I am not sure that the theory is true that punishment is the only thing a punisher understands. Since "being punished" seems to be something that every human being deeply abhors. While punishment may be effective in getting someone to shut up or back down, it probably does not achieve an understanding of one's shortcomings. The reactions I recognise to punishment are stubbornness, obstinacy, helplessness, victim mentality.

The question of where a punished person turns to and on whom they take out their punishment, which they perceive as unjust, is rarely asked. A punished person may be chased off the field, but that does not mean he is out of the game of life.

Humility, which is supposed to be a consequence of punishment, is this something that can be observed? The punishers who receive much praise and prize fall for flattery, that is true, they may think it is love.
But because it is not love, and everyone knows that too, the gloating is only a very short-lived moment that glosses over the fact that everyone loses.
Beneath the righteous surface there is another field that knows about the loss.