This Heart-Wrenching PSA Shows Exactly How the Cycle of Domestic Abuse Begins

In this heart-wrenching new PSA from the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, a guy sits in a car and screams into his phone: "You disgust me! You make me sick! You are a terrible mother! ..." Confusingly, another guy is sitting in the back seat, repeating each vicious line word-for-word.

But a slow panning shot around the exterior of the car and a deft edit makes the conceit of the ad quickly clear: The guy in the back seat is actually the abuser's son; in the blink of an eye, we see the grown man as the little boy he once was, witnessing his father's outburst. A stark message appears on screen: "What they see they become."

Joe Torre is, of course, a baseball legend and current Chief Baseball Officer of Major League Baseball. This personal message at his foundation's website offers background on Torre's mission:

"Growing up in a home where there was domestic violence was very difficult and left lasting scars. Although I didn't realize it then, I used to feel like the abuse was my fault. I felt helpless and alone. For many years, I felt ashamed and worthless. As an adult, I began to speak openly about my childhood experience with domestic violence. As I gained the understanding and knowledge that too many children live in fear, are unaware of how to ask for help, and suffer the same debilitating fear that I and my family had, my wife, Ali, and I founded the Safe At Home Foundation in 2002."