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I commented in another thread that spanking works, which makes the argument for peaceful alternatives with people who spank their children difficult. I was surprised to find that some of the community here think that spanking doesn't work at all. Perhaps the problem was in my use of the word "work", but I think it goes deeper than that. So after netting a lot of downvotes I left the conversation alone. I think it deserves some more consideration though so I'm creating this thread to discuss it further. DISCLAIMER: I'm not encouraging, endorsing, or defending spanking! My argument is this: Spanking "works" in the sense that it causes children to obey the commands of parents. It is the most basic and primitive form of expression and control. Children from a very young age understand that physical pain is bad and will change their behavior to avoid it. Parallels can be seen in the stereotypical master/slave relationship where beatings and whippings are employed to, in effect, force slaves to work. Prisoners of war can be physically tortured into obeying their torturer and divulging military secrets. Violence is used by social animals to assert dominance over peers and establish a pecking order. The effectiveness of violence is a rudimentary fact of nature that cannot be ignored and doesn't need to be spelled out. Conceding a point to anyone who uses violence against children may leave some of you feeling dirty, but there is an unfortunate truth here. Violence can be used to manipulate obedience from a child. So when someone says that spanking has worked for them and that their children are very well behaved because of it there are many things you could say, but you cannot say that spanking does not work.