1) It's fucked up. People do the shit they do...whatever. But I understand that the govt/society is jacked, so we have shit like this.
2) at 5:24ish Cooper asks "do you remember the beat?" The question shows that this isn't a journalistic piece, but that it is a propaganda piece. A better question would have been "do you remember the physical punishment as a consequence your brother received for his actions?" Just like the mom said, today it would be abuse; however, at that time, that sort of physical punishment was just that, and nothing more. I think it's very important to put things into context. Beating implies ill-will, whereas physical punishment implies good-intentions.
3) He ate his lunch in the boys' bathroom for 3 years. OK? Again, this whole thing is fucked up, but saying he was an uber-loner means nothing. Context. Needed.
4) Lack of relationship might suggest something, but it doesnt necessitate something.
I'm very interested in this mini-series. I'll try to DVR the next few episodes of 360. I generally like Anderson Cooper. He is one of my favorite reporters (or whatever-the-hell they should be called these days [eg anchor, journalist, commentator, etc]).