Cruelty

Cruelty is the pleasure in inflicting suffering or the inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept. Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involve violence, but affirmative violence is not necessary for an act to be cruel. The term comes from Middle English, via the Old French term "crualte", which is based on Latin "crudelitas", from "crudelis". The word has metaphorical uses, for example, "The cliffs remained cruel." (i.e., unclimbable when they desperately needed to be climbed) in The Lord of the Rings. The term cruelty is often used in law and criminology with regard to the treatment of animals, children, spouses, and prisoners. When cruelty to animals is discussed, it often refers to unnecessary suffering. In criminal law, it refers to punishment, torture, victimization, draconian measures, and cruel and unusual punishment. In divorce cases, many jurisdictions permit a cause of action for cruel and inhumane treatment. In law, cruelty is "the infliction of physical or mental distress, especially when considered a determinant in granting a divorce." According to Barozzo, there are four distinct conceptions of cruelty in criminal law. “The differences between these conceptions of cruelty rest on the types of agency, victimization, causality, and values that they employ.” The first is the agent-objective conception, which is “exemplified by [...] agency that goes above in degree and beyond in type the [suffering] allowed by applicable norms.” Under this conception, the victim suffered cruelty in light of “the objective character of the act or treatment” she was subjected to. Cruelty, in this sense, is defined as an “inclination of the mind toward the side of harshness”. Any punishment or other treatment that surpasses the scope of sufficiency and ventures into possibility is classified as excessive, and therefore, cruel.