title: Case study of a conduct-disordered youngster: building ego defenses and improving object relations within a therapeutic alliance.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Seltzer
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Atlas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000523:psychology; D004532:Ego; D006708:Homicide / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008426:Maternal Deprivation; D009769:Object Attachment; D010343:Patient Admission; D010553:Personality Development; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D012801:Sibling Relations