A Dangerous Son Page #2

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that these things were caused

by poor parenting,

because if it's caused

by poor parenting,

then you can know

that you're a good parent

and it won't happen to you,

and I think that's

a false comfort.

Alison:
Where is he going?

I'm going to the room.

Stacy:

Let's go upstairs

and play with Ethan.

Stacy:

Can you...? Okay.

Alison:

You want me

to go with you? All right.

Stacy:

Elexa, come upstairs.

Murray, out.

(clicks tongue) Go.

Murray's a good boy.

(Murray whines)

All right, well, then you

keep him contained.

You're the good boy.

Alison:

You wanna sit down, Ethan?

Really-- he really

bothers everyone.

Stacy:

No, he's not

bothering everybody.

I know, but he-- see--

Elexa:
Hi!

Will you just tell

Murray to leave?

(rock music plays)

Oh my God!

I love this song!

Alison:

You like Ozzy?

No, I like this song.

What song is this?

Alison:
It's Ozzy.

No, it's--

Man:
Pink Floyd.

Stacy:
It's Pink Floyd.

I was gonna say this

is Pink Floyd.

Alison:

Yeah, I was thinking

of another song.

Oh yeah, I-I-I--

I love this song.

Alison:
Is this

Is this Dark Side of the Moon?

Seriously, I like this song.

No, not the Dark Side.

No, shush, you guys.

I like this song.

Alison:
She just wants

you guys to listen.

Shut up.

Elexa:
Stop!

Stacy:

Stop.

Shut up, Elexa!

Stacy:
Stop.

We're not gonna yell.

All right?

I hate her!

That's why.

Stacy:

That's your sister--

Shut up!

Shut up!

I will kill you!

Ethan, do you wanna

go outside, honey?

Shut up!

(women chatter)

God damn it, I will--

I'm gonna--

I'm gonna fricking punch you,

Elexa, if you don't... stop.

No, you stop it!

Stop. Now.

Stacy:

Elexa. Elexa, move.

Ethan:

Whatever! Go! Go! Go!

Stacy:
Stop.

Stacy:
Damn it.

Ethan:
I don't want

to be touched!

(Elexa whimpers)

(sighs)

Stacy:

I just can't

handle this.

Eth?

(sighs)

I don't know what to say.

One wrong word sends me

into a psychotic rage

where I've got no control

over myself,

and it's like...

watching myself...

do things that

I didn't want to do.

And then afterwards, I--

I either completely forgot,

like I'd block

all the memories,

because it was

too painful to remember,

or I would remember

and that would be

even more painful,

because I would have memories

of myself doing it,

even though I didn't want to,

even though I had no control,

I still accused myself

of doing it.

(channels switching)

There's just been countless

episodes with him,

and I just see, uh, the anger

and the, um...

the violence getting

progressively worse.

Can he turn to family?

Well, sure,

but when he acts

like that, no.

I can't have my child

exposed to that,

and I have to be protective

of my child.

I think my--

my nephew needs

professional help.

I don't even know

if it's anything Stacy

can do anymore.

I can't keep defending him.

I can't--

I can defend him so far,

but I can't expect

the rest of the world

to not get upset

or just forgive him

or just deal with it.

I can't expect that,

I never did.

He constantly threatens

he's going to kill somebody,

and when people hear that,

it sends them into a mode.

You don't know

if he's serious.

If somebody

comes up to you

and gets mad at you

and tells you,

"I'm gonna effing kill you.

I'm gonna beat your ass.

I'm gonna find a gun

and shoot you,"

whether he would do it

or not, you don't know.

But the fact that somebody

would say that to you,

and you're

sitting there wondering,

"Are they capable of it?"

"Mom! Come here!"

"Hold on!"

"Mom!"

"Be quiet, Ethan!"

"No, you!"

(grunts)

And he hits me,

and he pulls my hair...

and he kicks me...

and he...

pulls my arm...

to the wall,

and he pushes me

to the wall.

And...

he beats me up...

like that.

And one time...

um, Josh, my mom's boyfriend,

he got really mad at him--

Ethan, he got

really mad at him,

and so...

um, Josh has guns that he hides

only from bad guys,

and Ethan found one,

so he picked it up.

And it had no bullets in it,

but he picked it up.

The very last thing

that I want to do,

that any parent wants to do,

especially at 10 years old,

is think about or have to put

their child in a...

in an institution or in a home,

to give him up.

That's not what I want to do,

but I am at the point,

and it is as bad

that if-- if nothing else,

I don't know

that I have a choice.

It's becoming more

than a safety issue.

I have a daughter.

I have to protect her,

and I can't.

Creigh:
The whole

deinstitutionalization process

was driven by two things:

One, we wanted to save money,

and, second,

we wanted to restore

people's civil rights

and treat them

in the community.

Well, we closed

the institutions down,

but we didn't really

adequately follow through

with ensuring that there

are adequate supports

in the community.

And the problem

is we don't--

we just don't have

enough beds right now.

Thomas:

We went from

about 600,000 beds,

today there are less

than 60,000 public beds

for people with serious

mental illness.

It's raised the question about,

"Does there need to be a new

kind of institution?"

Maybe not like

the old asylums,

but places where

kids, young adults,

or even older adults could go

for short periods of time

to get more

comprehensive care.

I think there

aren't enough options

available to people.

There is the sense

that rehabilitation

is a luxury for people

who have a lot of money

or who live in states

in which there are

particularly good programs

because we have

regional networks,

and in some places

there's rehabilitation

and in some places

there's almost none.

(door closes)

William. This is the first time

that I've gotten a chance

to meet with you in...

we determined the other day,

like since January.

Like months.

Yeah, months.

Gosh, you have had

a really...

a very busy year, huh?

William:

Rough time.

It has been a rough time.

It's been a really rough time.

Uh-huh.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Man:
And you really

wanna get back

to kind of a more

normal life, huh?

Yeah. Why can't I?

Man:
Yeah.

Well, you know what?

That's a very good question.

Edie:
Yeah.

Brian:

I met William

at the age of 12.

He has a mild

intellectual disability,

and also,

in addition, a mild

autism spectrum disorder.

He's also diagnosed

with a schizoaffective disorder,

and that is the condition

where he can,

especially when really emotional

and really elevated, and...

well, we also say

dysregulated...

he can really start

to lose touch with reality

and have some pretty

delusional thinking,

can experience

auditory hallucinations.

Since January,

you've been down to...

William:
It was first

Children's Hospital,

and then Jefferson Hills,

and then Denver

Children's Home,

and then Denver Health,

and then El Pueblo.

Brian:

Wow. That's a lot.

(chuckles)

Yeah, that's been

a rough time, hasn't it?

Yeah.

Brian:
Yeah.

Yeah.

William:
'Cause I wasn't

eating anything at all.

Mm-hmm.

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