Just and Painful: A Case for the Corporal Punishment of Criminals

I often used this as a reference in the intro to CJ course I taught a few years ago. Most students found the idea of physical punishment very disturbing. Therein lies its promise of success. All living organisms seem to seek to avoid electric shock. Electricity can be carefully monitored and meted. It is cheap and effective. Criminals might be blase and boastful about the time in prison or jail saying that they "could do it standing on their head," but few would be bragging about the time they wet their pants and soiled their underwear when they were shocked for a mugging. Would they invite their friends to see it? Ten cents worth of electricity would do what $40,000 worth of incarceration would not.