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I’ve been working through childhood trauma in therapy, mostly along the lines of severe emotional neglect. My parents were big fans of Dobson’s work and I remember them having copies of Dare to Discipline, The Strong Willed Child, and several others.
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Dobson refers to toddlers as tyrants, tigers, sadists, and worse. He claims that a few (2-5) minutes of crying after a spanking, but any more than that and the child is deliberately punishing the parent which should be addressed with - you guessed it - another spanking. A kid who doesn’t want to go down for a nap is intentionally trying to assert dominance over his parents, and a little girl who kept trying to follow her mom when mom disappeared out of sight “decided she didn’t want to obey” by staying behind. Tears are manipulation. A newborn infant crying for his mother is trying to train her to indulge his every whim.

You guys, what the FUCK. This explains my childhood with horrific clarity....