title: Psychopathology, trauma and delinquency: subtypes of aggression and their relevance for understanding young offenders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the implications of an ontology of aggressive behavior which divides aggression into reactive, affective, defensive, impulsive (RADI) or "emotionally hot"; and planned, instrumental, predatory (PIP) or "emotionally cold." Recent epidemiological, criminological, clinical and neuroscience studies converge to support a connection between emotional and trauma related psychopathology and disturbances in the emotions, self-regulation and aggressive behavior which has important implications for diagnosis and treatment, especially for delinquent populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Selective review of preclinical and clinical studies in normal, clinical and delinquent populations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In delinquent populations we observe an increase in psychopathology, and especially trauma related psychopathology which impacts emotions and self-regulation in a manner that hotly emotionally charged acts of aggression become more likely. The identification of these disturbances can be supported by findings in cognitive neuroscience. These hot aggressive acts can be delineated from planned or emotionally cold aggression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings support a typology of diagnostic labels for disruptive behaviors, such as conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder, as it appears that these acts of hot emotional aggression are a legitimate target for psychopharmacological and other trauma specific interventions. The identification of this subtype of disruptive behavior disorders leads to more specific clinical interventions which in turn promise to improve hitherto unimpressive treatment outcomes of delinquents and patients with disruptive behavior.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 401 Quarry Road, Stanford, California, 94305, USA. steiner@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.forename: Niranjan S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Karnik
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huemer
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Plattner
authors.forename: Christina E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.forename: Rudy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Haapanen