| There are three types of kids who may
be at the highest risk of extreme
violence. Obviously, you must
take seriously any threat or indication
of danger from any kid, so if
a dangerous child you know doesn't
fit one of these categories, please
don't just breathe a sigh of relief.
Rather, the point of emphasizing
these three top-risk youth, is
to have you apportion your time
wisely. You can't monitor each
child equally. This information
may guide you on who you monitor
most closely, especially in the
absence of other events or information
to guide you. In this space, we
will have time to cover only one
of these youth in any kind of
detail. We will cover the second
two kids in a subsequent article.
But, we understand you may want
to know all that right now, so
if you want to learn more immediately
about any of these three youth,
go to our web site to http://www.youthchg.com/hottopic.html
and read a reprint of the full
article that this text is excerpted
from. The youth at highest risk
of extreme violence may be the
conduct disordered child. If you
don't already know this term,
visualize the fictional character,
J.R. from the TV show "Dallas"
because the hallmark of being
a conduct disorder (c.d.), is
having no heart, no conscience,
no remorse. Only a mental health
professional can diagnose a conduct
disorder for sure, but being aware
that you may have a conduct disordered
child in your class or group,
is important to ensuring your
safety, along with the safety
of your kids, because you work
with conduct disorders completely
differently than other kids. Since
the c.d. child has little relationship
capacity, you should not use relationship-based
approaches with a diagnosed conduct
disorder. It would be insensitive
to call a conduct disorder a "baby
sociopath," but that is close
to what the term means. It means
that the child acts in ways that
appear to be seriously anti-social,
and the concern is that the child
may grow up to be a sociopathic
type of person. Since this child
cares only about himself (c.d.'s
are predominately male), there
are little brakes on this child
from serious or extreme violence.
Not every conduct disordered child
will engage in horrific behavior.
There is a range of misbehavior
c.d.'s may get involved with,
ranging from lying to setting
fires or being a sexual predator.
At the most serious end of the
spectrum, lies the possibility
of extreme violence, such as a
school shooting. Note that this
introductory article is just a
starting point to managing conduct
disorders and unmanageable students.
This intro will not be adequate
to give you more than a start.
Check out these initial guidelines
below: METHODS FOR CONDUCT DISORDERED
YOUTH There's not space for all
the critical do's and don't's
that you must know but here are
some of the most important: DO'S:
*The main point we give in our
classes is that these children
operate on a cost-benefit system,
and that to control your c.d.
kids, you must keep the costs
high, and benefits low. *These
children also especially need
to pro-actively learn how to manage
their fists, mouth, and actions.
*Your goal is to teach them that
when they hurt others, it often
hurts them too. All interventions
must be in the context of "I-Me,"
because that is all this kid is
capable of caring about. DON'T'S:
There are so many of them, it
is hard to know where to start
because so many of the techniques
you use with other kids fall apart
with this kid. Here are some of
the most critical don't and do's
when you work with a diagnosed--
that's the important word here--
conduct disorder. Without the
diagnosis, use these guides especially
carefully. *Don't: have a heart-to-heart
relationship. *Don't work on building
trust. *Don't put an emphasis
on compassion, caring, empathy,
values, morals. *Don't expect
compassionate behavior. *Don't
trust. *Don't give second chances.
*Don't believe they care or feel
remorse. Hopefully this brief
guide to the hardest-to-manage,
most potentially dangerous kid
will help you avoid using everyday
interventions that will be unproductive,
even dangerous. Hopefully this
information will steer you towards
relying on non-relationship-based
interventions that emphasize learning
skills like anger control, managing
the fist, etc. along with firm
rules, boundaries and limits.
Be sure to visit our web site
(link below) for 100s more strategies
and guides to additional information.
Get much more information on this
topic at http://www.youthchg.com
Author Ruth Herman Wells MS is
the director of Youth Change,
(http://www.youthchg.com) Sign
up for her free Problem-Kid Problem-Solver
magazine at the site and see hundreds
more of her innovative methods.
Ruth is the author of dozens of
books and provides workshops and
training. |
