This was based on the belief that the father was the head of the house, with authority to punish. Punishment might consist of physical force, containment, withdrawal of emotional support, withholding of money or food, or threats of these things. I try not to use punishment - it is degrading to kids and leads to the coercive use of power within intimate relationships. Instead, I am in favour of power-sharing and the unimpeded experience of natural consequences. Power-sharing means gradually handing over knowledge, responsibility, money and physical space to kids early in their lives, taking risks but trusting them to learn from their own mistakes.
Natural consequences are the repercussions that flow from choices.
If someone spends their money on a toy that breaks, the money is gone. If their room is in a mess, they may not be able to find all their favourite things. If kids directly experience consequences, there is probably no need for my intervention at all. My experience is that kids learn lots from their own mistakes, so long as their space is not too cluttered with adult admonitions. In addition, it can be tempting to impose my own artificial consequences but this would be punishment under another name.