I always find it fascinating to try to figure out in a family, raised as strictly as Josh Duggar appeared to be, why did he turn out to be a "Bad Seed"? It seems like his siblings are all living normal lives. His brother, John David, did not molest his siblings, go crazy with internet dating, seeking strippers, and getting in trouble with Department of Homeland Security.
What made Josh stray from the path?
I've been following the Duggar psychology since 2004 and have often wondered about this myself.
It is publicly known, and used by the family as justification for their quiverfull lifestyle, that after Josh was born Michelle went back on birth control, got pregnant anyway and lost the baby. After bad advice from a doctor blaming this loss on the birth control, the new Gothard-adhering procreation focus began. They believe God validated this choice by blessing them with the twins J.D. and Jana next.
I've often wondered if a young Josh, hearing this quite celebrated story of victory over sin as evidenced by all the children *except* him, may have internalized somehow a sinister suspicion that he himself was "bad," "born in sin" or otherwise burdened by a more difficult path to righteousness simply by having been the only child born before the family's redemption. At the very least, I would assume he noticed that one difference that separated him from alllll those other kids. Maybe he felt like a black sheep before he ever became one, and maybe he gave up trying to overcome hurdles of "sin" that only he faced.
Just my thoughts, moo, etc. And certainly not in any way trying to minimize how evil and predatory he truly has been. Just saying that anything which a child perceives as a favoritism toward their siblings, however unfounded or nonexistent, may cause them to act out in so many different ways. For attention, to lash out against perceived injustice, or even just to test their acceptance by the family. As an oldest child myself, I know that that status is in itself quite difficult. So much pressure and so much riding on your every action.
He could be simply "born bad," but I do feel some measure of these dynamics is at play early in his life, especially given the over-the-top and in-your-face distinctions drawn between the family "sins" during Josh's infancy and the subsequent "blessed" sanctity of everything after Josh.
Also, though he may have been quite young, he is the only Duggar child who might remember a less-restrictive time, a time before "buddies," a time when his parents were mainstream enough to use birth control, a time when he actually had the attention and love of both of them. Sadly, another unconscious contrast, perhaps, in his mind. What he lost....perhaps he became perverted in his obsession with regaining it. Who knows. Just my thoughts.
