Humans do fear of punishment. This smart contrivance is being implemented in humans since they understand more than 10 words.
What is really the punishment and what is really fear of it?
A punishment couldn't exist without being under the power of another human. Anyone, who fears of punishment is acknowledging his enslavement. This is, because punishment is a result of conscious acting and not the simple consequence of how things are going.
I was enlightened by my dog, husky, once I've lost control after toilsome training him. During dealing second blow to his skinny bottom I realized he's not understanding what I'm doing. He didn't bite, neither growl nor avoid strokes, but stared at me with his big, astonished eyes. Poor on me, he was a winner and gave me best lesson I could get. The sense of absolute freedom overwhelmed my dog and made him unable to react.  

Overcoming the fear of being punished one refuses to be enslaved.