Lawfulness of corporal punishment

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Corporal punishment is lawful in the home in all states. In Minnesota, examination of several laws has led some legal experts to conclude that corporal punishment is not permitted in that state, but according to the legislation a parent, legal guardian or caretaker may use reasonable force to restrain or correct a child (Sec. 609.379. [Cr.]) and the Minnesota Court of Appeal has overturned convictions for physical abuse involving corporal punishment.

Schools

In 1977, the US Supreme Court found that the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, did not apply to school students, and that teachers could punish children without parental permission (Ingraham v Wright, 430 U.S. 651 (1977)). Twenty eight states and the District of Columbia have passed laws prohibiting corporal punishment in public schools. In Iowa and New Jersey, this prohibition also covers private schools. In the remaining 22 states, corporal punishment is permitted unless banned by local boards.

Penal system

Corporal punishment as a sentence for crime has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and no federal or state laws permit its use as an element of criminal sentencing.

The 1977 Supreme Court ruling (see above) stated that the Eighth Amendment protected convicted criminals from corporal punishment. However, we have been able to identify only 31 states which have prohibited all corporal punishment of children as a disciplinary measure in juvenile detention by law. In many others, corporal punishment is prohibited as a matter of policy. The American Correctional Association’s standards for juvenile detention facilities call for “written policy, procedure, and practice [that] protect juveniles from personal abuse, corporal punishment, personal injury, disease, property damage, and harassment”. The comment to the standard states: “In situations where physical force or disciplinary detention is required, only the least drastic means necessary to secure order or control should be used.” The National Juvenile Detention Association has passed a resolution which “opposes any policy or related procedure which advocates, promotes, or authorizes the use of offensive physical intervention techniques that allows staff to hit, kick, or strike juveniles”. The Detainee Treatment Act (2005) prohibits cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment of any person under the physical control of the state.

Alternative care

Corporal punishment is prohibited in all alternative care settings in 30 states. In the remaining 20 states and the District of Columbia, it is prohibited in some but not all such settings.

Workplace

No information.

Prevalence research

A telephone interview survey of 600 adults in each of the 50 states, carried out by SurveyUSA of Verona NJ in August 2005, found that overall almost three out of four (72%) supported the use of spanking as a disciplinary method (ranging from 55% in Vermont to 87% in Alabama), with almost one in four (23%) believing it acceptable for a teacher to spank a child (ranging from 8% in New Hampshire to 53% in Arkansas and Mississippi). Nearly one third (31%) believed it is acceptable to wash out a child’s mouth with soap (from 23% in Hawaii, Maryland and Massachusetts to 46% in Idaho). (SurveyUSA, Verona NJ, August 2005, Disciplining a Child 08/24/05, www.surveyusa.com/50StateDisciplineChild0805SortedbyTeacher.htm)

A nationally representative sample of 991 American parents, interviewed in the mid-1990s, examined six types of corporal punishment: slaps on the hand or leg, spanking on the buttocks, pinching, shaking, hitting on the buttocks with a belt or paddle and slapping in the face. The study found that the overall percentage of parents using any of these types of corporal punishment during the previous year was 35% for infants and reached a peak of 94% at ages 3 and 4 years. Despite a rapid decline in use after the age of 5 years, just over half of American parents hit children at age 12 years, a third at age 14 years, and 13% at age 17 years. Further analysis found that parents who hit teenage children did so on average about six times during the year. Severity, as measured by hitting the child with a belt or paddle, was greatest for children aged 5–12 years (28% of such children). (Straus, M. A. & Stewart, J. H., 1999, “Corporal Punishment by American Parents: National Data on Prevalence, Chronicity, Severity, and Duration, in Relation to Child and Family Characteristics”, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, vol. 2, no. 2, pp.55-70)

An ABC News telephone poll of a random national sample of 1,015 adults in 2002 found that overall 65% approved of spanking children, with 31% disapproving; 72% thought that teachers should not be permitted to spank children in school. (ABC News poll conducted by telephone, 25-29 October 2002; fieldwork by International Communications Research of Media, Pennsylvania)

Other research has found that over 90% of toddlers are spanked or subjected to other forms of corporal punishment, and almost 50% of adults recall receiving corporal punishment as children. (Straus, M. A. & Kantor, G. K. (1994), “Corporal punishment of adolescents by parents: A risk factor in the epidemiology of depression, suicide, alcohol abuse, child abuse, and wife beating”, Adolescence, vol. 29, pp.543-561. Cited in Youssef, M. S.-E.-D. A. & Kamel, M. I., 1998, “Children experiencing violence I: Parental use of corporal punishment”, Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 22, no. 10, p.960)

A review of the research literature on child abuse in daycare settings, with an emphasis on identifying variables associated with victims, perpetrators and settings, found that physical abuse in daycare centres and homes most frequently occurred in the context of “disciplining” the child, and may have been supported by parental permission for corporal punishment. (Schumacher, R.B. & Carlson, R.S., 1999, “Variables and risk factors associated with child abuse in daycare settings”, Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 23, no. 9, pp.891-898)

In a survey of American primary care physicians, 67% supported physical punishment, with younger physicians more likely to support corporal punishment (63% aged over 40, 72% under 40).  (McCormick, K. F., 1992, “Attitudes of primary care physicians and pediatricians towards corporal punishment”, Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 267, pp.3161-3165. Cited in Hesketh, T., Hong, Z. S. & Lynch, M. A., 2000, “Child abuse in China: the views and experiences of child health professionals”, Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 24, no. 6, pp.867-872)

A 1995 survey in America found that 49% of parents admitted to disciplining their children by hitting the child with an object other than on the buttocks, kicking the child, beating the child, and threatening the child with a gun. (Straus, M. A. et al., 1998, “Identification of child maltreatment with the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales: development and psychometric data for a national sample of American parents”, Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 22, pp.249-270. Cited in Krug, E. G. et al., eds, 2002, World report on violence and health, Geneva: World Health Organisation, p.62)

Official data on corporal punishment in US public schools for the 1999-2000 school year, released in February 2003 (and as at July 2005 the most recent available), reported that overall 342,038 students were subjected to corporal punishment. This is a drop of 7% from the previous survey two years earlier (taking enrolment increases into account), and continues a steady trend. Total US public school enrolment in 1999-2000 was 46,306,355. According to data for the 23 states which have not prohibited all corporal punishment in public schools, the highest rates for school corporal punishment were in Mississippi (48,627 or 9.8% of students), Arkansas (40,437 or 9.1% of students), Alabama (39,197 or 5.4% of students), and Tennessee (38,373 or 4.2% of students). Black students were hit at a rate more than twice their proportion in the population: they comprised 17% of students, but suffered 39% of paddlings; white students made up 62% of all students, but suffered 53% of the corporal punishment. (US Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2000 Elementary and Secondary School Civil Rights Compliance Report, analysis from the Center for Effective Discipline, www.stophitting.com)

Federal statistics show that during the 2002-3 school year, more than 300,000 American schoolchildren were disciplined with corporal punishment, usually one or more blows with a thick wooden paddle. Sometimes holes were cut in the paddle to make the beating more painful. Of those students, 70% were in five Southern states: Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas. (Reported in New York Times, 30 September 2006)

Recommendations by human rights treaty bodies

Committee on the Rights of the Child

The USA has signed but not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Legal status of corporal punishment of children in the USA

Notes on table

Schools: (i) Unless noted otherwise, in states in which there is no state level prohibition of corporal punishment, such punishment is permitted unless banned by local boards. In most of these states, it is up to local boards and schools to establish policies regulating the use of corporal punishment. (ii) Unless noted otherwise, state level prohibitions apply only to public schools.

Penal system: Corporal punishment as a sentence for crime has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and no federal or state laws permit its use as an element of criminal sentencing. We have identified 31 states which prohibit in law corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in juvenile detention centres, together with some which prohibit its use as a matter of policy. In others we have been unable to locate an explicit prohibition in state laws available on the world wide web, but have not had access to all subsidiary regulations or policies. The American Correctional Association’s standards for juvenile detention facilities call for “written policy, procedure, and practice [that] protect juveniles from personal abuse, corporal punishment, personal injury, disease, property damage, and harassment”. The comment to the standard notes: “In situations where physical force or disciplinary detention is required, only the least drastic means necessary to secure order or control should be used.” The National Juvenile Detention Association has passed a resolution which “opposes any policy or related procedure which advocates, promotes, or authorizes the use of offensive physical intervention techniques that allows staff to hit, kick, or strike juveniles”.