Psychological disorders found in childhood can be seen shaping up to a more stronger and deeper form in adulthood. Out of various kinds of disorders the present study focuses on 'Conduct Disorder1. Conduct disorder (CD) is a childhood behaviour disorder characterized by aggressive and destructive activities that cause disruptions in the child's natural environment such as house, school, religious places etc. CD as defined in the DSM-TR-IV is a and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age concerning societal norms and rules are violated (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).There are mainly two types of CD's which are Childhood onset and the other is Adulthood onset. The former takes place prior to 10 years of age and the later takes place above 10 years of age.The essential feature of CD is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major ageappropriate societal norms or rules are violated (APA, 1994). These behaviours fall into four main groupings: aggressive conduct that causes physical harm to other people or animals; non-aggressive conduct that causes property loss or damage; deceitfiilness or theft; and serious violations of rules. Youth meeting diagnostic criteria for CD may bully, threaten, or intimidate others, initiate frequent physical fights, use a weapon that can cause serious physical harm, be physically cruel to people or animals, steal, force someone into sexual activity, destroy others' property, lie or break promises, break curfew, run away from home overnight, and skip school (Greene, 2010). It is seen more prominent in males than females as males usually get better exposure than females outside their home premises.Some of the causes for the development of Conduct disorder usually seen are children living in conditions where the number of people living around him/her is high in number; housing that is in poor conditions and neighbourhoods with people involved in crime and involved with criminal activities. A common scenario seen nowadays is that aggressive children tend to become close with one another in school settings, but it does not have to mean that all aggressive children will have cooperation from more aggressively dominant children. Children coming from places of riot may have chance to have conduct disorder characteristics. Conduct disorder children may cover their activities in their adolescence unlike childhood phase. Divorced parents, quarrelling parents and situations where there are chances of hostility behaviour to arise conduct disorder behaviour may occur. The investigator from his research on rejection sensitivity in children opine that there are usually chances where children rejected by parents/caretakers who fail to give them consistent discipline and supervision are likely to become truants, lying most of the time and leave their house without the family knowing. From the investigator's experience it is seen that there are chances where conduct disordered children later become adult criminal if the behaviour does not cease in their younger ages.Disorders of conduct and related disruptive or externalizing behaviours are cited as the most common reason for preschoolers to be referred for mental health services (Luby & Morgan, 1997). Although conduct and disruptive behaviours will become problematic for some young children, mental health professionals should note that such behaviours should not be diagnosed clinically when they reflect normative development and when they do not impair the functioning of young children (Campbell, 1995, cited by Renk, 2008). It is only when such behaviours become particularly problematic that a clinical diagnosis should be considered. For example, when noncompliance reflects angry defiance, difficulties in the parentchild relationship, and/or coping difficulties with the developments of young childhood, then these behaviours should be considered out of the ordinary (Campbell, 1990, cited by Renk, 2008). …
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Oct 4, 2024
Kenneth M Coll + 4
Open Access