Commentary
| Published date | 01 September 2003 |
| Date | 01 September 2003 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1350/pojo.76.3.185.19441 |
| Subject Matter | Commentary |
The
Police
Journal
COMMENTARY
Societies throughout the world like to think that they have
established standards of behaviour that ensure the safety of the
weaker members of the community. Children are particularly
vulnerable and in their innocence often assume that those in
authority know best. However, there are occasions when this
assumption is wrong.
The horrific death of Victoria Climbié at the hands of her
supposed ‘guardians’ raised a number of serious issues about the
protection that can be provided by the state. The inquiry into her
death identified serious failings in the way that statutory agencies
responded to her plight. Undoubtedly they are all now reviewing
their procedures so that they do not fail again.
More recently the government has turned its attention to
another concern of the inquiry: the right to give ‘reasonable
chastisement’ to a child. The inquiry into Victoria’s death had
heard evidence from the National Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Children that the catalogue of abuse had begun with a
few ‘slaps’ to instil discipline. From this it was being suggested
that the occasional ‘slap’ would inevitably lead to more violent
assault. Their solution was to ban all physical punishment of
children, even by parents.
More recent debates on the use of corporal punishment have
dealt with those acting in loco parentis (school-teachers and
childminders) but the argument has moved on and now questions
are being asked about the right of a parent to inflict this type of
punishment. The debate is confusing as not all figures of
authority appear to be anti-smacking. The Observer newspaper
reports (4 May 2003) that 40 Christian schools tried to have the
ban on caning in schools overturned, as they believed that
punishment was ‘part of the Christian heritage’. In fact the
Archbishop of Canterbury admits to administering physical
punishment to his daughter as did many leading politicians,
The Police Journal, Volume 76 (2003) 185
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