The Strong Evidence Against Spanking
A review of the available research finds that physical punishment is significantly linked to bad outcomes for kids.http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/04/the-strong-evidence-against-spanking/479937/
"Around the world, an average of 60 percent of children receive some kind of physical punishment, according to UNICEF. And the most common form is spanking. In the United States, most people still see spanking as acceptable, though FiveThirtyEight reports that the percentage of people who approve of spanking has gone down, from 84 percent in 1986 to about 70 percent in 2012.
“The question of whether parents should spank their children to correct misbehaviors sits at a nexus of arguments from ethical, religious, and human-rights perspectives,” write Elizabeth Gershoff of the University of Texas at Austin, and Andrew Grogan-Kaylor of the University of Michigan, in a new meta-analysis examining the research on spanking and its effects on children.
The researchers raised concerns that previous meta-analyses had defined physical punishment too broadly, including harsher and more abusive behaviors alongside spanking. So for this meta-analysis, they defined spanking as “hitting a child on their buttocks or extremities using an open hand.”
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“Thus, among the 79 statistically significant effect sizes, 99 percent indicated an association between spanking and a detrimental child outcome,” the study reads. Those outcomes were: “low moral internalization, aggression, antisocial behavior, externalizing behavior problems, internalizing behavior problems, mental-health problems, negative parent–child relationships, impaired cognitive ability, low self-esteem, and risk of physical abuse from parents.”
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And there it is.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I do spank my boyfriend. Guess this means I am a good parent with a very fun adult life! 
I admit that I spanked our boy once, too, and had a similar realization. I knew immediately that it only made things worse.
Communication about expectations over time is the most effective thing, though they are individuals, and some kids need different responses, but knowing they're "earning privileges" vs. having a parent take them away does go a long way. And, yes, your focus on responsibility is awesome. I use that term a lot with my kid, as well as the kids with whom I work.
...and appreciate your response! Parenting isn't easy, but it is such an important role in life--with no redo. We raise citizens of the world 
Not a big fan of corporal punishment, to be honest, but I believe that the distinction is important.
Don't work too hard at finding other sources--I'm interested, so I'll search when I get home.
