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Form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned punishment in previous centuries, and is still practiced by different means (e.g. schools) in the modern era.
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In the United States, it was a common punishment from the beginning of European colonization through the 19th century. It fell out of common use in the 20th century, though it has seen a revival starting in the 1990s.[1] With the rise of social media, public shaming moved to the digital sphere, exposing and humiliating people daily, sometimes without their knowledge.[2]
Public humiliation exists in many forms. In general, a criminal sentenced to one of many forms of this punishment could expect themselves be placed (restrained) in a central, public, or open location so that their fellow citizens could easily witness the sentence and, in some cases, participate as a form of "mob justice".[3]
Just like painful forms of corporal punishment, it has parallels in educational and other rather private punishments (but with some audience), in school or domestic disciplinary context, and as a rite of passage. Physical forms include being forced to wear some sign such as "donkey ears" (simulated in paper, as a sign one is—or at least behaved—proverbially stupid), wearing a dunce cap, having to stand, kneel or bend over in a corner, or repeatedly write something on a blackboard ("I will not spread rumors", for example). Here different levels of physical discomfort can be added, such as having to hold heavy objects, or kneeling on an uneven surface. Like physical punishment and harsh hazing, these have become controversial in most modern societies, in many cases leading to legal restrictions and/or (sometimes voluntary) abolishment.[citation needed]
Head shaving can be a humiliating punishment prescribed in law,[4] but also something done as "mob justice"—a stark example of which was the thousands of European women who had their heads shaved in front of cheering crowds in the wake of World War II,[5][6] as punishment for associating with occupying Nazis during the war. Public shaving was applied to (true or alleged) collaborators after the Allied liberated occupied territories from the Nazi troops.[5][6]
Further means of public humiliation and degradation consist in forcing people to wear typifying clothes, which can be penitential garb or prison uniforms.[7][8] Forcing arrestees or prisoners to wear restraints (such as handcuffs or shackles) may also increase public humiliation. In countries such as Japan, France, and South Korea,[9] handcuffs on arrested persons are blurred in media broadcasts and hidden wherever possible to prevent feelings of "personal shame" in the accused and to make the public more likely to maintain a presumption of innocence before trial.[10]
Forcing people to go barefoot has been used as a more subtle form of humiliation in past and present cultures. The exposure of bare feet has served as an indicator for imprisonment and slavery throughout ancient and modern history.[11] Even today prisoners officially have to go barefoot in many countries of the world and are also presented in court and in public unshod.[12][13]
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Apart from specific methods essentially aiming at humiliation, several methods combine pain and humiliation or even death and humiliation. In some cases, the pain—or at least discomfort—is insignificant or rather secondary to the humiliation.[14][15][16]
The simplest is to administer painful corporal punishment in public - the major aim may be deterrence of potential offenders - so the public will witness the perpetrator's fear and agony. This can either take place in a town square or other public gathering location such as a school, or take the form of a procession through the streets. This was not uncommon in the sentences to Staupenschlag (flagellation by whipping or birching, generally on the bare buttocks)[17] in various European states, till the 19th century.[18] A naval equivalent was Flogging round the fleet on a raft taken from ship to ship for consecutive installments of a great total of lashes.[19][20] In some countries, the punishment of foot whipping is executed in public to this day.[21]
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The humiliation can be extended; intentionally or not; by leaving visible marks, such as scars. This can even be the main intention of the punishment, as in the case of scarifications, such as human branding.[22] Other examples of physical torture or modification used as public humiliation throughout history include ear cropping (starting in ancient Assyrian law and the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi and extending into the 1800s in parts of the US)[23] and tarring and feathering.[24]
Public shaming can result in negative psychological effects and devastating consequences, regardless of the punishment being justifiable or not. It could cause depression, suicidal thoughts and other severe mental problems. The humiliated individuals may develop a variety of symptoms including apathy, paranoia, anxiety, PTSD, or others. The rage and fury may arise in the persecuted individual, themselves lashing out against innocent victims, as they seek revenge or as a means of release.[citation needed]
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