Roughly every month I receive an e-mail from a parent somewhere in the world asking for help with a child who is violent, angry or aggressive. Some people describe being physically beaten or having their life threatened by their son or daughter. These families may spend thousands of dollars on special schools and treatments. Often they are desperate, afraid and looking for guidance.
Psychologists recognize several conditions that are characterized by violence and aggression. They include conduct disorder and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder in children as well as antisocial personality disorder in adults. To this list I would add psychopathy, which is assessed using different criteria than those used to diagnose antisocial personality disorder—though it is not an official diagnosis in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Although each of these conditions differs from the others in important ways, all are defined by the fact that affected individuals engage in persistent, severe antisocial or aggressive behaviors. Children diagnosed with conduct disorder or disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, for example, may be physically violent or display bursts of destructive anger. These disorders, which are characterized by patterns of exploitative, hurtful or cruel behavior, place children at risk for developing antisocial personality disorder or psychopathy when they grow up.
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These disorders are not rare. Conduct disorder affects up to 9 percent of girls and up to 16 percent of boys. Its symptoms, such as stealing and deliberately harming people or animals, are among the most common reasons for referring children for mental health treatment. And…
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