When I was growing up (in the 50s and 60s) corporal punishment was regarded as the norm, to punish bad behaviour , make an example of somebody, and as a deterrent. Capital punishment was used for murder (and there were some other things it could be used for, eg, aggravated or depraved rape; setting fire to a naval dockyard, etc) .
The argument against capital punishment was that once you`d executed people , you couldn`t bring them back to life if they were later proved to have been innocent. Against this, the deterrent factor alone would surely have prevented some of the more unsavoury perpetrators (eg, Shipman, Huntley) from carrying out their disgusting crimes.
The argument against corporal punishment was that it was barbaric, random and unnecessary. However since it was banned, behaviour patterns have definitely got worse.
Does anybody have any feelings as to whether corporal and / or capital punishment should be re-introduced, and whether it would help prevent crime?
![Cool :cool:](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)