Key points

Cognitive distortions can be adopted by perpetrators to justify problematic behaviour.

Cognitive distortions include minimisation, rationalisation and externalisation of blame.

The "High School Catfish" case illustrated four types of cognitive distortions in action.

The Netflix documentary Unknown Number: The High School Catfish explores the case of two thirteen-year-olds, Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny, who received thousands of anonymous, harassing messages over a two-year period. Many of the messages were extremely explicit and included death threats, sexually explicit comments and personal insults about the teens. After nearly two years, an FBI investigation revealed that the perpetrator behind the messages was Lauryn’s mother, Kendra Licari. Kendra Licari later pleade

See Full Page