Prof.N quotes a case above where CP use appeared to be excessive: In this case, for example, the big issue showed itself to be the misuse of corporal punishment to punish academic failure,
This does seem to me to be an indicator of dysfunction. In the cases I am aware of at the primary level this has been applied very unfairly – children have been punished for lack of ability or understanding rather than lack of effort.
I also believe excessive use of CP can have a detrimental effect on behavior. My 5th class was composed of 40 children from many schools. Three boys came from one school in a wealthy suburb – the previous year each of the three had been bent over and caned frequently by their (older) male teacher. CP was used sparingly in our class, but those three boys received 70% of it. I doubt this was a coincidence.