There was a lot behind Juan Carlos Castro. He was notorious in the bay area of Florida for being one of the worst street kids out there. He had been given several chances to straighten out and start his life over again. I think the problem in his life has a lot to deal with cultural transmission and the control theory.
When he was young, his mother had not been the greatest person. She was a prostitute, first of all. But, also, police officers would periodically find Juan Carlos abandoned. At the age of 8, he was taken away from her and put into foster care. From then on, he had been in over 30 foster homes by the age of 13. I believe that the beginning of his deviant behavior was learned from his mom. He probably believed that was the only way to go through life.
At the age of 14, Juan Carlos was arrested. He was put into a juvenile boot camp in Manatee County. From here on out, I strongly believe that his problems are based on the control theory. He was not able to conform to society, because he had no attachments to anyone. While in boot camp, he was the only child who did not have a family come to visit him on family days, which seemed to strongly upset him.
After he finished boot camp, a family took him in and was willing to put the extra effort into trying to help him. However, he did end up getting in trouble a couple of times. Both were a result of looking for someone to love. He ran off to go find his mom in Newark, NJ and another time, he snuck out and took his foster dad's car to go see his girlfriend. I think these are two very clear signs that he just wanted an attachment to someone to help him get through everything.
In conclusion, Juan Carlos Castro did try to help himself and make things better, however, I think that everyone else did the wrong thing. They needed to stop punishing him for trying to be loved. I know he did the extreme sometimes, but they needed to support and help him more with that part of his life.
