The topic I found most interesting today was our discussion of spanking and whether or not that is a form of torture. Let me preface my opinion by saying that I was not spanked as a child and I do not plan on spanking my children. I may find that it is necessary, but at this time I do not plan on using this parenting method. Anyway, I believe that in some cases, spanking is torture. There are children that live in constant fear that a parent or family member will be violent towards them. Or during the act, they are extremely scared or hurt. Spanking is not anywhere close to the torture used by interrogators, but I still think it can be a form of torture.
We talked about the intentions of the torturer and how this plays a role in whether or not torture is okay. When parents spank their children to teach them a lesson about staying safe or to not harm others, it is acceptable. I would not use this method but if it is effective for some parents, then it is not unjust. If the child is not constantly fearful that their parent will do it again and they are not permanently damaged from the spanking then it is not unjust. However, if a parent is using this method to instill fear in their child or using it to dominate them in an inappropriate manner, then I think it is wrong. There are definitely parents out there that spank their children for the smallest mistake and forget the fact that children are children and sometimes they make mistakes. Children understand words and sometimes that is all it takes. So overall, if a parent decides to spank his or her children, then they should use in minimally and in extreme circumstances. Would you say the same logic should be applied to torture? Or is torture, as an extreme example of spanking, something that should never be used in any circumstance? We have not discussed the topic in full, but I'm sure we all already have an opinion one way or the other.
I don't think spanking children is torture, but I find it fascinating that when it comes to discussions about torture, the acts can vary in being acceptable or not depending on other conditional circumstances. For instance, after reading your post I asked myself is whipping itself torture and I couldn't really answer. When used to discipline children, I wouldn't consider whippings torture; however, when whipping an adult, such as during slavery, yes whipping is torture. Although the intent is the same in both scenarios- to discipline a person-the context of whipping a child does not take away from the humanity of the child, whereas in the case of slavery it does. So far, the topic of torture just seems too ambiguous and things aren't just black and white, but rather varying shades of grey.
ReplyDeleteI think spanking and torture are fundamentally different practices. When spanking begins to enter the realm of torture, it is no longer spanking...it is assault. That being said, I have a major problem with spanking. Using Kant, we cannot say that hitting your children (which is what spanking is on its most basic level) can be deemed a moral universal maxim, because then children would be in significant danger; some parents will take it beyond operational conditioning and move into the assault arena. Therefore, no one should do it. There are more effective and less retributive forms of punishing or teaching a child a lesson. This reminds me of Dr. Krog's talk in our class about retributive justice versus rehabilitation and punishment versus education. Parents can teach children rather than try to teach them with physical punishment.
ReplyDeleteSpanking has a different intention than the torture we have been discussing: it intends to correct a wrong the child did and their thought process.
ReplyDeleteInvestigative torture (the only torture that is allowed, in terms of the water-boarding debate and the ticking time bomb scenario) does not have the intention of correcting the criminal's thoughts of planting bombs. The point is to gain information. I do not believe any form of punishment like this could easily be legalized in our prison systems, because it would be very inhumane.