In my mind he is both a hero and a victim. He should see the silver lining in this and realize that he can look at himself in the mirror and see a selfless man. The thieves were taking quite a risk when they did this though. How did they know he would take off his coat or that he even had anything in his coat?

His mom clearly agreed to it so no it's not abuse it's just another form of the "dunce hat". Punishment through negative attention is a good way of discipline, the military uses this teaching tool often in training.