Originally Appearing in AAPL Newsletter, January 2017, Vol. 42, No. 1

Craig was 18 years old when he became a frequent visitor on an Internet chat line, only reached by going into the “dark web” via a secret portal.

There he met two young teenage girls in another state. After friendly chats which became increasingly sexual, Craig asked both girls to strip to their waists so he could watch. They did, briefly, while the boy took photos. Soon, he asked them to discard all their clothes. The girls refused. Craig threatened to put their faces and chests on Facebook, while creating Photoshop images of their nudity. Finally, terrified, the girls told their parents. Through authorities finding Craig’s IP address, he was arrested by local police and charged with felony harassment and threatening.

Craig was a loner. No friends, never dating, he just surfed the web day in, day out. He worried his par-ents, but they could do nothing. Their marriage was not happy. In fact, Craig witnessed domestic violence by both parents. His father couldn’t hold a job; his mother drank too much. He was doing well in school, never used drugs, and was looking forward to attending a college. When Craig was caught, though, he showed no remorse.

A forensic psychiatrist hired by his lawyer could not help. Craig did not suffer from a diagnosable disorder. During the forensic evaluation, he admitted that given the opportunity, he would get on the Internet and repeat his behavior. The criminal defense attorney told the psychiatrist not to write a report because the findings would surely hurt his client.

Samantha and her friends constantly taunted Alyssa, whose mother was thought to be a crack-using prostitute. Samantha would secretly follow Alyssa home and once threw dog feces against her front door. Alyssa never complained – never told any-one. But one day, as school let out, and Samantha made her usual approach to bully her daily victim, Alyssa suddenly took a knife out of her pocket and stabbed Samantha through the liver.

What makes a child become a bully? Are there common factors, unique predispositions, or a combination of the two? To use an outdated expression, is the origin nature or nurture?

“Based upon what they hear at home, on the media, or from other children, bullying kids often single out special groups…”

Kids bully for many reasons. They may not get the attention they crave at home. There are a variety of rea-sons for this: divorce, child custody disputes, parental drug addiction and imprisonment, or absence in the life of the child. Some child bullies wit-ness and model their parents’ negative behavior: emotional, physical or sexual domestic violence, bullying another of their children, using drugs and so on. Others have low self-esteem – a core of fear – and camouflage it with verbal and/or physical aggression against others.

Based upon what they hear at home, on the media, or from other children, bullying kids often single out special groups, such as LGBTQ students, Muslims, Jews, Hispanics, African-Americans and immigrants.

Other children grow up thinking they are entitled. Their parents are wealthy, do not set limits, and the kids get everything they want. They lack perspective and a value system that considers the needs of others.

Then there are kids who grow up Charlie was like that. He had all his basic needs met. Although he was a below-average student, he got by, charming his teachers. But at age 11, he was taking pleasure putting garbage bag ties around the neck of cats, strangling them. During the Christmas season, while delivering the local morning newspaper on his bike, he’d stop and set fire to crèches along his route. When caught by the police, he displayed no remorse for the pain he had caused his neighbors. A local judge send him to “therapy,” without a clue about Charlie’s needs. Finally, two weeks later, in a local park, Charlie came upon 4-year-old Toby. He circled around her on his bike, getting closer and closer. She started to cry. He got off his bike, pushed her down, and dragged her into nearby woods. There, he sodomized, tortured and eventually murdered her.

The defense forensic psychiatrist diagnosed Charlie with Intermittent Explosive Disorder. The prosecutor’s expert psychiatrist vehemently disagreed, testifying that Charlie knew what he was doing, never showed remorse and was an inchoate psychopath. Throughout the trial, Charlie sat expressionless and showed no remorse. The jury took note of that and convicted him of second-degree homicide. Tried as an adult, he was sentenced to 9 years to life.

There is much current research using PET and fMRI scans to view the brains of criminals – especially convicted psychopaths. The results so far are disputable. Any specific find-ings would eventually have to fulfill Daubert, Kumho Tire, and Frye tests. That day is far off.

But what if brain abnormalities are demonstrated in bullies who com-mitted Internet and other crimes, possibly causing a child victim to commit suicide? Would criminal charges lead to convictions and civil suits prevail? Or would biology win out? What role – if any – might forensic child and adult psychiatrists play then?