Auden is great, but that's not statistically true. Most people who are abused as children do not grow up to be abusers. It's extremely important to make the distinction and identify those with a predilection for abuse early, because even born sociopaths' behavior can be mitigated with early intervention.
Here's what I see as the answer to your question, from W. H. Auden:
"I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn:
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return."
--September 3, 1939 (poem)
Auden is great, but that's not statistically true. Most people who are abused as children do not grow up to be abusers. It's extremely important to make the distinction and identify those with a predilection for abuse early, because even born sociopaths' behavior can be mitigated with early intervention.