The Victorian concept of discipline is well known, and many boys became so sexually oriented to whipping and flagellation that it became known in Europe as the "English Vice". A Governess was a woman invested with authority to control and direct the children of the household. The status of the Governess was ambiguous because she was neither family nor servant. The Governess most likely suffered from "status incongruity," which means she was neither a servant nor thought of as full member of the employer’s class.

The Governess was often responsible for disciplining the children and she usually was more punitive and firm with the male children. During the Victorian era, it was thought that it was better for a boy to be disciplined by a Lady than by a man because it humiliated a boy far more to be punished by a Governess or a School-Mistress than by a man.

Humiliation was a common tool of discipline during the Victorian era. Often, punishments included being ordered to write lines over and over, or having to memorize long passages. In school, teachers shamed their students by making them wear a "dunce cap", or wear a humiliating sign around their neck. A boy might be made to put on a girl's bonnet and sit on the girl's side of the room, or students were forced to balance themselves on a small block of wood in the corner of the room. "The Peg" was a severe and dreaded punishment. The disobedient child's hair was fastened to a clip which was pegged into the wall at a height which kept the pupil standing on his or her tiptoes until the teacher felt that the student had learned his/her lesson. During the Victorian era, it was perfectly acceptable to slap a boy’s face, or pull and twist his ears.

The Governess often handled the young males under her care with a very firm hand. Of course, the most common punishment for male children was a whipping with the dreaded cane (thus the reason for the cane as the chosen implement of discipline for the AKS). The Governess' strategy was to administer the punishment in such a way that the young male would think as much as possible about the caning he was soon to receive.

The slow nature of ceremonial punishment induced the young male to think more than he wished about the punishment. It was believed that fear made the rebellious boy more attentive to detail. It was thought that fear enhanced perception, thus fear enhanced the effect of the cane. For this reason, the Governess could play her mind games as she prepared her young male for punishment. She often used such tactics as making the boy wait for a considerable amount of time after he was bent over, perhaps placing the cane in his line of vision, making him think about the cane while he waited for his punishment at the hands of the Governess.