Child abuse is the deliberate and willful injury of a child involving active, hostile, aggressive treatment. The abuse can come in many forms, such as hitting the child, verbally abusing them, beating them with an object, sexually abusing them, slamming them against a wall, or even killing them. Those who were once the abused are now becoming the abuser. It seems that the memories of a tortured and abusive childhood can haunt a person until they reach adulthood, whereupon their abusive memories twist and manipulate their perception into the same mentality of that of an abuser. The psychological damage created by the constant victimizing of that person as a child has now created a cycle of abuse that, if not destroyed, could continue in a family for generations. Besides abuse in families, many other forms of child abuse are evident in today's society such as bullying. In order to break the cycle of abuse, not only is there a need of help for victims at the family level, but there is also a need for stiffer laws and repercussions towards the abusers so that they are held more accountable for their actions.
             Perhaps one of the most extreme cases in the last century in which the abused became the abuser is the case of Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin is considered one of the most bloodthirsty and restraining tyrants of modern time. However, this could be due to the fact that he was raised in poverty, with an alcoholic father who abused and humiliated Joseph when he was a child. Joseph was also repeatedly punished for reading forbidden books when he was studying for the priesthood (Cullen). As stated in an article entitled "The Childhood of Tyranny," "[...] poverty and abusive parents give rise to dictators and tyrants. They strive to succeed and overcome feelings of defeat and failure by having power over others and creating a false image of their own goodness and self-righteousness" (Cullen). Because of this, the abused would rather vent o...