4. The Development of Non-aggression in
Children. Until 2 ½ all children are aggressive
sometimes.
From 2 ½ to 5 or 6 years old,
children need to be taught by
adults non-aggressive ways to
solve problems and get their
needs met.
Those that are not taught and
guided will continue to be
aggressive after they enter
school. This is a red flag that
intervention is needed.
5. Can be blocked by Trauma
Can be blocked by Trauma
Can be blocked by Trauma
Piaget) Trauma Negatively Affects Moral Development, Kohlberg, 1969
(Expanded from
7. What kinds of violence can children be
exposed to?
Domestic or community violence
Natural disasters
News reports of violence
Violent video games
Violent movies
10. They learn to withdraw, hide or make
themselves small.
11. Or they may become angry, hostile, defiant and
aggressive.
12. How Can Exposure to Violence Affect
Children
Depends on severity and chronicity and
Depends on support they get from other adults
Severe or chronic exposure without support can
result in
Fears, anxiety, and depression
Acting out behaviors
Nightmares and poor sleep
Changes in eating habits
Not wanting to go to school
Delays in developing coping skills
Aggression toward others
Emotional Outbursts
Bullying
13. How can that be changed?
Prevention
Assessment
Treatment
Risk Managment
14. PREVENTION: What can parents do?
Listen to your child
Validate his emotions – all of his emotions
are okay
Explain anything that is confusing
Explain things on your child’s
developmental level
Limit watching reports of violence on TV
Reassure child that you will take care of
him and keep him safe
Rehearse actions to take in an emergency
Teach non-aggressive ways to solve
problems
15. PREVENTION: What can schools do?
Anti-bullying programs school wide such as Olweus;
http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/index.page
Character building programs like Character Counts;
http://charactercounts.org/
Respect Programs such as Operation Respect;
http://www.operationrespect.org/index2.php
Assess all youth that commit aggression or bullying to determine the types
and levels of service needed to prevent future bullying, Such as the CARE2.
http://care2systems.com
16. PREVENTION: What the Community Can
Do.
Home Visiting Programs
Head Start with family involvement
School based Mental Health
Coordination among agencies for high
risk cases.
18. INTERVENTIONS: Bullying at School
There are 2 types of bullies: Chronic
and one to three time bullies
One to three time bullies can be
taught to change behavior
Chronic bullies are likely to have
more serious problems and need
professional intervention
Bullying is an adult problem to solve
because it is about changing a
child’s behavior. Children are not
sophisticated enough to know how
to do that.
19. INTERVENTIONS: What Parents can do
about School Bullies
Talk to your children about the school
day, so you know if they are being
bullied
If there is bullying, go to the school for
solutions and insist that it is handled
Make sure the school knows the
difference in interventions for youth
with minor and major problems.
Suspension is not a sufficient answer
for bullies with severe problems.
Make sure the school watches for
retaliation from the bullies.
Watch for Cyber bullying
20. INTERVENTIONS: Things to limit
Violence in news reports
Violence in movies
Violence in video games
Violence on the internet – know
the sites your child goes to on the
internet. Place the computer the
child uses in a place of high
traffic in the home.
Let the child know that the
computer will be checked for
material that is not good for
them.
21. INTERVENTIONS: Levels of Treatment
High Risk – Multiple, Intensive
Services including family, PRP,
medication, help at school,
safety at home and in the
community, trauma informed
treatment, and
developmentally informed skill
building for multiple years
Medium Risk – Individual, group,
family, PRP skill building twice a
week for a year.
Low Risk – individual, family or
group weekly for 6 months.
22. EBP
• Case management
• Multi-system integration
• Family Therapy
• Developmental approaches with skill building
• CBT
• Role playing
• Dosage is important
• Holistic approaches
• Neuro-feedback & CES
• Wrap-around
INTERVENTIONS: Evidence based treatment
for complex cases
23. Provide interventions that match the child’s
developmental level.
Many severely traumatized children are at the immediate
gratification stage of development and are seeking a safe base.
Immediate gratification and needs of the self are primary
Must learn perspective taking and reciprocity before empathy
A safe environment is essential for healthy development. If the
youth is still seeking a safe base, that must be established
before exploration of the world and information gathering
You need some type of developmental guide for use in your
treatment plan
Editor's Notes
In the days of dinosaurs this reaction to stress was a survival strategy
