SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
CHAPTER 9- CONDUCT PROBLEMS
DESCRIPTION OF CONDUCT PROBLEMS
Conduct problems and antisocial behaviours are terms used to describe
a wide range of age-inappropriate actions and attitudes of a child that violate
family expectations, societal norms, and the personal or property rights of
others.
o These children experience problems in controlling their emotions and
behaviour.
Youths with conduct problems display a variety of disruptive and rule-
violating behaviours, ranging from annoying but relatively minor behaviours
such as whining, swearing, and temper tantrums to more serious forms of
antisocial behaviour such as vandalism, theft, and assault.
o Due to the diversity, we need to consider many types, pathways, causes
and outcomes of conduct problems.
Children with severe conduct problems frequently (not always) grow up in
extremely unfortunate family and neighbourhood circumstances, where they
experience physical abuse, neglect, poverty, or exposure to criminal activity.
o Often times, behaviours are an adaptation to home and neighbourhood
violence and neglect.
Youths with severe conduct problems are often seriously disturbed and need
help.
o The callousness of their deeds frequently evokes outrage, concern for
innocent victims, and a desire to severely punish or confine them.
This creates an inconsistency between society's concern for children
who experience early adversity or abuse and the tendency to
criminalize and demonize youths who display violent behaviours.
These youths walk a fine line between pleas from the mental health and
juvenile justice systems for understanding and rehabilitation and demands
from the general public and the criminal justice system to punish the
offenders and protect the victims.
1
, SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
Section Summary:
Conduct problems or antisocial behaviours are age-inappropriate actions and attitudes of
a child that violate family expectations, societal norms, and the personal or property
rights of others. These children display problems in the self-control of emotions and
behaviours.
The nature, causes, and outcomes of conduct problems in children are wide-ranging,
requiring that we consider several different types and pathways.
Many children with severe conduct problems grow up in extremely unfortunate family
and neighbourhood circumstances.
CONTEXT, COSTS, AND PERSPECTIVES
To understand antisocial behaviour in young people and Its impact on society,
we next consider its expression in the context of normal development, its
societal costs, and the different ways in which such behaviour has been
viewed by the juvenile justice, mental health, and public health systems.
CONTEXT
Very few adolescents refrain from antisocial behaviour entirely, and those
who do describe themselves as excessively conventional, anxious, and
socially inhibited—not particularly well adjusted.
o Although, adolescents with conduct problems engage in more, and more
severe, antisocial and risk-taking behaviour compared to their peers.
Antisocial behaviours appear and then decline during normal development.
o Most toddlers hit, kick, intentionally break things, tell lies, and resist adult
authority, but most learn to control these behaviours by the time they
enter school.
Important features of antisocial behaviours in the context of normal
development:
Antisocial behaviours vary in severity, from minor disobedience to
fighting.
Some antisocial behaviours decrease with age (eg. disobeying at home),
whereas others increase with age and opportunity (e.g., hanging around
win kids who get into trouble).
2
,SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
Antisocial behaviours are more common in boys than in girls during
childhood, but this difference narrows in adolescence.
Even though many antisocial behaviours decrease with age, children who are
the most physically aggressive in early childhood maintain their relative
standing over time.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS
Although antisocial acts are universal among young people, an early,
persistent, and extreme pattern of antisocial behaviour occurs in only about
5% of children.
o They cause considerable and disproportionate amounts of harm,
accounting for over 50% of all crime in the United States.
The additional public costs per child with conduct problems across the health
care, juvenile jus-tice, and educational systems are enormous—at least
$10,000 or more a year.
o The lifetime costs to society for one youth to leave high school for a life of
crime and substance abuse have been estimated to be about $3.2 million
to $5.5 million.
PERSPECTIVES
Conduct problems have been viewed from several perspectives, each using
different terms and definitions to describe similar patterns of behaviour.
The different perspectives include:
1. Legal.
2. Psychological.
3. Psychiatric.
4. Public health.
LEGAL
Conduct problems are defined as delinquent or criminal acts.
Juvenile delinquency: Describes children who have broken a law, ranging
from sneaking into a movie without paying, to homicide.
Delinquent acts include:
o Property crimes (Vandalism, theft, or breaking and entering)
o Violent crimes (Robbery, aggravated assault and homicide)
3
, SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
Delinquency involves apprehension and court contact and excludes the
antisocial behaviours of very young children that usually occur at home or
school.
It is also important to distinguish official records of delinquency from self-
reported delinquency.
o Youths who display antisocial behaviour and are apprehended by police
may differ from youths who display the same patterns but are not
apprehended because of their intelligence or resourcefulness.
The minimum age of criminal responsibility ranges from 7 to 12 years in most
states and provinces, but this has fluctuated over the years in relation to
society's tolerance or intolerance of antisocial behaviour in youth.
There are no clear boundaries that exist between delinquent acts that are a
reaction to environmental conditions, such as a high-crime neighbourhood,
and those that result from factors within the child, such as impulsivity.
Some symptoms of mental health problems do not necessarily violate laws
(e.g., bullying, staying out late without permission).
A legal definition of delinquency may result from one or two isolated acts,
whereas a mental health definition usually requires the child to display a
variety and persistent pattern of antisocial behaviours.
o Only a subgroup of youths who meet a legal definition of delinquency will
also meet the definition for a mental disorder.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Conduct problems fall along a continuous dimension of externalizing
behaviour.
o Children at the upper extreme of this dimension, usually one or more
standard deviations above the mean, are considered to have conduct
problems.
The externalizing dimension itself consists of two related but independent
subdimensions:
1. Rule-breaking behaviour.
- Include running away, setting fires, stealing, skipping school, using
alcohol and drugs, and committing acts of vandalism.
2. Aggressive behaviour.
- Include fighting, destructiveness and disobedience, showing off, being
defiant, threatening others, and being disruptive at school.
4
Erin Polyblank
CHAPTER 9- CONDUCT PROBLEMS
DESCRIPTION OF CONDUCT PROBLEMS
Conduct problems and antisocial behaviours are terms used to describe
a wide range of age-inappropriate actions and attitudes of a child that violate
family expectations, societal norms, and the personal or property rights of
others.
o These children experience problems in controlling their emotions and
behaviour.
Youths with conduct problems display a variety of disruptive and rule-
violating behaviours, ranging from annoying but relatively minor behaviours
such as whining, swearing, and temper tantrums to more serious forms of
antisocial behaviour such as vandalism, theft, and assault.
o Due to the diversity, we need to consider many types, pathways, causes
and outcomes of conduct problems.
Children with severe conduct problems frequently (not always) grow up in
extremely unfortunate family and neighbourhood circumstances, where they
experience physical abuse, neglect, poverty, or exposure to criminal activity.
o Often times, behaviours are an adaptation to home and neighbourhood
violence and neglect.
Youths with severe conduct problems are often seriously disturbed and need
help.
o The callousness of their deeds frequently evokes outrage, concern for
innocent victims, and a desire to severely punish or confine them.
This creates an inconsistency between society's concern for children
who experience early adversity or abuse and the tendency to
criminalize and demonize youths who display violent behaviours.
These youths walk a fine line between pleas from the mental health and
juvenile justice systems for understanding and rehabilitation and demands
from the general public and the criminal justice system to punish the
offenders and protect the victims.
1
, SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
Section Summary:
Conduct problems or antisocial behaviours are age-inappropriate actions and attitudes of
a child that violate family expectations, societal norms, and the personal or property
rights of others. These children display problems in the self-control of emotions and
behaviours.
The nature, causes, and outcomes of conduct problems in children are wide-ranging,
requiring that we consider several different types and pathways.
Many children with severe conduct problems grow up in extremely unfortunate family
and neighbourhood circumstances.
CONTEXT, COSTS, AND PERSPECTIVES
To understand antisocial behaviour in young people and Its impact on society,
we next consider its expression in the context of normal development, its
societal costs, and the different ways in which such behaviour has been
viewed by the juvenile justice, mental health, and public health systems.
CONTEXT
Very few adolescents refrain from antisocial behaviour entirely, and those
who do describe themselves as excessively conventional, anxious, and
socially inhibited—not particularly well adjusted.
o Although, adolescents with conduct problems engage in more, and more
severe, antisocial and risk-taking behaviour compared to their peers.
Antisocial behaviours appear and then decline during normal development.
o Most toddlers hit, kick, intentionally break things, tell lies, and resist adult
authority, but most learn to control these behaviours by the time they
enter school.
Important features of antisocial behaviours in the context of normal
development:
Antisocial behaviours vary in severity, from minor disobedience to
fighting.
Some antisocial behaviours decrease with age (eg. disobeying at home),
whereas others increase with age and opportunity (e.g., hanging around
win kids who get into trouble).
2
,SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
Antisocial behaviours are more common in boys than in girls during
childhood, but this difference narrows in adolescence.
Even though many antisocial behaviours decrease with age, children who are
the most physically aggressive in early childhood maintain their relative
standing over time.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COSTS
Although antisocial acts are universal among young people, an early,
persistent, and extreme pattern of antisocial behaviour occurs in only about
5% of children.
o They cause considerable and disproportionate amounts of harm,
accounting for over 50% of all crime in the United States.
The additional public costs per child with conduct problems across the health
care, juvenile jus-tice, and educational systems are enormous—at least
$10,000 or more a year.
o The lifetime costs to society for one youth to leave high school for a life of
crime and substance abuse have been estimated to be about $3.2 million
to $5.5 million.
PERSPECTIVES
Conduct problems have been viewed from several perspectives, each using
different terms and definitions to describe similar patterns of behaviour.
The different perspectives include:
1. Legal.
2. Psychological.
3. Psychiatric.
4. Public health.
LEGAL
Conduct problems are defined as delinquent or criminal acts.
Juvenile delinquency: Describes children who have broken a law, ranging
from sneaking into a movie without paying, to homicide.
Delinquent acts include:
o Property crimes (Vandalism, theft, or breaking and entering)
o Violent crimes (Robbery, aggravated assault and homicide)
3
, SLK 310 Chapter 9
Erin Polyblank
Delinquency involves apprehension and court contact and excludes the
antisocial behaviours of very young children that usually occur at home or
school.
It is also important to distinguish official records of delinquency from self-
reported delinquency.
o Youths who display antisocial behaviour and are apprehended by police
may differ from youths who display the same patterns but are not
apprehended because of their intelligence or resourcefulness.
The minimum age of criminal responsibility ranges from 7 to 12 years in most
states and provinces, but this has fluctuated over the years in relation to
society's tolerance or intolerance of antisocial behaviour in youth.
There are no clear boundaries that exist between delinquent acts that are a
reaction to environmental conditions, such as a high-crime neighbourhood,
and those that result from factors within the child, such as impulsivity.
Some symptoms of mental health problems do not necessarily violate laws
(e.g., bullying, staying out late without permission).
A legal definition of delinquency may result from one or two isolated acts,
whereas a mental health definition usually requires the child to display a
variety and persistent pattern of antisocial behaviours.
o Only a subgroup of youths who meet a legal definition of delinquency will
also meet the definition for a mental disorder.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Conduct problems fall along a continuous dimension of externalizing
behaviour.
o Children at the upper extreme of this dimension, usually one or more
standard deviations above the mean, are considered to have conduct
problems.
The externalizing dimension itself consists of two related but independent
subdimensions:
1. Rule-breaking behaviour.
- Include running away, setting fires, stealing, skipping school, using
alcohol and drugs, and committing acts of vandalism.
2. Aggressive behaviour.
- Include fighting, destructiveness and disobedience, showing off, being
defiant, threatening others, and being disruptive at school.
4
