The classification of Conduct Disorder, sometimes seen as a nonspecific designation descriptive of antisocial behavior, is illuminated through case study of a youngster admitted for acute hospital treatment. Drawing on psychodynamic theory and treatment, principles are used in illustrating how individual, historical, family, and trauma factors may contribute to disordered self-esteem and behavior, which may become a focus of therapeutic intervention. A concluding section delineates the possibility of two varieties of Conduct Disorder related, respectively, to trauma or failures in socialization. These may have implications for treatment and setting.
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