Sadism

Cruelty, from bullying to erotic sadism, finds its rationale exposed in this passage from As I Lay Dying:

I would look forward to the times when they faulted, so I could whip them. When the switch fell, I could feel it upon my flesh; when it welted and ridged it was my blood that ran, and I would think with each blow of the switch: Now you are aware of me!

Now you are aware of me!--the howl from the violator's fantasy. The irony is that what most victims are mostly aware of is their own suffering; they're aware of the person inflicting it only in a shadowy sense. But that's hardly going to stop the sadist.