Lost boys: Why our sons turn violent and how we can save them

Abstract

The means children have used to express their frustrations and anxieties has been shaped over the years by the environments in which they live. What was once responded to with words of anger or vandalism is today responded to with threats and the use of weapons. Today's violent children are products of the toxic environment they experience on multiple levels. This paper considers violent behavior in children from a psychosocial perspective and provides six basic tools that should be considered to better understand and address violence: an ecological perspective on human development; the accumulation of risk and opportunity in children; a professional humility about resilience; the inherent temperament of children; rejection; and spirituality.