Knowing the incredible pain the behavior caused, it seems they would all fight against it w/everything they had but what you posted does seem to happen so often. What is the theory behind why they repeat the behavior?
Four theories;
-it's genetical and it happens once every woman gives birth to a child; wife/ gf becomes a mother, thus not being a mother for her husband /bf anymore (could be a process of natural selection; once kids are spawned males go find another woman to get pregnant; there's just a problem here, because offsprings to have maximal chances of survival need both mother and father influences to grow up and adapt to life in society)
-it is a genetical behavior which is inherited from father (arnold) who inherited from his own father himself... who inherited it from his father...and so on; it would reinforce itself generation after generation becoming a deeply engraved pattern followed subconsciouly and trigered by similar events in the life of the father and son
-a subconscious wish to imitate the father 's behavior to be loved / feel like you re following his steps , precisely because by abandonning you or / and your mother he gave you the feeling your existence wasnt worth staying with you/her, which leads to an amputated self esteem all life long and conflictual relationships with men / authority in general.
-two , or all of the above at the same time.
All of this can be balanced by the presence of a decent father figure -a grandfather, a teacher/mentor -, but it is very rare. In the case of mentors/teachers you have to remind them someone by showing some physical or psychological traits they could identify with. Doesnt happen often.
Most of the time stepfathers do not like the children they have to deal with and who are from another man. They hate seeing that man in the kid(s). It leads to more psychological troubles.