How about a historical perspective on the efficacy of physical punishments?
If this kind of punishment were all so effective, how come most/all advanced/developed nations have abolished physical punishments as punishment for a crime of whatever degree?
The abolition of physical punishment is more due to political distaste for the practice rather than it's efficacy. That's why virtually every country used physical punishments for centuries, and though so-called “advanced” countries may have officially abolished physical punishment, what do you think happens inside modern jails and prisons to maintain order. Google “cell extraction videos” some time, and you'll see prisoners screaming and begging for mercy while they are getting beaten, tazed, pepper sprayed, thrown on the concrete floor, and brutalized beyond belief. But hey, that's way more humane than assigning a set number of lashes and having an official ceremony with witnesses to make sure they are not getting beaten above what they were sentenced, right?
Schools abolished spanking in a number of states here, but it had very little to do with how well it worked….it was more due to modern distaste for the practice. I have actually known teachers who worked in schools and saw both sides, before and after. One teacher told me he witnessed academics go straight downhill once spanking was banned. And you can talk to a number of teachers who hold the view that spankings worked well. If it was purely a matter of what worked, spanking would have continued, but the issue is not what works, it's that we are much too sophisticated for such barbaric practices today, and we are advanced and scientific, and now we just put kids on mind altering drugs to get them to behave. It sounds like a joke, but the school system literally labels any student that can't sit still ADHD, ADD or some other disorder, and puts them on drugs. This works too, but unfortunately, it doesn't actually teach the kids self-control (and yes, spanking actually does teach self-control), but instead it teaches them to medicate themselves into whatever state they need to be in. And is it any wonder that we are a country full of meth addicts, pot heads, and drug users?