12 Year Old Stabbed by "BFF"

[StealthMode]

I'm still trying to make this makes sense in my head (a battle which I am losing). One of my final papers is about relating developmental theory to psychopathology in adolescents so the wheels are really turning about this case. These girls are at an age where sensation-seeking and impulsivity are high. I can completely see actions taking place in situations of immediacy (e.g., a physical fight, sending a text) with little forethought of the consequences and even no remorse after the fact given the status of cognitive decision making versus affective decision making. What is different about this case is the premeditation of it--they had reportedly been planning this since February. They took months in thinking up various plans, considering how they would play out, and deciding on the best one. It's fascinating. As a person and (hopefully) a future parent, it's horrifying but, as a clinician...I can't help but be absolutely fascinated at the mental processes that must have been at play.

ETA: And now I'm thoroughly creeped out and don't want to go back to that paper or have to think about this anymore.

[WhiteRose1912]

Originally Posted by StealthMode

These girls are at an age where sensation-seeking and impulsivity are high. I can completely see actions taking place in situations of immediacy (e.g., a physical fight, sending a text) with little forethought of the consequences and even no remorse after the fact given the status of cognitive decision making versus affective decision making. What is different about this case is the premeditation of it--they had reportedly been planning this since February. They took months in thinking up various plans, considering how they would play out, and deciding on the best one. It's fascinating. As a person and (hopefully) a future parent, it's horrifying but, as a clinician...I can't help but be absolutely fascinated at the mental processes that must have been at play.

Agreed! It skeeves me out to think about so other than occasionally nerding out with you I try to avoid it. Beyond everything that you've pointed out here, I can't help but wonder, what 12 year old would believe that Slenderman is real? Especially when the entire short history of the "legend" is freely available?

I ask, because my first assumption was that Geyser (with the family who celebrated death, in a way) came up with the idea and found it morally acceptable, and Weier went along with it thinking that they were playing pretend. However, while her statements afterward do include surprise that they were actually committing the act ("Weier said, 'I thought, dear God, this was really happening'"), she also said that she really believed Slenderman would appear once the deed was done. Wha?!

I mean, at 12, my friends and I had vivid imaginations, but we could recognize obvious fantasy for what it was. Slenderman was created in 2009, so it's not like the girls grew up hearing about the character and held the beliefs into their pre-teens. (I could see a very sheltered 12yo still believing in Santa, for example.) I have trouble wrapping my mind around how they could believe in this character so strongly that they would be willing to murder someone.