In both cases she snatched the girl up in her large black cloak and carried her off before anyone suspected what had happened. In today's terms, it was clearly a case of illegal deprogramming. Both girls were only children born to doting parents - one in a palace and the other in a distant shepherd's hut. They were awash in parental affection, but they were both totally selfish and unloving. According to today's behavior modification experts, futile coaxing, inappropriate praise and fondling, and empty threats actually reinforce undesirable behaviors.
Permissive parents like to let a child's natural impulses unfold freely.
When parents decrease their influence, other forces increase theirs. The wise woman knew the only thing that could save the princess from her hatefulness was that she should be made to mind somebody else than her own miserable Somebody. He claims that the goal of keeping a child happy will keep her from being happy. We are taught now that the first five or six years of a child's life are the most formative. Learning continues throughout life, they say, and their principles apply throughout life.