L.J. Writes

Because violence is a cure for bad memory/inattentiveness, evidently. I would like to see one case, just one, where spanking is actually an effective cure for what allegedly prompted it. (The answer of course is that hitting kids solves nothing.)

ODD is another condition that often came up in my search results for undiagnosed conditions that get marked up as/lead to misbehavior. I'm so sorry your home was like that, I tended to be the compliant one while my brother was more defiant growing up and watching the fights and "discipline" was hell.

Your sister's case also illustrates yet another point about the futility of spanking/yelling; parents who resort to it forget that they're not always going to be the bigger and stronger person in the relationship. And by the time their child is a teenager, already predisposed to be volatile and angry, the parents have taught them that violence is a part of the relationship and an acceptable solution to problems. Smh.