In almost all circumstances of minors exercising extreme behavior, even to the point of what seems like sociopathy, I think that scientific analysis has generally shown that the young criminals have tended to be mirroring physical and/or psychological abuse that they've been victims of. And what happens is basically a kind of evolution. Or perhaps even literally exact reenactments of what has happened to them previously (only with somebody else chosen to be the victim instead of themselves). This is, however, difficult to explain as an abstract concept.
To pick a specific example that's concrete, look at German dictator and one of the influential figures in modern history: let's talk about Adolf Hitler.
As a child, Hitler received constant maltreatment from a strict, callous, and domineering father in the context of growing up in a very regimented and authoritarian society in which the personal morals that we in 21st Century America view as positive (such as universal health care and freedom of speech) were back then negatives. Being told over and over again that you're a worthless piece of flesh by family took its toll. However, young Hitler had his caring, compassionate mother who totally believed in moral idealism in the Catholic Christian sense as a counterweight.
And then his mother died in an extremely painful and nightmarish fashion of cancer, again with him being a small child unable to rationally comprehend the situation.
It's been documented by historians that adult Hitler actively modeled his life as the opposite of his mother. She was soft-spoken and reflective. He was loud and dominant. She put others before herself and had a religious philosophy based on moral tradition. Hitler thought that he was a demi-god with spiritual abilities and a special destiny, requiring others to serve him. She wasn't focused on her appearance and such. He was focused on machismo and being tough. And so on.
As profoundly weird as it is to express sympathy for Hitler, of all people, it appears pretty clear-cut to historians that the psychological break-up of his mind at directly witnessing the torture and death of his mother caused him in later years to relive and reenact that exact situation by personally causing torture and death of others that he knew. He was a victim. And then he became a bully. The circle closed, so to speak.
While I don't know if this specific criminal case parallels Hitler's journey, the
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