Violent Children in Developmental Perspective

Abstract

This article describes some of the current research and thinking about developmental pathways leading to youth violence and the risk and protective factors that play a contributory role. Considerable support can be found for theoretical models positing that life experiences, including harsh and inconsistent parenting, rejection by peers, school failure, and affiliation with an antisocial peer group, cumulate to increase the risk of antisocial and violent behavior and serve as a means through which early dispositions and sociocultural contexts exert an impact on development of antisocial behavior. Emotional and cognitive processes may provide a key connecting link between developmental risk factors and antisocial behavior and violence.