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Aggressive Behavior Prevention During Childhood

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Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion

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Introduction

Although serious acts of aggression including assaults, robberies, and even homicides involving children as perpetrators can and do occur, these are, by and large, extremely rare events (DeVoe & Bauer, 2010). Of much greater concern to teachers, parents, and others who interact with children on a regular basis are relatively low level acts of aggression such as teasing, arguing, minor physical, and verbal altercations and other forms of interpersonal conflict that are often viewed as part of normal childhood development. Research suggests that these types of minor aggressive acts occur frequently among children and if left undeterred may evolve into more serious types of aggression in later childhood and adolescence (Dodge Greenberg, Malone, & Conduct Problems Research Group, 2008; Dymnicki, Weissberg, & Henry, 2012).

The purpose of this entry is to review the status and evolution of aggressive behavior in children with an eye toward identifying both the key developmental...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR, 97520, USA

    Douglas Smith, Andrew Stuck & Brayton Tompkins

Authors
  1. Douglas Smith
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  2. Andrew Stuck
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  3. Brayton Tompkins
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Correspondence to Douglas Smith .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut, New London, CT, USA

    Thomas P. Gullotta

  2. University of Connecticut, West Hartford, USA

    Martin Bloom

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Smith, D., Stuck, A., Tompkins, B. (2014). Aggressive Behavior Prevention During Childhood. In: Gullotta, T.P., Bloom, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_139

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_139

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