Juvenile Anger

Steve Hanson

NY State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services

Juvenile Anger

School Shootings

• Jonesboro, Ark 1998• Columbine, CO -1999• Erfut Germany - 2002• Red Lake, MN – 2005• Jacksboro- TN - 2005

• I BELIVE IN ERIC AND DYLAN THEY DID THE RIGHT THING AND I WOULD DO IT HERE AT MY SCHOOL IF I HAD TO.– Posted by: REBELGIRL at November 4, 2004

12:19 PM

• Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are awesome and will be remembered forever!– Posted by: Sally at April 20, 2005 03:03 PM

Young AngerNew Issue or Old Hat

• Is this something totally new?

• Or is this an old issue getting bigger/worse?

1950’s The Wild One

• Mildred: What're you rebelling against, Johnny?

• Johnny: Whaddya got?

Various Issues

• Normal adolescent anger

• Anger leading to violence

• “Violent or controlling” behavior without anger (Bullying)

• Extreme anger

• Anger expressed externally vs. internally, appropriately vs. inappropriately

Bio-Psycho-Social Model

Biological• Hormonal

changes• Physical

changes• Neurochemical

activity

Psychological• “New”

Emotions• Intense

Emotions• Egocentric

thinking• Abstract

thinking

Social• Importance of

peer groups• Parental

influences• Media

influences (TV, movies, music)

• Internet access

Movies

• Carrie

• The Basketball Diaries

• Reservoir Dogs

• Kill Bill I & II

• Etc., etc., etc.,

Music

• Our brains are on fire with the feeling to kill And it will not go away until our dreams are fulfilledThere is only one thing on our minds Don't try running away`cause you're the one we will find– Metallica

More Metallica

• DIE DIE MY DARLING(Misfits)

• Die, die, die my darling Don't utter a single word Die, die, die my darling Just shut your pretty mouth

• I'll be seeing you again I'll be seeing you... in Hell

More Music

• We’re not going to take it – Twisted Sister

• Angry Young Man – Billy Joel

• My Generation – The Who

• Street Fighting Man – Rolling Stones

• Rage Against the Machine, NWA, Rap Songs, Head bangers, Mosh Pits, etc., etc.

Video Games

• Mortal Kombat

• Doom

• Lord of the Rings

• Call of Duty – World War II

Internet

• Access to information

• Community of people with similar interests– Websites– Chat rooms– Blogs

• The ability to connect with others –feeds the anger

One Girl’s Top Ten Rant List

• #10 Parental F***ING Advisory. I want to listen to music, not listen to ...s***. I mean Jesus f***ing Christ. .... F*** PARENTAL ADVISORY TO THE FOULEST DEPTHS OF MOTHER F***ING HELL G** DAMNIT!

• .... Gosh I feel so much better. I love this site Lol.

The “old days”

• Played “Army”, Cowboys & Indians”

• Watched the Three Stooges, Little Rascals, Cartoons (Tom & Jerry, Roadrunner)

• Played with cherry bombs and fire crackers

Adolescence

• Time of change – “Sturm und Drang”

• Adolescence is a somewhat artificial construct

• 150 years ago: – finished(?) school and started working– Got married at age 16 or 17– Started raising own children at age 16/17

Adolescence Continued

• Puberty– Sexual development and desires – not

socially approved

• Physical development – awkward• Cognitive development – abstract thinking

but lack the ability to verbally express feelings coherently

• Some adult responsibilities, some child expectations

Verbal Expression

• Adolescents (particularly males) struggle with the ability to accurately verbalize their feelings.

• “Base” emotions (anger/happy/sad) are often expressed to a degree that is more intense than indicated – No such thing as a “minor” adolescent problem.

• Lack of verbal ability will often lead to acting out as a way of expressing feelings – I want to break something (someone).

Anger/Depression

• Depression is often expressed as anger during adolescence.

• The depression may be a result of a variety of factors including– History of being abused– Relationship difficulties– Peer group problems– Neurochemical Problems

• Treated with antidepressants (SSRI’S) – perhaps some risk of violence as a side effect of the medication.

Peer Influence

• Identify with a peer group.

• Provides identity, companionship, a shared set of “values”

• Conflict between groups

• Some kids are ostracized by the usual groups.

• May identify with “outsider” groups

Differences between Youths and Adults

• Brain Chemistry – Kids brains 2-3X more active.

• Intense experiences - emotionally

• Perception of Risk – adults scary – kids reward

• Thinking and feeling disconnected – particularly in males.

Adult Brain and Risk

FEAR & Logic

Adolescent Brain and Risk

Excitement& Reward

Parents

• Abusive relationships

• Violence used to get needs met

• Kids learn/repeat the behavior

• They only know what they only know.

Anger Perspectives

• Anger is a “normal, healthy” emotion – it is violence that is the problem

• Adolescents often have a degree of anger that is not “normal”. This leads to destructive types of behavior

• The amount of anger is not much different – it is the level of violence used for even minor issues

Bullying

• A lot of concern since Columbine

• Victims of bullying deciding to get revenge

• Bullies control the social environment, deciding who’s in and who’s out – very socially manipulative

• Active – physical violence/intimidation

• Passive – “shunning”

Stopping Bullying

• Extremely difficult as the bullies often are adept at appearing to comply for the adults but doing something different out of sight.

• Adults should not ignore bullying when they see it.

• Confront bullies with how it makes people feel.

Egocentrism

• Focus on self – “How does this effect me?”• Self Conscious –”Everyone is looking at me”• Selfish

• G**dammit i Hate them! Somehow in 1 month i have managed to lose all their trust for going out with my friends. None of us have done a damn thing wrong! None of my friends are in trouble only me. They say I lied to them. We would say we're going shopping and maybe out to eat. Oh, if we leave at 5 and don't come home to 11, you can guarantee we did other stuff. it's not stuff we plan we're just riding around and we're like, that's looks fun., or let's go do this. So I lie to them constantly (according to them) and they don't believe a damn thing i say. That's tight, b/c i don't listen to a damn thing they say. They can kiss my ass. When i turn 17 i'm movin out unless i can find a way out before then. I hate them and I wish they would die. I'm so f***ing ready for school so i can get out of this hell hole, at least for a little while!

“Stupidity’s” Rant

I hate all moms. Like, one day I was like watching TV and my mom like, totally starting vaccuuming right when the commercials ended and I was all like, "na uh!" and she was just all, *VROOOOOOOOM VROOOOOOOOOM* And then Britney called and told me about the time her mom did THE SAME THING to her! And I was just all like, "psssht, moms suck lizards.". Like totally. Why is it so important for moms to vaccuum the living room while we're in there watching TV? Any mom's on YN wanna take a stab at that one? I'm all ears.

Factors In Violence

• A distorted view of the social world is often associated with aggressive behavior. – they often wrongly assume that others have

hostile intentions towards them and misperceive the effects their behavior may have on others.

Factors in Violence

• The Role of Psychopathology – Most researchers believe that teenage

violence cannot simply be reduced to underlying forms of psychopathology of the individual child or adolescent, but that the processes taking place in peer relationships need to be seriously considered as contributing causes.

Factors in Violence

• Being targeted by others– There is evidence for reciprocity of aggressive

behavior. This means that individuals who engage in aggressive behavior tend to be the targets or victims of aggression by others as well.

Factors in Violence

• Control• People like to be able to control their

environment – “I want it this way”• Control strategies for some may include:

– Temper tantrums– Threat/use of violence– Manipulation of peers

• “I’ll teach them!”• Resisting parental/adult controls

Anger Management

• Little children often hit when angry – dispute over toys.

• Attempts to teach anger management – “We use our words here, not our fists”

• Good anger management skills need to be taught, modeled, and learned.

• Does the child see examples of effective “healthy” anger management, or effective “unhealthy” anger management.

Strategies for dealing with Anger

• Goal is to manage anger not eliminate it.

1. Recognizing external/internal triggers

2. Recognize feelings of anger

3. Strategies to decrease intensity of anger

4. Alternatives to aggression

5. Evaluate performanceAndy Reitz – CWLA Walker Treischman Center

Strategies to Decrease Anger

Deep breathing, pleasant imagery, going for a walk, or listening to music.

Working off steam – exercise, etc.

"It's important to identify the strategies that work best for each individual," Reitz emphasizes. It also has to be easy for the child to use.

Randolph Ecton

• Stop and freeze. Pay attention to anger triggers. • Calm down. Use relaxation techniques, such as deep

breathing. • Think positive. Seek calming thoughts, then engage in

consequential thinking, assertive thinking, and rational thinking.

• Listen for understanding. Use basic and active listening skills.

• Act positively. Act more assertively, and be more pro-social. – coauthor of Adolescent Anger Control: Cognitive Behavioral

Techniques

Cognitive Behavioral Approaches

• Anger resulting from cognitive “errors”

• Event Interpret React

• Self centered thinking can lead to misinterpretations of events

• CBT focuses on teaching one to question our automatic thinking processes.