There are three types of kids who may be at the highest risk of extreme violence. Obviously, you must take seriously any threat or indication of danger from any kid, so if a dangerous child you know doesn't fit one of these categories, please don't just breathe a sigh of relief. Rather, the point of emphasizing these three top-risk youth, is to have you apportion your time wisely. You can't monitor each child equally. This information may guide you on who you monitor most closely, especially in the absence of other events or information to guide you.
In this space, we will have time to cover only one of these youth in any kind of detail. We will cover the second two kids in a subsequent article. But, we understand you may want to know all that right now, so if you want to learn more immediately about any of these three youth, go to our web site to http://www.youthchg.com/hottopic.html and read a reprint of the full article that this text is excerpted from. Our information on the 3 most violent kids was first published by The Child Welfare Report in 1998, and is updated and revised here.
The youth at highest risk of extreme violence may be the conduct disordered child. If you don't already know this term, visualize the fictional character, J.R. from the TV show "Dallas" because the hallmark of being a conduct disorder (c.d.), is having no heart, no conscience, no remorse. Only a mental health professional can diagnose a conduct disorder for sure, but being aware that you may have a conduct disordered child in your class or group, is important to ensuring your safety, along with the safety of your kids, because you work with conduct disorders completely differently than other kids. Since the c.d. child has little relationship capacity, you should not use relationship-based approaches with a diagnosed conduct disorder.
It would be insensitive to call a conduct disorder a "baby sociopath," but that is close to what the term means. It means that the child acts in ways that appear to be seriously anti-social, and the concern is that the child may grow up to be a sociopathic type of person. Since this child cares only about himself (c.d.'s are predominately male), there are little brakes on this child from serious or extreme violence. Not every conduct disordered child will engage in horrific behavior. There is a range of misbehavior c.d.'s may get involved with, ranging from lying to setting fires or being a sexual predator. At the most serious end of the spectrum, lies the possibility of extreme violence, such as a school shooting.
In this space, we will have time to cover only one of these youth in any kind of detail. We will cover the second two kids in a subsequent article. But, we understand you may want to know all that right now, so if you want to learn more immediately about any of these three youth, go to our web site to http://www.youthchg.com/hottopic.html and read a reprint of the full article that this text is excerpted from. Our information on the 3 most violent kids was first published by The Child Welfare Report in 1998, and is updated and revised here.
The youth at highest risk of extreme violence may be the conduct disordered child. If you don't already know this term, visualize the fictional character, J.R. from the TV show "Dallas" because the hallmark of being a conduct disorder (c.d.), is having no heart, no conscience, no remorse. Only a mental health professional can diagnose a conduct disorder for sure, but being aware that you may have a conduct disordered child in your class or group, is important to ensuring your safety, along with the safety of your kids, because you work with conduct disorders completely differently than other kids. Since the c.d. child has little relationship capacity, you should not use relationship-based approaches with a diagnosed conduct disorder.
It would be insensitive to call a conduct disorder a "baby sociopath," but that is close to what the term means. It means that the child acts in ways that appear to be seriously anti-social, and the concern is that the child may grow up to be a sociopathic type of person. Since this child cares only about himself (c.d.'s are predominately male), there are little brakes on this child from serious or extreme violence. Not every conduct disordered child will engage in horrific behavior. There is a range of misbehavior c.d.'s may get involved with, ranging from lying to setting fires or being a sexual predator. At the most serious end of the spectrum, lies the possibility of extreme violence, such as a school shooting.
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