Abusers and bullies often products of their environment 14 May 2021 - 11:33 Abusive behaviour is common in children whose parents are deceased or unable to care for them and who are shunted from one place of care to the next, says a clinical psychologist. Stock photo. Image: 123RF/ANDRIY POPOV Abusers often come from a background where they did not feel validated as children, where they were not made to feel accepted for who they were as people. This is according to Phillip van Rensburg, a clinical psychologist practising at Akeso George in the Western Cape, who noted that in many cases abusers have experienced abuse in their own lives, either first-hand as a victim or by witnessing abuse in the family environment.