Decided to actually take a look at this silly thread. Watched this video:
...afterwards I felt more inclined to side with with the parents that discipline over the psychologists. Did you watch the video? The parents even tried to give timeouts instead of spanking, and the kids would openly challenge them. It's easy to sit here and be an armchair parent, but honestly I wouldn't have any better advice for the parents. Kids do this. They make it into a game to see how far they can push you and what they can get away with.
Additionally, it's ridiculous to associate spanking with beating the living shit out of a child. Like someone said before in this thread, spankings aren't meant to inflict pain, they're meant to shock or embarrass the child. I've never been hit by a belt by my parents, but I've been threatened with it, and I knew from spankings that it's a possible occurrence, so I stop being a dick. Worked on me.
Anyway, spanking is just a form of conditioning, and its silly to compare conditioning a child to conditioning an adult. A 2 year old is definitely capable of learned behavior from conditioning, regardless of whether or not he/she has the memory capacity. (You can condition behavior in rodents, for christ's sake.)
Edit:
Uncle: Son, gangs are bad. Don't consort with gangs or you might die.
Kid: Holy shit! I had no idea there could be consequences with being affiliated with violent organizations. Thank you for showing me the light, uncle!