You bring up some key points.
1. Staff mentality was compromised.
Might I add.. they all had to go through the program, too. And experienced the same trauma.
However, they are adults. And as such, have adult responsibilities. One of which is to be accountable for your actions. Your decision making skills as an adult are far different than that of a teenager.
I am not saying that they were capable of making rational choices in the heat of the moment. (Although some did, mainly two of my favorite teachers there.) However, there are staff who have reformed, such as yourself, and there are staff who have chosen not to be, and to cling to their CEDU-based belief system. That is their choice. They are responsible for that.
Having said that, there are staff who are just so fucking damaged, you can't do anything but pity them. Or at least I do, mainly because I tend to wax on the generous side. Everyone talks about how horrible Caroline was, and she was. She was truly sadistic, and probably one of the most hated staff members to ever grace CEDU, with the exception of Rudy. However, I've heard parts of her "story", especially regarding what was done to her when she went to CEDU as a teen. Let's just say that it is no accident that most of her jibes and taunts towards students were based off of shame around sex. And later, she had sex with both male and female students. Seriously, she is the quintessential poster child for how CEDU can completely and wholly fuck up a person's psyche. She had absolutely no understanding of sexual appropriateness and boundaries. Granted, there are also parts of her story that I refuse to believe, because it totally sounds like forced confession material. My point is, people hate her, and rightfully so. I despised her when I was there. There is absolutely no excuse for how many people she has hurt, but at the same time, she is pathetically broken. Big time.
For me, I must take that into consideration before casting judgment.
It will be interesting to find out how the scales weigh for her in the end.