In the specific case you mentioned, those girls were only 12 and were suffering from severe psychosis when they committed the crime. The best option for them WAS to be hospitalized so that they could get proper treatment for their mental illnesses which in turn would make them less likely to re-offend when realeased. I don't agree with trying children as adults or holding them to the same standards as adults. Their brains are already not fully developed and coupled with an undiagnosed, untreated MI the whole thing was a recipe for disaster.

I absolutely don't think that adult violent offenders should be placed with the general population. The state hospital here does that and as a result there have been at least 4 innocent people murdered. Not to mention that it furthers the stigma that people with MI are dangerous as a whole. I think there should be separate units, for the most part.

The slenderman case was extremely rare-that's why it got so much media attention. It's almost unheard of for someone so young to do such a thing and childhood onset schizophrenia is also very, very, very rare. I do see your point about there being no differentiation between those of us seeking help and dangerous criminals, but I think that was a poor example.