Conduct DisorderFrom infancy, children express individual characteristics that can be considered aggressive. The child may be aggressive in the way he cries, the way he plays, and the way he gets attention. Parents of children who have difficulty sleeping through the night, difficulty accepting affection, and/or difficulty with hyperactivity are often so stressed and bothered by these behaviors that they resort to negative reinforcement techniques in their parenting. Examples of this can be seen in spanking, harsh scolding, or even ignoring the child's behaviors. By using negative reinforcement, parents unknowingly reinforce the prevalence of these behaviors and, therefore, also increases the risk that this type of activity will continue into adolescence (Patterson, 1982). Children who tend not to conform to authority in childhood are more likely to have an aggressive temperament in adolescence (Kolvin, Nicol, Garside, Day & Tweedle, 1982; Olweus, 1980; Webster-Stratton & Eyberg, 1982) . Therefore, when “difficult” children become adolescents, they pose an even greater challenge to their parents, school officials, law enforcement and the community. Often ignored is the biggest challenge, which is the child having to deal with this instability of their mental well-being. We will see in the research provided that conduct disorder is multifaceted, made up of some components that are difficult to conceptualize and others that are commonly known. However, every aspect is crucial to understanding the scope of this mental disorder, starting from its history of violence to the lack of intervention. Conduct disorder is the most common psychiatric disorder in childhood, affecting approximately 7% of boys and 3% of girls. in the general population (Meltzer, Gatward, Goodman, Ford, 2000). Unlike most mental disorders, which affect only the diagnosed party, conduct disorder has serious implications for both the individual and the rest of society. Violence, excessive aggression, and inappropriate behaviors, such as theft and drug and/or alcohol abuse, are all frequently expressed characteristics of the disorder, however, it is by far not limited to just these three (Campbell, 1990). With a wide range of characteristics, from antisocial behaviors having to do with viola...... middle of paper...... Epidemiological approaches to natural history research: antisocial disorders in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 20, 566-680. Rosenblatt, J. A., Rosenblatt, A., & Biggs, E. E. (2000). Criminal behavior and emotional disturbance: Comparison of youth served by juvenile and mental health systems. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 27, 227-237. Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1997). A life course theory of cumulative disadvantage and the stability of delinquency. In T. P. Thornberry (Ed.), Developmental theories of crime and delinquency. New Jersey: Settlement. (pp. 133-161). Steiner, H., Garcia, I., & Matthews, Z. (1997). Posttraumatic stress disorder in incarcerated juvenile delinquents. Journal of the American Academy for Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 357-365.Tolan, P. H. (1987). Implications of delinquency risk by age of onset. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 47-65.Webster-Stratton, C., & Eyeberg, S. M. (1982). Child temperament: Relationship to child behavioral problems and parent-child interactions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 11, 123-129.