Opinion:
Bradley
Honestly, nobody considered that the boy might have post-traumatic stress? Really? Not being able to see a future for oneself is a CLASSICAL symptom of this anxiety disorder and you know, his fear might be a fear of adults or elders (not wanting to BECOME his abusers).
I'm just saying, sometimes you do have to look at the obvious answers first before going into the exotic ones.
At any rate, I hope he recovers sooner rather than later, since the whole business becomes much much harder for adults still having problems. Irony being: it's just the honest truth my sisters and myself experienced as we were growing up and then having to seek psychiatric help once grown up and _safe from_ the parents. I'm not trying to make things worse, I swear.
