> which doesn't deserve to use the word science

Why not? You don't think the outcomes of the presented solutions were evaluated using scientific method? It would be nice if you could elaborate.

I understand your point, but if we were fair then software engineering shouldn't be called engineering either. Just like in social sciences, there is a lot of normative judgement and opinion compared to observation and experimentation. But I think both are getting better with time, and as we continue discourse, we employ empiricism more and more.

The problem is that it is too soft. Psychology tells us that punishments work, social science tells us they have no effect? Really.

Would be nice if you explained in more detail what exactly do you mean. IMHO, this is too reductionist. I can only guess:

I imagine punishment works better on children but worse on adults. I imagine it works better against psychopaths than people who have empathy. I imagine it works better on people who coldly calculate than on people who impulsively give to emotions. I imagine it works better on people from the same ingroup than from the outgroup.

Each of these items alone can explain why you can see the effect psychologically but not socially.