The good girls. Why do fathers beat their daughters?

[Anonymous]

I just read the short story The good girls. I am too describe her father, and write a letter to him (School assignment).

Plot Summary: “The Good Girls” by Fran Arrick is about a 16-year-old girl named Mary Louise. Her mother had walked out on her and her father years before. Her father is always drunk and he sometimes beats her up.

Why would a father beat his daughter, or the other way around. Why would any parent beat their children?
Could his mother walking away from them have anything to do with him doing this? It obviously is, but why?

[karahiri]

there could be several reasons. maybe the father believes the daughter is the reason why his wife left- maybe the wife didn't really want to be a mother. maybe the father has issues with his own parents. maybe the daughter looks too much like the wife that abandoned him and he thinks hurting her = hurting the wife. maybe he hates himself and instead of hurting himself, he hurts his daughter since she is partly... him.