When the modern term "abuse" is compared with the norms of the past, it is easy to see that the modern accustation is inclusive of far more behavior, even ones that were broadly acceptable in the past.

A very viseral example of this is "spanking" or corporal punishment. Most modern people react with rage at a parent who disciples their child through spanking. This was such a normal behavior in past generations that splanking usually went unremarked in public, unless an older mother and father commented that the misbeahving child "had it coming".