Conduct Disorder

  • Marc S. Atkins
  • Mary M. McKay
Chapter

Abstract

Conduct problems, including aggression, lying, and stealing, interfere with a child’s functioning within the family, school, and peer group. The emergence of childhood conduct problems can be best understood from an ecological perspective that acknowledges the importance of contextual factors, such as qualities of the home environment, relationships with parental figures, school and classroom organization, teacher style, and peer relationships (Dishion & Patterson, 1997; Tolan, Guerra, & Kendall, 1995). Interventions that target these contextual influences have demonstrated significant promise (Guerra, Tolan, & Hammond, 1995; Henggeler, Schoenwald, Borduin, Rowland, & Cunningham, 1998). Specifically, this chapter provides a description of childhood conduct disorder, its prevalence and course, and a summary of empirical findings that link factors within the child, family, peer group, and community with the emergence and progression of conduct difficulties.

Keywords

Conduct Problem Antisocial Behavior Adolescent Psychiatry Community Violence Conduct Disorder 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2001

Authors and Affiliations

  • Marc S. Atkins
    • 1
  • Mary M. McKay
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoChicagoUSA
  2. 2.Columbia University School of Social WorkNew YorkUSA

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