Editing Pain (section)

==Society and culture==
[[File:Lamani v kole.jpg|thumb|The [[breaking wheel]] was a torture method used for [[Capital punishment#Public execution|public execution]] by breaking the bones of a criminal or [[Club (weapon)|bludgeoning]] them to death.]]
[[File:TUCANDEIRA RITUAL - panoramio.jpg|thumb|The [[Mawé people]] of Brazil intentionally use [[bullet ant]] stings as a [[rite of passage]] into manhood.]]
Physical pain is a universal experience, and a strong motivator of human and animal behavior. As such, physical pain is used politically in relation to various issues such as [[pain management]] policy, [[Drug policy|drug control]], [[animal rights]] or [[animal welfare]], [[torture]], and [[pain compliance]]. The deliberate infliction of pain and the medical management of pain are both important aspects of [[biopower]], a concept that encompasses the "set of mechanisms through which the basic biological features of the human species became the object of a political strategy".<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Foucault M |title=Security, Territory, Population: Lectures at the College de France, 1977–78|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2007|page=1}}</ref>

In various contexts, the deliberate infliction of pain in the form of [[corporal punishment]] is used as retribution for an offence, for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable. In Western societies, the intentional infliction of severe pain (torture) was principally used to extract confession prior to its abolition in the latter part of the 19th century. Torture as a means to punish the [[Citizenship|citizen]] has been reserved for offences posing a severe threat to the social fabric (for example, [[treason]]).<ref name="fall-rise-of-torture">{{cite journal | vauthors = Einolf C | date=2007 | title=The Fall and Rise of Torture: A Comparative and Historical Analysis | jstor=20453071 | journal=Social Theory | volume=25 | issue=2 | pages=101–121 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-9558.2007.00300.x | s2cid=53345959 | url=https://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=christopher_einolf }}</ref>

The administration of torture on bodies othered by the cultural narrative, those observed as not 'full members of society' <ref name="fall-rise-of-torture" />{{rp|101–121[AD1] }} met a resurgence in the 20th century, possibly due to the heightened warfare.<ref name="fall-rise-of-torture" />{{rp|101–121 [AD2] }}

Many cultures use painful ritual practices as a catalyst for psychological transformation.<ref name="ritual-experience">{{cite journal | vauthors = Morinis A | date=1985 | title=The ritual experience: pain and the transformation of consciousness in ordeals of initiation | jstor=639985 | journal=Ethos | volume=13 | issue=2 | pages=150–174 | doi=10.1525/eth.1985.13.2.02a00040 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The use of pain to transition to a 'cleansed and purified' state is seen in religious [[self-flagellation]] practices (particularly those of [[Self-flagellation#Christianity|Christianity]] and [[Self-flagellation#Islam|Islam]]), or personal [[catharsis]] in [[Suspension (body modification)|neo-primitive body suspension]] experiences.<ref name="flesh-journeys">{{cite journal | vauthors = Atkinson M, Young K | date=2001 | title=Flesh journeys: neo primitives and the contemporary rediscovery of radical body modification | journal=Deviant Behavior | volume=22 | issue=2 | pages=117–146 | doi=10.1080/016396201750065018 | s2cid=146525156 }}</ref>

Beliefs about pain play an important role in sporting cultures. Pain may be viewed positively, exemplified by the 'no pain, no gain' attitude, with pain seen as an essential part of training. Sporting culture tends to normalise experiences of pain and injury and celebrate athletes who 'play hurt'.<ref>{{Cite book| veditors = Loland S, Skirstad B, Waddington I |title=Pain and injury in sport: Social and ethical analysis |publisher=Routledge |year=2006|isbn=978-0415357043 |location=London and New York |pages=17–20}}</ref>

Pain has psychological, social, and physical dimensions, and is greatly influenced by cultural factors.<ref name="how-culture-pain-experience">{{cite journal | vauthors = Narayan MC | title = Culture's effects on pain assessment and management | journal = The American Journal of Nursing | volume = 110 | issue = 4 | pages = 38–47 | date = April 2010 | pmid = 20335689 | doi = 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000370157.33223.6d | doi-access = free }}</ref>