How Children Become Violent: Keeping Your Kids Out of Gangs, Terrorist Organizations, and Cults

138 Pages·2006·3.301 MB·English

by  Kathryn Seifert Phd

How Children Become Violent:
Why Disrupted Attachment Patterns
Trigger Pathological Behavior
Professional Version
Kathryn Seifert, Ph.D.
http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield
Published by Acanthus Publishing
a division of The Ictus Group, LLC
343 Commercial St
Unit 214, Union Wharf
Boston, MA 02109

Copyright © 2006, Kathryn Seifert, Ph.D.
All rights reserved. Published 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

This book provides information on the history of, causes and effects of, and treatment and therapies for problems affecting
the human mind. However, it is not intended to take the place of the professional advice of a psychiatrist or mental health
care professional. In compliance with existing legal and ethical requirements, all identifying details regarding the
client(s)/patient(s) discussed in this book, including but not limited to
name, age, race, occupation, and place of residence have been altered to prevent recognition.

All information about clinical studies and assessments is the opinion of the author and not an endorsement or guarantee of
their efficacy.

ISBN-13: 978-1-933631-48-6
Contents
Foreword IV
Preface VI
Introduction 1
Part I: Violence and Disrupted Attachment Patterns (DAP)
Chapter 1: Secure and Disrupted Attachments 7
Chapter 2: Characteristics of Children with DAP 14
Chapter 3: The Six Stages of Moral Development 17
Chapter 4: Why Do People Resort to Violence? 26
Chapter 5: The Problem with Violence in Every
Corner of the World 39
Part II: Assessment
Chapter 6: Assessment for Disrupted Attachment Patterns 46
Chapter 7: Assessing Severe, Chronic Depression,
and Psychopathy 53
Chapter 8: Assessment of Attachment, Behavior
Problems, Violence, and Placement Needs 62
Chapter 9: Assessment of Adult Risk of Violence,
Sexual Offending, and Psychopathy 80
Part III: Treatment
Chapter 10: Treatment for Children with DAP 87
Chapter 11: Treating Youth at High Risk for Violence
with a passage from Abigail S. Malcolm, Psy.D. 100
Chapter 12: A Promising Practice for the Future:
School-Based Mental Health by Rob Schmidt, LCPC, NCC 110
Conclusion 116
Acknowledgements 118
References 120
About the Author 129
Foreword
September 15, 2006 ment, and shows how abuse and neglect of our children
leads them to grow up without a modicum of sensitivity
Perhaps it was divine providence that kept me from writing to their inner selves or consideration of others. Gather-
this foreword until a few short hours after a 25-year-old ing evidence from both personal experience and archival
Laval, Quebec, resident turned the corridors of Montreal’s data, Dr. Seifert demonstrates that this type of violence is
Dawson College into a bloody target range, killing (as of neither a North American nor a Western phenomenon—it
this writing) one student and wounding 19 others. He then exists all over the world. She shows the exciting possibil-
ended his own troubled life with a single shot entering ity of commonality between Attachment Disorders and the
from below his chin. construct of Psychopathy, long recognized as a touchstone
of potential violence in adolescents and adults.
This vain and otherwise meaningless act follows a variegat-
ed string of school-centered violence most notably traced Beyond the theoretical, Dr. Seifert goes on to describe a
back to Columbine, but, in contradistinction to sugges- range of compatible (and likely converging) methods for
tions in the resulting fi lm documentary by Michael Moore, identifying children and youth at elevated risk for devel-
extreme and irrational aggression is not the sole province oping into violent and hyper-violent young adults. Her own
of America fl owing from its right to bear arms. We in the instrument, the CARE (with its Attachment subscale) is
“Great White North” also known as Canada have our share unique in its theoretical grounding being coupled with an
of children who’ve fallen through similar cracks. It hap- empirically impressive prediction capability that suggests
pens in small towns such as Taber, Alberta, as well as large specifi c interventions related to unique identifi ed patterns
cosmopolitan cities like Montreal. It was in this same city of risk and protective factors.
when in 1989 another 25-year-old, Marc Lepine, killed 14
female engineering students at the Ecole Polytechnique, The professional reader will become better acquainted
ending his own life with a single bullet as well. with an integrated set of theoretically sound, empirically
supported, and practically applied tools to practice more
My good colleague, Dr. Kathryn Seifert, has written a effectively as a forensic mental health professional. The
book that many of us would like to write. It addresses a lay reader will fi nd the book somewhat challenging but
theme that she has felt passionately about throughout her eminently comprehensible and well worth the effort. The
professional life, and she writes about it from her own policy implications would include the necessity for gov-
perspective and on her own terms. Dr. Seifert’s efforts ernments everywhere to invest in education of parenting
throughout her stellar career have been aimed at the no- goals, responsibilities, and practices as elements of core
ble goal of eliminating the seeds of violence. She focuses curricula. Traditional ways of transmitting these values
on unthinking and unfeeling youth and young adults who and our most important interpersonal interactions in a
commit the senseless destruction we see in Canada, the materialistic and fast-moving world is sadly ineffective as
U.S., and all over the world. A unique characteristic of this succeedingly larger numbers of youth grow up detached
book is that is begins with a rigorous yet highly readable from parents and positive societal values. There are also
account of Attachment Theory of biopsychosocial develop- practical and effective instructions for dealing with those
IV
who have already been damaged by their past parenting.
This reader-friendly treatise is particularly appealing for In closing, I would like to thank Dr. Seifert for this op-
psychology colleagues open to considering the neurobio- portunity to meaningfully participate in a small way in
logical underpinnings of the psychopathy and aggression bringing her book to fruition. The book has provided me
constructs. with a number of insights that I plan to incorporate into
my own research and practice. She is to be congratulated
Dr. Seifert’s clinical wisdom shines through the pages of for maintaining her reasoned and principled perspective in
the book as does her empathy for the victims and con- bringing forth this integrative and practical treatise that
cern—but never excuses—for the perpetrators. This is a has the potential to help society invest in the long-term
very difficult tightrope to walk. It seems that since Freud good for a modest short-term investment.
claimed to “understand” the causes of pathological be-
haviour, mental health professionals have (or at least have Shalom
been seen to) absolve the worst actors of accountability.
After all, if the heinous behaviour was caused by abnormal David Nussbaum, Ph.D.
environments and their influences, how can we hold the Department of Life Sciences/Psychology
disadvantaged youth responsible? He or she then becomes University of Toronto, Scarborough
a victim and society the guilty party. This lack of personal and
responsibility removes another potential inhibitory barrier Forensic Program
from the personal control armamentarium and likely con- Whitby Mental Health Centre
tributes incrementally to expression of violence. Whitby, Ontario
V
Preface
This book was written for professionals working in the while they are sequestered from the general public, we
mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice/criminal need to do what we can to ensure that they do not repeat
justice, and research fi elds, as well as students studying their mistakes. This is what my colleagues and I in the
these fi elds and individuals affected by violence. I have preventative and treatment fi elds of psychology are try-
tried to make Why Children Become Violent readable for ing to advance. Social services, juvenile justice, criminal
anyone who is interested in this area or is raising a child justice, public policy, mental health and addictions treat-
with attachment problems. ment, and forensic hospitals need major reform — reform
that is based on research and not revenge. A system that
My goal is to make a case for the fact that juvenile and does the same old thing and expects different and better
adult violence begins very early in life, and it is both results is itself ill.
preventable and treatable. I hope that my research and
experience, gained through over 30 years in this profes-
Some of our mental health and prison systems are in vari-
sion, will demonstrate that society must intervene early
ous states of disrepair and breakdown. Others are moving
in the lives of children living in violent, neglectful, crimi-
ahead and making very effective changes. One system can
nal, and substance-dependent families. Appropriate care,
learn from another’s mistakes and triumphs. This book
safety, and health for all children is in the world’s best in-
provides information about the problems of violence — in
terest. This is not to justify dangerous behavior by adults.
its various forms of abuse, neglect, and just plain sense-
Both adults and adolescents must take responsibility for
less killing — that takes place in this country. These are
their behavior. However, if we have the capacity to as-
problems that are seldom handled well by governmental
sess, prevent, and treat violence and sexual offending,
agencies of child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and
and to prevent future offending behaviors, to not do so is
mental health. This results in more problems, turning into
a crime.
a cycle of youth violence and sexual offending that will
potentially continue for generations. However, with the
Punishment has never been an adequate answer, for in the
correct intervention, this cycle can be broken, which cre-
United States, it is often puritanical and usually useless
ates a safer environment for all of society.
in protecting society. That is also not to say that danger-
ous people should not be kept away from society. But
VI
Introduction
I am a fairly pleasant, easy-going, and non-violent person. I had a small frame and was quite thin at the time, with
However, I do have my “soap box” issues, over which I dark shoulder-length hair and dark round eyes. I have al-
can get quite riled: child abuse and neglect and family ways looked younger than my age — I must have seemed
violence, the lack of a free and adequate education for all like a babe in the woods surrounded by lots of big, bad,
children, and less than the highest quality mental health hungry wolves. I’m sure some were saying, Boy she won’t
services for all children and families regardless of the abil- last long. But I toughened up fast. You have to if you work
ity to pay for them. within The Walls.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a drive to know After I walked in for the fi rst time, each door mechanically
why some people grow up to assault or kill and others do banged close behind me. I found myself totally enclosed in
not. As I sat down to write this book, I thought about when a very small room of metal and glass. My heart was racing,
and where my experience with violence began, back when and I thought to myself, There’s no turning back now. It’s
I fi rst found myself among psychopaths and killers within a good thing I don’t have claustrophobia — you can’t have
The Walls. claustrophobia and work in a jail. A man came in, Dr. Dale
Wentworth, who would become my mentor. Dr. Wentworth
It was 1988. I was 42 years old and ready to start a new job was an elderly psychiatrist, a character, if you will, who
at an East Coast adult male prison. As I drove up to the fa- taught me much and had his own way of doing things. Even
cility for the fi rst time, I was struck by the cold, foreboding though we worked in a prison with a myriad of dangerous
appearance of the low, grey buildings with their tiny win- inmates, it was before we had the ability to judge who
dows peeking out behind huge razor wire-topped fences. was truly at risk for being violent in the future and who
That razor wire was enough to give me the chills. It looked was not. I would pay dearly for this lack of knowledge by
like a ghost town — not a single person stirred outside the placing myself both unnecessarily and unwittingly in some
buildings. I had no idea what to expect and I wondered if very dangerous situations.
I was crazy to take this job. I walked into a room in which
uniformed offi cers ushered personnel through a metal de- “Make a habit of writing down your thoughts and experi-
tector, inspected bags, and checked IDs for entry. ences every day,” Dr. Wentworth said to me. “You may
want to write about this in the future.”
It was my fi rst day as a psychology associate in a relatively
new prison located an hour from where I was raised. I had Unfortunately, I didn’t follow Dr. Wentworth’s advice.
wanted to move closer to my home and family, so when The pace for a psychologist in a large prison is hectic and
someone had asked, “Do you want a job in this prison?” stressful. If I found a minute to sit, I was trying to shake
I said, somewhat impulsive and naïvely, “Sure, why not? off the sights and sounds and events of the week — it could
Psychology is the same wherever you practice it, right?” have been a cut up, bleeding inmate, another running na-
And there, as I entered the fi rst of many clunking metal ked through the school, or one who had not
prison doors, I embarked upon a journey that would con-
tinue to this day.
1
come out of his cell for ten years. Then there was the one rectional employees because we knew at any moment we
who repeatedly threatened to kill himself, or the one who might find ourselves depending on a coworker for our safe-
claimed I took off his leg every night and used it for a golf ty or maybe even our lives. This closeness gave us a sense
club. As you can see, there was always plenty to do, and of protection so that we could go about our daily routine.
plenty on my mind. Even though I didn’t write my experi- You cannot constantly feel afraid or unsafe and do your
ences down then, however, the memories are still so vivid job and remain sane. It’s like having an “on-guard” sense
that I wouldn’t even need notes in front of me. So here I of being mostly safe, but not completely, so you always
am, Dr. Wentworth, writing this book, and composing my watch for any signs that a situation could become unsafe.
experiences mostly from memory. Unsafe situations can happen in an instant when you work
in a prison. Everybody who works there knows it.
There were many events that shaped my way of think-
ing while working both at this prison and in several other It was within The Walls I met several very dangerous psy-
criminal justice facilities. I hope those who were there chopaths. I also observed among this population every
will forgive any lapses in memory, and also remember that psychiatric disorder that I had ever read about in my ab-
I have changed names, settings, and circumstances to pro- normal psychology books, but might not otherwise have
tect both the innocent and the not-so-innocent. seen in person. There was catalepsy, or, more descrip-
tively, “waxy flexibility” (allowing one’s posture to be
Working in a prison meant learning to adapt to a complete- rearranged, holding the new position for long periods of
ly new environment. In this prison inmates lived in housing time) and hysterical conversion reaction (a belief that a
units and each unit had several different locked and sepa- limb is paralyzed when it is not). It was a great training
rate wings. In the center was a glass and metal enclosure experience because I was able to study and treat many
for officers to run electronic doors, as well as watch and obscure behaviors. One man kept telling us, “My time is
manage all activities. There was a separate chow, chapel, up, my time is up.” Over and over again, he repeated, “My
gym, medical and mental health unit, and school. In the time is up.” No one paid attention or knew what he meant
center were “yards,” or large open spaces, with walkways until it was discovered that his time actually was up — he
for inmates to pass from one location to another. The cells had served his full sentence and was released. One man
were just like what you’ve seen on TV: small, with a bed, cut himself and mixed his blood with water and splashed
a toilet, and sink. Most cells were inhabited by two men. it all over his cell. One man wrote “and twenty five” over
I had to ignore hoots, cat calls, and obscenities constantly and over again, day in and day out for years. Then there
shouted at me from the small slit exterior windows cut was the inmate who could and would swallow anything
into the drab, gray concrete walls of the segregation unit. from a TV antenna to glass to a ballpoint pen because it
The voices could be high pitched and creepy. They made got him a ride out of the prison hospital to the community
you want to go home and wash. My stomach turned into hospital.
knots in this atmosphere, but I had to learn to shut them
off as if they didn’t exist. If I hadn’t, then it would have A few faces and events have remained etched vibrantly in
made working there unbearable. Maybe I would have even my memory, and I can recall scenarios as if they happened
gone crazy. yesterday. I remember walking down a tier in a flax jacket
(a Kevlar vest that protects your chest from being injured
While it could be very dangerous behind The Walls, most if someone should try to stab you). I was attempting to
days were uneventful. Camaraderie existed among the cor- coax a mentally ill inmate who was bleeding to death to
2