Lets look at the first study: [quote]The study involved a large number of subjects with data collected from some 35,000 non-institutionalized adults in the USA. Around 1,300 of the subjects confirmed that they had, at sometime, or regularly been "pushed, grabbed, shoved, slapped or hit by your parents or any adult living in your house"[/quote] I don't know about you but that looks to me like a really broad definition coupled with mostly anecdotal evidence, and spanking is hardly even mentioned outside of the title. The second is more arguementave but didn't provide much evidence beyond that kids who were punished excessively were more likely to be agressive according to their surveys. Most of what was said in the article was conjecture, and the survey relied on anecdotes from the parents to define those terms, which isn't very objective.

[quote]His own 2005 research showed that when light spanking is used appropriately, rather than wantonly and where it only servers to back up non physical discipline, such as talking sternly to the child or enacting some kind of punishment or removal of privileges, it does, in fact, prove very effective at removing non-compliant behavior. He goes on to state that the current study "does nothing to move beyond correlations to figure out what is actually causing the mental health problems ... The motivation that the child perceives and when and how and why the parent uses (spanking) makes a big difference. All of that is more important than whether it was used or not." This would probably concur with the ideals of many mentally balanced and well educated parents, who would do anything to avoid having to get physical with their children, but ultimately, in the appropriate moment, with the correct words and mood, find that spanking can be useful and not cause long term detriment. [/quote] Sound like the study is not as conclusive as the article's title may suggest. As I stated before, paddles are a good teaching deterrent. That said, I have witnessed people striking their children in the head in public. I can completely believe that there can be prolonged brain injury and disposition changes that are life long. This seems to be more of the direction the study is proving. Not to mention, how many battered baby stories do you hear a year? An abusive mother of father/boyfriend beat and or murders a baby or toddler just for being a baby or toddler, simply because they do not know how to deal with them or the mother or father/boyfriend were beaten regularly as a child themselves.