Got to feel sorry for Karl O'Callaghan. It must be challenging enough to effectively carry out the high profile job of West Australian Police Commissioner. But to have his son being in such trouble with the law? That must be heart-breaking as well as humiliating. Quite frankly I don't know how he keeps his cool. He must be breaking up inside. 

And I don't think that his son Russell's behaviour is solely due to drug abuse -- although obviously this is a huge factor. I'm no shrink but it looks to me as if some of his motivation is against his father. 

That's not to blame the top cop. He's probably been an excellent, loving dad. He doesn't look like an aggressive disciplinarian or anything. On the contrary, he seems very calm and reasonable.

This kind of situation is often seen in the families of celebrities and other well known people. Famous parents tend to cast a very long shadow over the lives of one or more of their children. If a kid can't find an identity and attendant life goals that he can truly call his own he can easily end up going off the rails. Because of the familial association the emotional trainwreck that results will be heavily publicized by the media, thereby exacerbating the whole situation. It's very sad. 

The developing case involving Neville Wran's daughter looks like it might be another example of this phenomenon.