like to know why....perhaps I should change my way of thinking....!! On a more personal note....I'm just curios....judicial canings....as far as I know were given lying down over a "bench"....the ones I've attended....believing if the cane came down vertically....it would hurt more than "bending over".....your last belting from your dad was face down on your bed.....is this true or didn't in really make a difference....!! Have a great day.....chat soon.... JOH !!!

Hi JOH,

My point may have been confusing. Today these facilities are more commonly called Youth Detention Centers but when I was a boy, they were called Reformatories and because the youth were also educated and not just incarcerated for juvenile crimes, they got the name "Reform Schools."

Further, I was relating what I had been told by 'old-timers' about their days working at a Reformatory, so no first-hand experience. I was simply told that boys who broke rules got their bare butt whipped with a strap before their peers. The CP form of punishment is no longer permitted nor has it been for many years.

I suspect some juvenile courts did actually order a young offender to 'strokes' of the strap as a sentence too. I've seen news articles back into the 1940-1970s range where a judge would ask a parent if they wanted to give a pants-lowered whipping in court to save their son being sent to the reformatory/jail. Many seemed to do it.

Yes, only two school paddlings & in my teenage years at school. I truly never did imagine it would happen to me but it did & looking back, they were deserved. A school paddling was over trousers--in my case jeans. They were made to hurt your bottom for awhile and dad kept those bottom cheeks sore a bit longer with a bare butt belt whipping when I got home. I agree however, it was more than physical pain knowing I had let my parents down, as well as myself, and that disappointment was an emotional pain/shame. Yes, I agree too that dad should've tended to their young bottoms at home long before they ended up in YDC or jail.

My last from dad at 16 was face down on my bed. I think the only time in that position since most were simply bending over the chair/desk/bed edge. Since I was already sitting on my bed that last time, dad just told me to rollover I recall and be face down and lower my jeans & boxers for a whipping. Either way, my bare butt got a good leather hiding. Did your dad prefer you bending over or lying flat?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. -- Rick