Quote:
Originally Posted by fluffygrrl
There is a very serious difference at play here, imo.
On one hand, a kid that steals his dads gun, and shoots someone, or a kid that runs off from school during hours, gets drunk, and gets in a car crash, or in general, a kid acting out of his own volition, outside the house/school/controlled environment.
Then, the merit I can see, and the reason to suspect they will commit crimes later in life I see too.
However, on this other hand we have here, is a kid that did what he saw his mother do, for years, and what he saw a good chunk of all the other adults in his life do, for years.
You can't expect there's some sort of innate, automatic, right-and-wrong sense in a 12 year old. Or 10 year old, when the stuff started. He just does what he sees done.
I don't see that there's anything wrong with that. There's something wrong with a kid living in that environment, but the kid is not guilty of anything.
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While you certainly make a strong case, let's not forget that the kid who steals his father's gun and kills his classmates also got it from somewhere. An abusive home, bad role models, a mental disorder - whatever. One's own volition is created by genes and environment, and behaves accordingly.
As for this kid, certainly, he did not have an innate right-and-wrong sense. He accepted the moral guidelines of certain extremely bad role models. These are likely to have become part of his personality by now, though.
For the past 12 years, his personality been shaped by a thoroughly sadistic and sociopathic woman. That is what he is, right now. Treatment has a chance of changing that, although not a very large one.