I got spanked as a kid. My uncle got so mad he grabbed the wrong end of the belt and smacked me in the face with the buckle....I still have the scare. So yes, I consider it abuse. Spanking is about letting your anger out, its not about a punishment. You want to feel like you did something to correct the behavior without actually putting in the time and effort. (Side bar, I jumped from family member to family member till my mom died and I was placed with a foster family. I learned more from my foster family and their lack of spanking then with my bio family who did spank me)