Some people only respond to corporal punishment
There are some people for whom no other punishment is effective.
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Context
Everyone is different. A one-size-fits-all punishment model is ineffective. Some people respond better to corporal punishment methods. Therefore corporal punishment should be permitted.
The Argument
Some children and adults just don’t respond to other forms of punishment. For some children, taking away a toy does not seem to bother them. Similarly, some adults are unphased by the prospect of fines or jail time.
In these cases, when other punishments have clearly not worked, corporal punishment can be a valuable punitive tool. It may be the only thing that gets through to these criminals and rulebreakers and therefore has a place in our society.
Counter arguments
The law is designed to protect everybody. Therefore, it would be reckless to hand corporal punishment powers to authority figures just because it might work in some cases. For every case that it might have the intended effect, there would be hundreds more where it caused lasting psychological damage, had no impact on behaviour modification, and left recipients more violent and aggressive than they were before.
Premises
[P1] The ability to punish everyone is essential to maintaining law and order.
[P2] Therefore, society must have punitive measures to be able to punish anyone.
[P3] Some people only respond to corporal methods of punishment.
[P4] Therefore, corporal punishment must be permitted.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P1] Corporal punishment, when used incorrectly, undermines law and order.
[Rejecting P2] Society must also have the ability to protect everyone.