Hello WS
I believe we have to add a spiritual dimension to our information if we are to understand the psychology of this family(or any other for that matter). Part of that information is covered in the Astrology Forum(Go Astros!)where I have read that Caylee was born opposing Casey. They were mortal enemies. I think information such as this goes a long way in explaining soul contracts, karma contracts. Caylee came to give this family a chance at a great learning.
If we pull away from spirituality, as we should on this thread, we can still discuss this same realm of information by looking at what Jung called the psychology of the unconscious mind, here we all find our dark side. The side of ourselves we deny, yet still exists. And what you resist, persists.
Was Casey, is Casey sane? We ask. Here is where I get confused because my definition of sane and most people's is quite different. So I ask; "Is Casey, was Casey conscious that killing Caylee was wrong? (For this we are assuming Casey did kill Caylee).
It does not matter. We can not know on this level of understanding(non spiritual)what Casey thinks, knows or really feels. All the evidence in the world can not show what is in her heart, only a higher source knows that: she may even be unaware of what is in her heart. What we really want to know, figure out is if WE think she understood what she was doing was wrong, horrible. That is what justice on earth is all about. What if Casey does not, in her mind, think that killing Caylee was wrong? That does not mean she did not know society thought it was wrong, that is why the lies and cover up after the fact, it just means she does not think its wrong.
Does that make her crazy? I think that makes her more crazy than if she did not understand the difference between right and wrong. Not understanding is a lack of intelligence not a lack of soul: those with the lowest of IQ's know to be kind and loving.
I believe that Casey is on a service-to-self path(currently)and for those of us who are (mostly)service-to-others: it is hard to understand she freely choose her path. Everyone is correct to see the darkness emerge from this family unit, it is darkness that was always there but Caylee died so all could see. The unconscious mind of this family resulted in Casey killing Caylee.
Scott M. Peck is the author of a book called: People of the Lie where he takes a psychological approach to evil. He says that to understand evil we must add a spiritual component. Jung's unconscious, I believe holds the ignored information of the soul.
To bring the psychology back to the conscious realm I will add the nurture to the above "nature/soul". Here are Mr. Pecks stages of love. We can see clearly that Casey was stuck at Stage I.
Stage I
Chaotic, disordered and reckless. Very young children are in stage I. They tend to defy and disobey and are unwilling to accept a will greater than their own. Many criminals are people who never outgrew stage I.
Stage II
Is the stage where a person has blind faith. Once children learn to obey their parents, they reach stage II. Many religious people are essentially stage II people in a sense they have blind faith in God and do not question(have never questioned)his existence.
Stage III
Is the stage of scientific skepticism and inquisitivity. Does not accept things on faith but only accepts them if convinced logically. Many people working in scientific and technological research are in stage III.
Stage IV
Is the stage where an individual starts enjoying the mystery and beauty of nature. While retaining skepticism, (s)he starts perceiving grand patterns in nature. His religiousness and spirituality differ significantly from that of a stage II person in a sense (s)he does not accept things though blind faith but does so because of a genuine belief. Labeled as Mystics.
Freud would have asked Casey about her dreams. Carl Jung split from Freud on the idea of the unconscious, Freud thought our dark side came from the womb and sexual dysfunction caused by our mothers and Jung felt our dark side existed before the womb as the collective unconscious of humanity as a whole and that we are born having our share of this mind and this is where to look for deeper hidden meanings to our behaviors.
Alice Miller another Phd. says that the root of all violence and evil in our world is found in how we raise our children. The Anthonys are a case study in Poisonous Pediology, a phrase she coined to describe the type of parenting that we see with the Anthony's. What a child learns in the first few months can impress upon it a lifetime of behavior: much and most of it locked in the memories of early, early childhood. We see in the denial of Casey being pregnant with Caylee as the example of the poisonous teachings and the cult like atmosphere of their group reality. Further example of this is found in the confusing exchanges between the family during the initial jailhouse conversations.
Cindy is not crazy, she thinks she is right. She has lived her life trying to control everything and everyone around her because that is how she feel safe. That sounds mild but this idea of self makes her dangerous to those that love and depend on her. Women are taught that we do not own what is in society so when we are working with our "evil" or dark side we tend to control what we do feel we own. Our family, our children. The lesson for Cindy is she never was in control.
I am glad I am not on the jury. I know what
I think is right and wrong. I know I am glad that I did not get stuck in any stage, and I don't know if I can blame someone for not advancing. Oh, I do not enjoy saying this completely: I do blame Cindy more than Casey. When I think of that moment, the exact moment Casey was choosing to take Caylee's life, I blame Casey for that exact moment, but the sculpture is Cindy's artistry.
Casey is responsible for the death of Caylee and Cindy is responsible for Casey.
...jmo...I
WS