Caning

Caning is a form of corporal punishment that consists of administering strikes (known as "strokes") to the body with what is typically a rattan cane. Generally, this is applied to the recipient's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking); however, caning may also be applied to the soles of the feet (see bastinado), the palms of the hand, or the back of the thighs. Caning on the knuckles is considerably less common, and in rare instances it may be administered on the back, shoulders, or front of the body. The size and flexibility of a cane vary, as can the number of strokes administered. The sensation of a stroke from the cane is a sharp sting, followed by a lingering burn. The cane can effectively deliver sharp, intense strokes without requiring excessive force. Welts, ranging from light to intense (depending on the force of the stroke), are commonly associated with the cane. The thin cane used in caning is not to be confused with the walking stick, which is sometimes also called cane (especially in American English) that is thicker, much more rigid, and usually made of stronger wood.

Caning is a form of corporal punishment that consists of administering strikes (known as "strokes") to the body with what is typically a rattan cane. Generally, this is applied to the recipient's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking); however, caning may also be applied to the soles of the feet (see bastinado), the palms of the hand, or the back of the thighs. Caning on the knuckles is considerably less common, and in rare instances it may be administered on the back, shoulders, or front of the body. The size and flexibility of a cane vary, as can the number of strokes administered. The sensation of a stroke from the cane is a sharp sting, followed by a lingering burn. The cane can effectively deliver sharp, intense strokes without requiring excessive force. Welts, ranging from light to intense (depending on the force of the stroke), are commonly associated with the cane. The thin cane used in caning is not to be confused with the walking stick, which is sometimes also called cane (especially in American English) that is thicker, much more rigid, and usually made of stronger wood. ==Scope of use== Caning was a common form of judicial punishment and official school discipline in many parts of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. Corporal punishment (with a cane or any other implement) has now been outlawed in much, but not all, of Europe. However, caning remains legal in numerous other countries in home, school, religious, judicial or military contexts, and is also in common use in some countries where it is no longer legal. ==Judicial corporal punishment== museum, Malaysia Judicial caning, administered with a long, heavy rattan and much more severe than the canings given in schools, was/is a feature of some British colonial judicial systems, though the cane was never used judicially in Britain itself (the specified implements there, until abolition in 1948, being the birch and the cat-o'-nine-tails). In some countries caning is still in use in the post-independence era, particularly in Southeast Asia (where it is now being used far more than it was under British rule), and in some African countries. The practice is retained, for male offenders only, under the criminal law in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. (In Malaysia there is also a separate system of religious courts for Muslims only, which can order a much milder form of caning for women as well as men.) Caning in Indonesia is a recent introduction, in the special case of Aceh, on Sumatra, which since its 2005 autonomy has introduced a form of sharia law for Muslims with the Acehnese Qanun (male or female), applying the cane to the clothed upper back of the offender. Since 2022, voluntary caning for Non-Muslim Indonesians are de-facto removed from Aceh provincial law. African countries still using judicial caning include Botswana, Tanzania, Nigeria (mostly in northern states, but few cases have been reported in southern states ) and, for juvenile offenders only, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. Other countries that used it until the late 20th century, generally only for male offenders, included Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, while some Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago use birching, another punishment in the British tradition, involving the use of a bundle of branches, not a single cane. In Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, healthy males under 50 years of age can be sentenced to a maximum of 24 strokes of the rotan (rattan) cane on the bare buttocks; the punishment is mandatory for many offences, mostly violent or drug crimes, but also immigration violations, sexual offences and (in Singapore) acts of vandalism. It is also imposed for certain breaches of prison rules. In Aceh, caning can be imposed for adultery. The punishment is applied to locals alike. Two examples of the caning of foreigners which received worldwide media scrutiny are the canings in Singapore in 1994 of Michael P. Fay, an American student who had vandalised several automobiles, and in the United Arab Emirates in 1996 of Sarah Balabagan, a Filipina maid convicted of homicide. Caning is also used in the Singapore Armed Forces to punish serious offences against military discipline, especially in the case of recalcitrant young conscripts. Unlike judicial caning, this punishment is delivered to the soldier's clothed buttocks. See Military caning in Singapore. A more moderate variation, where the caning is aimed at the soles of a culprit's bare feet is used as prison punishment in several countries of the world. ==School corporal punishment== The frequency and severity of caning in educational settings have varied greatly, often being determined by the written rules or unwritten traditions of the school. The western educational use of caning dates principally to the late nineteenth century. It gradually replaced birching—effective only if applied to the bare bottom—with a form of punishment more suited to contemporary sensibilities, once it had been discovered that a flexible rattan cane can provide the offender with a substantial degree of pain even when delivered through a layer of clothing. Caning as a school punishment is strongly associated in the English-speaking world with England, but it was also used in other European countries in earlier times, notably Scandinavia, Germany and the countries of the former Austrian empire. Member states of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are obliged to "take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse." ==Caning in children's homes== Corporal punishment at children's homes was less severe than in schools. The UK's Administration of Children's Homes Regulations 1951 (S.O. No 1217) provided that children under 10 should be punished only on their hands either by the headmaster or in his presence and direction. Only girls under 10 and boys under the school leaving age (15 at that time) could be corporally punished. Children under 10 should be punished only on their hands. A boy over 10 but under 15 could be caned up to a maximum of six strokes on the clothed buttocks. ==Domestic corporal punishment== Some parents cane their children as a punishment for reasons like disobedience or poor results. This is a common practice in some Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. In Singapore, canes for domestic use are regularly sold in grocery stores. There is usually increased demand for canes when students prepare for examinations, as canes are used more often, resulting in breakages. ==Effects== Caning with a heavy judicial rattan as used in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei can leave scars for years if a large number of strokes are inflicted. Most ordinary canings with a typical light rattan (used at home or at school for punishing students), although painful at the time, leave only reddish welts or bruises lasting a few days. Charles Chenevix Trench was caned as a boy at Winchester College in the early 1930s and later said that "it was, of course, disagreeable, but left no permanent scars on my personality or my person". When caning was still widespread in schools in the United Kingdom, it was perceived that a caning on the hand carried a greater risk of injury than a caning on the buttocks; in 1935 an Exeter schoolboy won £1 in damages ( ), plus his medical expenses, from a schoolmaster, when the county court decided that an abscess that developed on his hand was the result of a caning. ==See also== Caning in Brunei Caning in Malaysia Caning in Singapore Judicial corporal punishment School corporal punishment Switch (corporal punishment) Slippering Paddle (spanking) Tawse Rattan ==Notes== ==References== ==External links== Video clips of judicial caning in Malaysia (warning – very graphic) Video clips of schoolboy caning in Singapore Corporal punishment in British schools at World Corporal Punishment Research

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