Hi Judd,
I learned to fly in gliders and before first solo a student had to be able to enter and recover from a fully developed spin. Then again GFA always had a higher standard than CAA/CASA.
A risk exists in mishandling the recovery in Utility category aircraft, especially old ones. IMHO, a risk of over stress exists and I would be pretty uncomfortable flying in such an aircraft.
Personally, I don't think that CPL should be issued without spin certification. If you are scared of a spin, you shouldn't be flying. There are plenty of aircraft around which are built for the g-loads that can be encountered during a botched recovery. A C172 isn't one of them.