It was almost impossible to guarantee the response of an individual, and indeed the intensity of the response varied from individual to individual and even day to day. Additionally, it involved external factors, including the setting, and the approach of the caner and so on. . It also depended to a great extent on the individual administering the caning being able to reproduce a recognizable pattern and degree of punishment ( over time) which made prediction less of a guesstimate. In this regard the caning of girls was far far more difficult than boys and required a great degree of understanding and luck- Indeed far fewer were suitable to be punished effectively in this way. But there was a subset for whom it did work, and sometimes overriding circumstances.