Violence in Children: Understanding and Helping Those Who Harm

This book explores various aspects of violence and the attendant emotional, psychological, biological and social features that may be found to accompany these states in children. It highlights the importance of prevention and early intervention and the implicit use of therapy to help children who are in these vulnerable and dangerous states of mind and body.

This book rests on fundamental psychoanalytic principles and processes as well as something very simple that we all know, that children and parents who have increased social and emotional support in our society are less likely to develop pathological ways of coping with the various stressors and strains that are in part an inevitable element of living in the 21st century and which may also be at times an inherent part of our psycho-biological make-up.

Clinical material in all the chapters of this book also provide supporting evidence for how useful psychotherapy can be for children who have already developed coping strategies that are pathological, particularly in relation to violence. Research has found that too many obstacles are actually placed in the way of allowing violent children to receive the necessary treatment that could help them to overcome their violent tendencies.