title: Taking a toy gun to school: a consideration of the determinants of adolescent forensic behavior in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting.
abstract: Adolescent forensic behavior can have a variety of meanings. A consideration of the range of meanings can inform the practice of the psychiatric forensic evaluation. This case report describes the history of an adolescent in individual treatment for disruptive and self-defeating behaviors who brought a concealed toy gun into his high school in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. The overdetermined nature of this act, as well as a consideration of its multiple meanings in the context of the young man's psychology, his educational and family systems, and his relationship with his treatment provider, will be described and developed. The discussion will broaden to consider the parameters of indicated therapeutic programs to address this subset of adolescent forensic behaviors. The role of deficient implicit emotion regulation capacities in adolescents and the corrective measures to target these neurobehavioral deficits will be described. The report concludes with implications for primary prevention of future adolescent forensic behaviors.
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005389:Firearms; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings; D000066553:Problem Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012574:Schools