There is no doubt that he is clinically pyschopathic (2 standard deviations in definition above others who are described as clinically pyschopathic).
Blaming the parents for the child's behavior is certainly rational in terms of a search for causality.
But the problem is not who caused it...but who has it.
Michael has it!
From the article: And there are other challenges. Since psychopathy is highly heritable, Lynam says, a child who is cold or callous is more likely to have a parent who is the same way. And because parents don’t necessarily bond to children who behave cruelly, those children tend to get punished more and nurtured less, creating what he calls “a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“It reaches a point where the parents just stop trying,” Lynam said. “A lot of the training is about trying to get these kids’ parents to re-engage, because they feel like they’ve tried it all and nothing works.”
Anne admitted to me that this had been her experience. “As horrible as this is to say, as a mom, the truth is that you put up a wall. It’s like being in the army, facing a barrage of fire every day. You have to steel yourself against the outbursts and the hate.”
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Waschbusch is fumbling around arbitrarily applying negative and positive reinforcement. These kids are products of their environment and Waschbusch should be removed from practice. He’s making things worse and seeminly ignorant of basic behavioral interventions that actually work.
Michael has a problem - the adults in his life.