Found this on google which might be of interest.
Myths about the campaign to ban smacking
This is a debate which raises a number of anxieties and questions. Some false allegations have also been made about the effects of banning smacking, and in particular about what has happened in Sweden in the twenty years following the outlawing of smacking. A detailed review of the available Swedish data has been published on behalf of the Alliance by Save the Children UK and is available as a PDF file on the website of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children. Some of these findings are given below, in which we seek to clear up misunderstandings.
Outlawing smacking:
would not lead to the prosecution of parents for trivial smacks ? any more than adults are prosecuted for trivial assaults on other adults. On the contrary, clear reform coupled with education is likely to reduce the need for prosecutions through changes in parental attitudes and practice. This has happened in Sweden, where there has been no increase in prosecutions for parental assaults of children since the ban (the strongest decline being shown in relation to parents in their twenties ? who were themselves brought up without smacking).
would not lead to more compulsory social work intervention in families or removals of children into care. Again the Swedish experience shows a marked decline in out-of-family placements of children and of compulsory forms of intervention. The grounds for social work assistance, care orders or supervision orders under the Children Act would be unaffected by legal reform.
would not prevent parents from using physical measures to protect or restrain their children, nor absolve them of their duty to teach children good manners, the difference between right and wrong, and how to behave thoughtfully and respectfully towards others. Indeed, one can anticipate greater use of positive, consistent and effective forms of discipline as a consequence of such a ban. (A recent National Family and Parenting Institute poll found only one in five parents believing smacking was an effective way of teaching right from wrong).
would not be a "pointless" or "unenforceable" measure. Although there is no increase in official state intervention in families, there have been significant changes in attitudes and practice in countries which have adopted a ban. A majority supported smacking in Sweden before the ban, now only 6% of under-35 year-olds support even the mildest form of physical punishment. On the other hand, there is no evidence that physical punishment will disappear of its own accord. The prevalence of corporal punishment in the family, including "severe" corporal punishment, remains very high in the UK. Recent Government-commissioned research involved interviews with over 400 families. It found that 97% of the four year olds were physically punished, almost half more than once a week. Three-quarters of the one year-old babies were smacked in their first year. Almost a quarter of seven year olds had experienced "severe" punishment by mothers (defined as involving "intention or potential to cause injury or psychological damage, use of implements, repeated actions or over a long period of time").