Three teenage brothers who developed a ‘narcissistic cult’ mentality and believed there was no point leaving home, socialising, or going to school, should leave their mother’s care, a High Court judge has concluded.
They ‘saw themselves as intellectually superior and separate to the rest of the world’ after forming their ‘group identity’, psychotherapists told Mr Justice Hayden.
Two of the boys spoke to each other in a ‘language they had devised’, the judge heard.
Mr Justice Hayden heard how the boys believed themselves to be intellectually superior to the rest of the world
Detail of the case has emerged in a ruling by Mr Justice Hayden after a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
The judge said the family involved could not be identified.
He said social services bosses at Wandsworth Council in London had responsibility for the boys’ welfare and had asked him to make decisions about their futures.
Social workers said the children had suffered neglect plus physical and emotional harm due to stress, inadequate food and a lack of medical provision.
They said the boys had not had ‘appropriate’ exercise and outdoor activity.
Their mother, who had mental health issues, had ‘failed’ to let them attend school, socialise, play outside or take part in activities.
The boys believed there was ‘no purpose to attending school, leaving the home or socialising with others’, according to social services.
Two psychotherapists said the brothers had ‘formed a group identity in which they saw themselves as intellectually superior and separate to the rest of the world’.
The High Court in London heard how the boys suffered physically and emotionally due to stress and also developed a narcissistic cult
They said a ‘cult mentality’ developed, with one calling it a ‘narcissistic cult’.
Mr Justice Hayden also said he had been told of an achievement and award system operating at the boys’ home.
‘There was an elaborate and quite rigid structure to their interactions predicated on an achievement and award system,’ he said.
‘Achievement of particular tasks enabled time on the computer or an opportunity to pet and stroke the cat.’
He indicated the boys were placed in residential care units on a temporary basis pending long-term decisions on their futures.
He said they should stay where they were and not return to their mother’s care.