Innocent Victims of Abuse

During the first eight years of his life, Susan's youngest son says he never thought about his mother's feelings because he thought his parents had a normal relationship.

"I remember that when she used to talk to [my father] on the phone … she used to have to say, 'Master, yes master. Do you want this master?,' and I thought that was fine," he says. "[I thought] it's just another thing that goes on, and it was regular."

Now, years after Susan fled with him and his brother, he realizes how his father's abuse has affected him.

Oprah: What do you think watching that, being a part of that your entire life, what do you think that has done to you?

Young Son: I think that was just another life. That was a different life, and I really don't think that the first eight years of my childhood happened.

Oprah: Do you think that you could ever grow up and become a batterer—the kind of man who humiliates and abuses women?

Young Son: The only way that I could be that—and I will say it's a possibility—but that would be if I was literally mentally insane.

Susan's youngest child has advice for every mother who's staying in an abusive relationship for the sake of her children "Do not stay," he says. "I know that they think that they want them to grow up in a healthy home with their parents. [But] it's not a good idea, because what is happening—it's not healthy."