I think psychology and its interpretations are subject to cultural norms ( and traditionally in the West, those norms have leaned in support of a conservative status quo). In the example you cite, I'm sure there are levels of hitting that would be considered abuse, but where those lines are drawn, and how the issue would be addressed, are dependent upon the culture.

I'm an ex-pat and a professor. Many of my students tell me things they would not reveal to native professors because they recognize that my cultural norms are very different ( and I teach in the area of Cultural Studies, so the subject is a natural prompt). Often they first reveal abuse by their teachers, and especially sports coaches, from jr high. But they rarely recognize their treatment as abusive, even when it clearly crosses sexual boundaries. In fact, they will often talk about those teachers as the ones who were most important in helping them to grow up.

As they become more comfortable, some will confide in me in a way that reveals pain that they don't have a frame of reference for; they have no cultural paradigm that allows for it. And I'm in a culture that does promote therapy, though it's a fairly recent phenomenon. But it's also a culture that stresses conformity, which also influences how therapy is engaged.