Caning is a physical punishment (see that article for generalities and alternatives) consisting of a beating with a cane, generally applied on the bare or clad buttocks (see spanking), hand(s) (palm, rarely knuckles) or even the soles of the feet.
It was a common punishment in many parts of Asia and throughout Europe and North America and several colonies in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but has now been banned in most countries. It is often considered a cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment as meant by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, but remains legal in numerous nations
Caning was practiced as a judicial punishment for juveniles but was best known as a method of educational discipline in schools or at home. The use of the cane dates principally to the late nineteenth century, when educationalists sought to replace birching with a form of punishment more suitable to contemporary sensibilities.
Caning - Scope and history of use
Frequency and severity of canings in educational settings were often determined by the written rules or unwritten traditions of the school. For example, in many schools it was common to find corporal punishment practiced solely by the head teacher, though in English public schools the ability to punish was delegated to prefects. A typical punishment in an English school in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century might consist of one or two blows on the hand.
Judicial caning, carried out with a long rattan rod, was a feature of some colonial judicial systems, particularly in East Asia. The practice is still retained in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand. In Singapore, healthy male criminals under 50 years of age can be sentenced to a maximum of 24 strokes of the rotan (rattan) cane on the buttocks; the punishment is mandatory for over 40 offenses, mostly violent crimes, but also some immigration violations, drug violations, and acts of vandalism. It is also imposed for certain breaches of prison rules. The caning can leave permanent scars on the recipient. The punishment is also applied, regardless of controversy in and void interventions from the West, to foreigners, as under intense media attention in Singapore in 1994 to Michael P. Fay, an American student who had vandalised several automobiles, and in the UAE in 1996 to Sarah Balabagan, a Filipina maid convicted of homicide.
Caning is also a more severe but not uncommon sadomasochistic practice. In nineteenth century France the practice was dubbed "The English Vice", as it was believed that the English, in particular, derived sexual pleasure from corporal punishment. This term is still in occasional use..
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