Punishment is an act or a way of punishing somebody
- Oxford dictionary
Yet another definition that defines the word by the word it has originated from…
To better define punishment; the act of punishing someone is to penalise someone through inflicting pain or suffering for doing wrong. This comes in the form of imprisonment, community service and even execution in some parts of the world to punish criminals. The former is often punishable to lesser crimes of theft and vandalism, whereas the latter may be murder and human trafficking.
Punishment however as many believe does not act to reform an individual. Take for example, someone who is in prison for a year due to a crime they committed. Their time imprisons is not spent understanding the principles behind why their actions were deemed wrong, they simply spend their time waiting for the day of their release. The prisoner who is released does not leave confinement as a removed individual, understanding the morals applicable to society. Instead he leaves knowing that he should not commit the same crime as it will result in him spending time in prison. A principle taught through the fear of being punished is said to only be effective in the short run.
“Punishment might work fast to stop bad behaviour. But it is not effective over time”
– AAP
Being born into a strict Chinese family meant that physical punishment was a norm growing up. Through my childhood, I have been punished with various kinds of instruments; these ranged from slippers to fly swatters to even a 2m branch pulled straight from a tree. I cannot speak for all asians brought up in a similar circumstance, but being punished in such a way definitely did not deter me from wrong doings. In fact, I had become more rebellious and smarter in my tacts to avoid being caught.
These punishments continued to early middle school; through each moment of pain, I grew more hateful towards my parents. In contrast to doing less of what they punished me for, I would act worse til the point they gave up on me. Thus these lessons taught through pain were not making me more understandable of the rights and wrongs.
It is agreed that punishment is a less effective method of decreasing bad behaviour in a psychological sense. The decrease in bad behaviour is often short lived, however constant punishment is thought to be damaging to individuals mentally and often have the opposite effect. Thus discipline is recommended when teaching children their responsibility and self-control. Discipline can be understood through the methods of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
Where positive reinforcement involves the use of reinforcing stimulus following a behaviour, resulting in the behaviour occurring more likely in the future. On the other hand, negative reinforcement involves a behaviour being strengthened by stopping/ avoiding a negative outcome.
In this sense, a child will learn the principles behind why an action is unfavourable/ wrong rather than fearing the whip of punishment.
