Violence among children and adolescents is often analyzed
under the two main currents of psychology: Cognitive and behavioral. The cognitive
branch of psychology studies the biological and psychological processes of the child and
focuses on the internal processes that produce behavior. On the other hand, the
behavioral school of psychology bases its analysis on the environmental factors that may
affect the behavior of children. The environmental factors that play a role in the
behavior of children include the parents, relatives, friends, the home atmosphere,
support services in school, and anything to which the child becomes socially exposed.
In a case when a child beats others, is aggressive, and
does not seem to control himself, the psychologist needs to look from the cognitive and
the behavioral perspectives to determine whether the behavior is caused by illness or
just by a reaction to the environment. Once the causative factor of the behavior is
determined the child would undergo behavioral therapy as well as psychological
counseling. In the case of bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD/HD),
oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), or other health impaired (OHI) the child will
receive medication. If the behavior is caused by socially-learned habits (defiant
behavior, bullying, disrespecting others), then a good behavioral program that involves
reinforcement for making good choices would be the most appropriate
intervention.
Therefore, a modern perspective of psychology
would include both cognitive and behavioral parameters in order to analyze the behavior
of a child. Even today we still see the argument of nature versus nurture in every
aspect of the study of human behavior: Can good parenting deter inherited tendencies of
violence in a child? Can a condition such as ODD be curbed with behavioral therapy and
without medication? Those questions are part of the premise of modern psychology: That
both nature and nurture are influential in the behavior of a human being.
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