OK.. Long story PS, but will try and keep it short.
The abused can often become abusers - irresepective of gender.
If you had the liberty to chat with people on death row - and assuming they were open to discussion, chances are you will find most were abused as children.
Little doubts, by the law of averages, there will be folks on GFY who will know the next part. An abused child has the ability (more than an adult) to develop a Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). This is basically a "shut down" of their true self and a locking out of offenses committed against them. In itself, MPD under these conditions can be a lifesaver for a child in that it offers a "way out" and protects the "real personality" and gives them some sanity to hang on to.
The problem with MPD is often in later life - it's kinda hard to dump the baggage of the other personalities which may have assembled to "defend" when abuses occurred, and, depending - it can cause stress when an alter ego takes over. Tho not specifically related to MPD - victims can view themselves as "not good enough" or inferior and can have very low self esteem and lack of confidence.
I've seen a fair bit of this in real life over the last 10 years by knowing law enforcement support folks who try to help victims of child/sex abuse and met up with a number of victims. They were all very nice people - some were able to cope more than others and their ages ranged from around 20 to 50 years of age. A couple became friends in a way and I deliberately took time out to chat with them.
There were some odd occasions which were a result of MPD still being present - on one occasion got an email from an "alter" (who was a male - tho the victim was female
) asking me to try and take care of the real personality. The lady who sent the email had no idea she sent this - she was in "alter mode". After checking with law friends, I showed her the email written by her alter - she just could not believe she wrote it, but never caused any harm, but was proof she still had "personailities" around. (These often appear when the victim is under stress - of any kind, but are not harmful).
Another victim had a day when an MPD "personality" took the victims credit card/bank stuff and went out and purchased a new car
Later when the real personality returned, the girl wondered why the hell there was a new car in her driveway - it was not really *her* who purchased it
(Some deal was done and the car returned to the dealer and all was fine).
In other victims, they just simply "crash" and that damage stays with them all their lives - and can cause them serious grief, both in relationships and daily living.
It's fair to say a victim can become an abuser - this can be a scenario where a mother (abused as a child) can continue the abuse with her children. Same with males and.. not sure why, but prob more so than with females.
A few decades ago a friend interviewed what was at the time, three children who were on death row (tho they were never executed till reaching 20's). The kids were.. think nine and maximum age was 13. They had all murdered one or more parents. Over their time on death row, my friend (tho law related), made a point of visiting them on a regular basis and got to know them very well. All three had been severely abused - often on a daily basis. Two were able to talk, another could not talk, but had "closed down". The lady who befriended them said she would have killed her parents if they had treated her that way as a child. In the end, two of them asked her to be present at their executions since she was the only real friend they had. She did appear to see their sentences carried out. Gutsy girl is my friend and got great respect for her doing this.
Bottom line... the damage cause by abuse is enormous and very damaging - not just for the victims, but possibly for others around them. It's a vicious circle and very sad shit.