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Joshua's mother seems loving and concerned, and is sad that her son cannot spend the holidays with the family, however difficult his behavior might be. In the film, the extent of Joshua's acting out is not detailed, although it is noted that it is not necessarily worse than other children who are never put in 'the system' at all. The judge blames Joshua's blended family as the cause of his interpersonal difficulties. There seem to be relatively few obvious reasons for Joshua's acting-out -- d espite the judge's assertion that divorce and reconstituted families can contribute to delinquency, overall the family does not seem to be extremely dysfunctional, nor it is clear why Joshua's behavior is so egregious it cannot be corrected while Joshua remains at home. Joshua's signs of remorse also suggest he has a conscience and thus he is far from a hardened sociopath or narcissistic.

This is interesting, given the commonly-shared belief that juvenile delinquents tend to operate on a State 1 or Stage 2 level of the Kohlberg scale of moral reasoning. They either fear punishment or believe the rules are enforced because others say so, without seeing a larger purpose (Leenders & Brugman 2005: 66). Joshua seems to defy this notion by showing real moral compunction at the pain he has been causing his family. However, it should be noted that Joshua seems to regret his actions because they make others feel bad (as well as himself). He does not see his behavior as bad in the contest of a larger moral system.

Kohlberg's system of different stages of moral development is often used to suggest that children who are delinquent are insufficiently developed 'morally' just like