From Huck Finn to Columbine:
Understanding Disruptive Behaviors in Children and Adolescents
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Studies
College of Arts & Sciences
Professor
Andrew Rosenfeld, MD
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 617-710-1216
Course Description:
What makes kids do bad things? Who is accountable for their acts? How can we prevent
childhood violence? In this course we will explore these questions and seek to understand the
spectrum of "bad" behavior from biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives. We
will address broad topics ranging from the nature vs. nurture debate to biased media reporting to
medicating disruptive behaviors. We will examine the increase in media violence and its
influence on children and adolescents; how the criminal justice system responds to delinquent
behavior; and gender differences in disruptive behavior. We will study atrocities perpetrated by
children and adolescents, the growing scientific literature detailing neurodevelopment as it
relates to behavior, and historical descriptions of disruptive behavior and delinquency. Students
will analyze case studies, debate controversial issues (e.g., the influence of violent gaming), and
review scientific and media sources in an effort to determine sensible efforts aimed at prevention
and treatment.
Course Objectives:
Students will learn key aspects of:
• Historical, scientific, and cultural perspectives on behavioral problems in childhood
• Contemporary biological, psychological, and social perspectives on childhood disruptive
behavior
• Current evidence regarding the diagnosis and treatment of disruptive behavior disorders in
children
• The impact of disruptive behavior in children and adolescents on the individual, family and
society
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Review and integrate diverse theoretical perspectives on childhood disruptive behavior
• Apply and discuss concepts of disruptive behavior as directly related to current events and
clinical case material
• Discuss controversies and limitations in our current understanding of childhood disruptive
behavior
• Describe goals for further study and research
Texts
1. Hill, J., & Maughan, B (Eds). (2001) Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
2. Connor, D.F. (2002) Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents.New
York: The Guilford Press.
Readings from these texts will be supplemented by readings posted on the course site at NYU
Classes (http://newclasses.nyu.edu) as listed below.
Grading
Your class grade will be composed of:
•
10% Participation: Quizzes
o Most classes will begin with a quiz promptly at 2:00PM, ending by 2:15PM.
Though these are ungraded, you will receive credit for handing in a completed
quiz by 2:15PM, which we will then review in class. You may drop one quiz
without penalty as there are no make-up quizzes and quizzes handed in after
2:15PM will not be accepted for credit.
•
30% Response Papers
o Five 2-3 page papers or projects in which course themes are applied to problems
in sociology, law, clinical psychology, public policy, etc. See writing and grading
guidelines below.
•
25% Midterm Examination
o Online, timed exam applying foundational course themes to clinical case material.
A brief review will be conducted during the class prior to the midterm.
•
35% Final Examination
o Online, timed exam applying foundational and topical course themes to clinical
case material. A brief review will be conducted during the class prior to the final.
•
Extra-Credit: For up to 3 extra-credit points added to your Midterm Examination score,
you may keep a Disruptive Behavior Journal during the course. You must submit at least
14 entries (approximately one/week) describing disruptive behaviors you observe (in
yourself, friends, family, strangers, the media, or anyone). You must reference themes
AND a source(s) from the course or related materials in each entry (see citation rules
below). Entries need not be more than 2-3 paragraphs each.
Class Schedule: Readings for each lecture will be posted on NYU Classes by the week prior to
class. You will be expected to have completed the readings before class and the main points of
the readings will be covered in the quizzes given at the start of each class (see schedule below).
1) Session 1: Introduction to Disruptive Behaviors in Childhood & Adolescence
a. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Applebaum, A. (2010). “The strange comforts of reading Mark Twain in the age
of oppositional defiant disorder.” Slate.
2) Session 2: Historical Perspectives on Childhood Disruptive Behaviors
a. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Chapter 1, Bad Behavior: A historical perspective on problems of conduct (in text
book Conduct Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence pp. 1-31 (Hill and
Maughan, editors) available in the bookstore and as an Ebook through Bobst
Library.
2. DSM descriptions of Disruptive Behavior Disorders from DSMI through DSM5
3. "Criminal man, According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso." Lombroso,
C., Gibson, M., & Rafter, N. H. (2006). Criminal man. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.
4. Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, pages 17-34 of the original
text (Chapters I, II, III).
5. Cleckley, Hervey. The Mask of Sanity, pp. 367-376.
3) Session 3: Presentation and Course of Juvenile Disruptive Behaviors
a. Response Paper #1 Due
b. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Chapter 1: "Definitions and Subtyping of Aggressive Behavior” in the Connor
textbook, Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents.
2. Tremblay RE et al. (2004) Physical Aggression during Early Childhood:
Trajectories and Predictors. Pediatrics, 2004; 114, e43-e50. Only read the
introduction and discussion sections.
3. Frick PJ & Viding E. (2009) Antisocial behavior from a developmental
psychopathology perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 2009 Fall;
21(4):1111-1131. Only read pp. 1111-1116.
4. Listen to the segment, “The Psychopath Test,” from NPR, posted on the course
sidebar. This is a lighthearted take on the development and use of Hare’s
Psychopathy Checklist.
Optional:
1. Hare, R. (1999). Without Conscience, Chapter 10, "The Roots of the Problem."
4) Session 4: The Biological Basis of Childhood Disruptive Behaviors
a. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Please read pages 163-182 and pages 191-196 in Chapter 6 (Psychobiology) and
pages 225-244 of Chapter 7 (Neurobiology) in the Connor textbook, Aggression
and Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents.
2. Also in the posted excerpt from Blair’s The Psychopath: Emotion and the Brain,
read pages 67-80 (Chapter 5) and pages 84-91 (Chapter 6). Blair, J., Mitchell, D.
R., & Blair, K. (2005). The psychopath: emotion and the brain. Malden, MA:
Blackwell.
3. Caspi et al. “Role of Genotype in the Cycle of Violence of Maltreated Children”:
A landmark study in epigenetics research.
4. Read the editorial discussion of the research by Gao et al. (full citation below
under “optional”). Sterzer, P. “Born to Be Criminal? What to Make of Early
Biological Risk Factors for Criminal Behavior.” American Journal of Psychiatry.
167:1, January 2010.
5. Read the NY Times editorial describing the research from Anderson et al. (full
citation below under “optional”). Blakeslee, S. “Study Links Antisocial Behavior
to Early Brain Injury That Bars Learning.” NY Times, October 19, 1999.
Optional:
1. Gao et al. “Association of Poor Childhood Fear Conditioning and Adult Crime.”
Am J Psychiatry 167:1 (2010): 1-3. For the original article, focus on the
Introduction and Conclusions sections (you do not need to be able to discuss
the Methods/Results sections). Editorial discussion of the article included above.
2. Anderson, Steven, Antoine Bechara, Hanna Damasio, Daniel Tranel, and Antonio
Damasio . "Impairment of social and moral behavior related to early damage in
human prefrontal cortex." Nature Neuroscience 2.11 (1999): 1032-37. Here,
focus on the case studies and Discussion from the original article (NY Times
editorial describing the research included above).
3. Suomi, S. “Risk, Resilience, and Gene-Environment Interplay in Primates”: This
is an overview of important research on epigenetics.
4. Capadoccia et al. “Contextualizing the neurobiology of conduct disorder in an
emotion dysregulation framework”: This is a recent general review of biological
factors in conduct disorder. The introduction and discussion sections have the
most useful information and ideas.
5) Session 5: The Social Ecology of Childhood Disruptive Behavior
a. Response Paper #2 Due
b. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Stern, Jessica. "Flights of Fancy; Many Muslim Youth Espouse Jihad as a Fad."
Globe and Mail, June 12, 2006.
2. Code of the Streets. Anderson, E. (1994). The Atlantic.
3. Do Parents Matter? Lehrer, Jonah. Scientific American Mind 20.4 (2009).
4. Maughan, B. (2001) Chapter 7. Conduct Disorder in Context. In Hill, J., &
Maughan, B (Eds.). Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence (pp 169 to
201).
5. Keisner, J. et al. Chapter 10. A reinforcement model of conduct problems in
children and adolescents: advances in theory and intervention. In Hill, J., &
Maughan, B (Eds.). Conduct disorders in childhood and adolescence (pp 264291)
Optional:
1. Listen to the 3rd NPR segment on the course site sidebar from the episode
entitled, "The Cruelty of Children"—the segment to listen to is Act 3: Human
Nature, A View from Kindergarten.
2. Watch the movie NEDS (Non-Educated Delinquents) by director Peter Mullan
with particular attention to sociologic factors influencing the protagonist’s
disruptive behaviors. Available on Amazon, Netflix, etc.
6) Session 6: The Psychology of Juvenile Disruptive Behaviors
a. Quiz
b. In-Class Midterm Examination Review
Pre-Reading:
1. Guttman-Steinmetz S and Crowell JA. (2006) Attachment and Externalizing
Disorders: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective. Journal of American
Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(4): 440-451.
2. Thomas A and Chess S. (1984) Genesis and Evolution of Behavioral Disorders:
From Infancy to Early Adult Life. American Journal of Psychiatry, 141(1): 1-9.
3. Chapter 4, “The psychopathic individual: The functional impairment.” In Blair, J.,
Mitchell, D., Blair, K. The Psychopath: Emotion and the Brain (2005)
4. Chapter 11 in the Hill and Maughan (Eds). Pettit GS, Polaha JA, and Mize J,
"Perceptual and Attributional Processes in Aggression and Conduct Problems"
(pp. 292-319).
5. NPR segment “Attachment Therapy” only the Prologue (about Harry Harlowe’s
experiments, 12 minutes) is required, though the other sections are optional.
Found on the course site sidebar.
Optional:
1. “Sigmund Freud and the Classical psychoanalytic tradition,” from Freud and
Beyond by Stephen Mitchell and Margaret Black.
2. Bird, H. (2001). Psychoanalytic Perspectives on theories regarding the
development of antisocial behavior. Journal of the American Academy of
Psychoanalysis.
3. Excerpt from: Aichhorn, August. Wayward youth. New York: Viking Press, 1965.
Print.
4. Listen to the entire NPR segment included on the course site sidebar labeled
“Attachment Therapy.”
7) Session 7: Midterm Examination (via NYU Classes)
a. No readings or quiz
8) Session 8: Gender and Youthful Disruptive Behavior
a. Response Paper #3 Due
b. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Chapter 9, "Issues in Female Aggression and Related Behaviors," In Connor, D.F.
(2002) Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents. New
York: The Guilford Press; pp. 270-301.
2. Read the Introduction and Discussion of the following article: Comings, DE et al.
Parent-daughter transmission of the androgen receptor gene as an explanation of
the effect of father absence on age of menarche. Child Development, 73(4): 104651.
3. Excerpt from Odd Girl Out, chapter 4: Simmons, Rachel. Odd girl out: the hidden
culture of aggression in girls. New York: Harcourt, 2002.
4. Excerpt from Real Boys, chapter 1: Pollack, William. Real boys: Rescuing our sons from the myths of boyhood. New York: Holt, 1998. 9) Session 9: Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Disruptive Behavior
a. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Textbook (Hill and Maughan, eds.) Chapter 15. Treatment of conduct disorders
(pp. 408-448).
2. Textbook (Hill and Maughan, eds.) Chapter 16. The prevention of conduct
disorder.
3. Kahn, J. (2012, May 11). Can you call a 9-year-old a psychopath? NY Times
Magazine.
Optional:
1. Hipwell, A. E., & Loeber, R. (2006). “Do we know which interventions are
effective for disruptive and delinquent girls?” Clinical Child and Family
Psychology Review, 9(3/4), doi: 10.1007
2. Connor textbook, Chapters 11 (Psychosocial Interventions) and 12
(Psychopharmacological Treatments)
10) Session 10: Disruptive Behavior in the School Setting
a. Response Paper #4 Due
b. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Olweus, Dan. Bullying at school: what we know and what we can do. Oxford,
UK: Blackwell, 1993. (excerpt)
2. "Restorative Justice Programs Take Root in Schools." The New York Times. 11
Sept. 2013.
3. Listen to the 2-part NPR segment posted on the course site sidebar and labeled
School Violence and School Violence II. This describes the effects of gang
violence on a Chicago high school.
Optional:
1. Watch the film, Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch. Compare the portrayals of
bullies and victims.
2. Klomek, Anat, Andre Sourander, Solja Niemela, Kirsti Kumpulainen, Jorma
Piha, Tuula Tamminen, Fredrik Almqvist, and Madelyn Gould . "Childhood
Bullying Behaviors as a Risk for Suicide Attempts and Completed Suicides: A
Population-Based Birth Cohort Study." Journal of the American Academy of
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 48.3 (2009): 254-61. Focus on the
introduction and conclusion of this article.
3. Fredland, N. Nurturing hostile environments: the problem of school violence.
Family & Community Health, 3(1S), S32-S41.
11) Session 11: Dramatic Acts of Violence in Youth
a. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Adolescent Mass Murder; Meloy, J. Reid, Anthony G. Hempel, Kris Mohandie,
Andrew A. Shiva, and B. Thomas Gray. "Offender and Offense Characteristics of
a Nonrandom Sample of Adolescent Mass Murderers." Journal of the American
Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 40.6 (2001): 719-28. Print.
2. Eric and Dylan (from the book “Comprehending Columbine”): Larkin, R. W.
(2007). Comprhending columbine. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
3. Weisbrot, Deborah. Prelude to a School Shooting? Assessing Threatening
Behaviors in Childhood and Adolescence. J of Amer Acad Child & Adol
Psychiatry, 47:8, Aug 2008.
Optional:
1. “Parricide and Psychopathy.” Myers, W. C., & Vo, E. J. (2011).
2. O'Toole, M. E. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(n.d.). The school shooter: A threat assessment perspective. Washington D.C.
Focus on pp. 5-14 and 26-30.
3. Anderson, Scott. Greg Ousley Is Sorry for Killing His Parents. Is That Enough?
NY Times Magazine, 7/19/12. On the course site sidebar.
4. Brooke, James. Terror in Littleton: the overview, 2 students in Colorado school
said to gun down as many as 23 and kill themselves in a siege. NY Times,
4/20/99. Gives an overview of the events at Columbine from the day of the
shootings.
5. Watch the film Elephant, a fictionalized depiction of a school shooting similar to
the events at Columbine.
12) Session 12: Disruptive Behavior and the Law
a. Response Paper #5 Due
b. Quiz
Pre-Reading:
1. Steinberg, L. (2009). Adolescent Development And Juvenile Justice. Annual
Review of Clinical Psychology, 5(1), 459-485.
2. Prologue through Chapter 2 from Humes, E. (1996). No matter how loud I shout:
a year in the life of Juvenile Court. New York: Simon & Schuster.
3. Bosman, Julie. “For 800 youths jailed by state, not one full-time psychiatrist.” NY
Times. Feb 11, 2010.
Optional:
1. Grisso, T. (2007). Progress and Perils in the Juvenile Justice and Mental
Health Movement. The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and
the Law, 35, 158-67.
2. Hartwell et al. “I grew up too fast for my age:” Postdischarge issues and
experiences of male juvenile offenders. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation.
49:7, 2010. Pp. 495-515. Focus on the Background, Results, and
Discussion sections.
13) Session 13: The Role of Contemporary Media in Juvenile Disruptive Behavior
a. No quiz
b. In-Class Final Examination Review
c. Disruptive Behavior Journals Due
Pre-Reading:
1. “Media Violence,” In Chapter 5 “Risk and Protective Factors,” In Connor, D.F.
(2002) Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents, pp. 154158.
2. Jones, G. Violent media is good for kids. Mother Jones.
3. Adam, L. (2011). “Justices Reject Ban on Violent Video Games.” NY Times.
4. (2009). Policy Statement—Media Violence. Pediatrics, 124(5), 1495-1503.
5. Huesmann, L. (2007). The Impact Of Electronic Media Violence: Scientific
Theory And Research. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), S6-S13.
Optional:
1. Ferguson, CJ; San Miguel, CS; Garza, A; Jerabeck, JM. “A longitudinal test of
video game violence influences on dating and aggression: A 3-year longitudinal
study of adolescents.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, 46 (2012), 141-146.
Focus on the Introduction and Discussion sections.
2. Browne, K., & Hamiltongiachritsis, C. (2005). “The Influence Of Violent Media
On Children And Adolescents: A Public-health Approach.” The Lancet,
365(9460), 702-710.
3. Ferguson, C., & Kilburn, J. (2010). “Much Ado About Nothing: The
Misestimation and Overinterpretation of Violent Video Game Effects in Eastern
and Western Nations: Comment on Anderson et al.” (2010). Psychological
Bulletin, 136(2), 174-78.
14) Session 14: Final Examination (via NYU Classes)
a. No quiz, no readings
Writing Tips for Response Papers:
1) The paper should have an introductory paragraph and thesis statement to let us know the
focus of the paper.
2) The subsequent paragraphs should be clearly related to your thesis statement, offering
support for your argument. Every paragraph should be easily connected to the previous
one.
3) Every paper should cite at least 2 sources to support/define your argument. Appropriate
sources include textbooks, journal articles, or scientific writing from the media. While
blogs, opinion pieces, course lectures, and media samples (TV, movies, music, etc.) are
excellent to support your arguments, they do not count toward your citations.
a. Citations to materials from the course (textbooks, articles) should be included
parenthetically with author and page number, e.g., (Connor, 254). Course lectures
may be cited but do not count toward your minimum of 2 references.
b. Citations from non-course materials are encouraged and, when used, should be
listed with full citation information in a reference/bibliography list at the end of
your paper. Use APA style for these citations. If the reference information is not
listed, you will not get credit for the citation.
4) We strongly suggest that you proofread the paper for grammar, spelling, and readability.
If that is not your forte, get help from friends, family, the University Learning Center, etc.
Grading Rubric for Response Papers:
1) 1 point for clear writing (grammar, punctuation, spelling, clear sentences, no typos)
2) 1 point for organization (clear thesis, supporting arguments linked together, conclusion
summarizes)
3) 1 point for incorporation of resources, references, and ideas/sources from the course (at
least 2 citations with reference information required for full credit)
4) 1 point for adequately addressing the assignment prompt; credit for creativity/originality
included here
Papers that are turned in late will lose 1 point for each day that they are late. Students requesting
an exemption from the late submission policy must present a written note from a school Dean,
Academic Advisor, or personal physician justifying the late submission, which will then be
considered by the instructor.