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I have to agree with MagiK. I really doubt that the message you learn from spankings is violence begets violence. The key, IMO, is to have a consistent, clearly articulated set of rules, and clear understanding of the consequences of breaking those rules. This is as old as Hammurabi posting the laws on the gates of the city so that none would have an excuse for not knowing the law.
If the spankings are arbitrary and capricious, of course they do more harm than good, and if the child is too young to understand the idea of rules, a spanking is rather useless. But once the kid is old enough to know right from wrong, and once you have communicated both your rules and your punishment and reward system, I really don't believe spanking does any harm at all.
IMO, the problem arises whenever kids do not have a clear understanding of what is expected of them, and particularly when they do not have to bear the consequences of violating those expectations. As long as there is someone around to blame it on the parents, or the video games, or TV, or the violent culture, or the prevalence of guns, or whatever, kids (and adults, for that matter) will be happy to grab onto that instead of accepting the blame for their own actions.
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