Why reverse polarity causes damage
So speaking to the semi-conductor / Silicon side of things. The expectation is that people who use the device will operate it correctly, so reverse wiring really isn't designed into the product (with some exceptions).  Most of the the reverse bias (forward conduction in the protection diodes) arises from parasitic structure in the die, and as such they will easily conduct at very very low resistances and if you try to drive those structure hard the metal layers or bond wires are going to lose big time. Overheat, melt and be irrecoverably damaged i.e "magic smoke".

The examples that need to handle this reverse bias and survive will be designed to do so. But typically you don't design to protect people from their own stupidity unless it's endemic.

One concern that will always come up is the event of latch up with parasitic SCRs in the substrate.  These can be activated by reverse bias or very high \$ \frac{\partial V}{\partial t} \$ spikes. However, as much as this is a reality in the bare process, a lot of time is spent in ensuring that this cannot happen if the product is designed properly. In short during qualification of a new process this is analyzed and studied extensively and then parameters are put in place that are used to ensure that Latch up cannot happen in the final product. These are manifest in the DRC (Design Rules Check) and have to do mainly with spacing of structures and implants.

Some designs may require that these DRC be waived, if this is the case then this would be noted in the data-sheet.  But for most products this is not going to happen.