Strapping (punishment) Strapping (punishment) Strapping refers to the use of a strap as an implement of corporal punishment. It is typically a broad and heavy strip of leather, often with a hard handle, the more flexible 'blade' being applied to the offender. Probably because of the stiffness, the word "strap" is sometimes used interchangeably with a leather paddle. Other terms that are used interchangeably include whipping, lashing, and confusingly even in some official language, belting—in principle a belt is lighter, without a handle. These terms are strictly speaking reserved for other implements. The Scottish tawse is a forked version with two or
Corporal punishment in the home includes forms, such as hitting with objects, that Baumrind terms "overly severe", and that the line between corporal punishment and abuse is necessarily arbitrary; according to Gershoff "the same dimensions that characterize 'normative' corporal punishment can, when taken to extremes, make hitting a child look much more like abuse than punishment". Another point of contention for Baumrind was the inclusion of studies using the Conflict Tactics Scale, which measures more severe forms of punishment in addition to spanking. According to Gershoff, the Conflict Tactics Scale is "the closest thing to a standard measure of corporal punishment". A 2012 study at