Blanket party

A blanket party (also known as locksocking) is a form of corporal punishment, hazing or retaliation conducted within a peer group, most frequently within the military or military academies. The victim (usually asleep in bed) is restrained by having a blanket flung over him and held down, while other members of the group strike the victim repeatedly with improvised flails, most often a sock or bath towel containing something solid, such as a bar of soap.[1]

In 2015, a United States Army veteran was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) after being the victim of a blanket party during basic training in the late 1970s.[2]

The intention behind a blanket party is usually to further prevent one incompetent member of a military branch (usually the United States Marine Corps) from negatively affecting the other members of the branch. These military branches usually utilize group punishment to instill a sense of teamwork. This group punishment usually involves vigorous physical exercise, so the goal is that the victim of the blanket party will stop sabotaging the rest of the team.

Full Metal Jacket

The term "blanket party" was popularized by the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket. In the film, members of a basic training platoon give a blanket party to Private Pyle, (Vincent D’Onofrio) an inept member of their platoon, whose mistakes have led to group punishment given to the entire platoon.[3]

See also

References
  1. Laws, United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security (1974). Hearings Before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 299.
  2. "Board of Veterans Appeals citation no. 1534047". August 20, 2015.
  3. Rasmussen, Randy. Stanley Kubrick: Seven Films Analyzed, 2nd ed., pp. 300-301, McFarland & Company, 2015. ISBN 978-0-7864-2152-7.
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