Conduct disorder is a complex and puzzling topic. Viewed from one perspective, it might seem that oppositionality and aggression, lying and stealing are problems of social deviance, with little place in the research and clinical practice of mental health professionals. But closer investigation suggests a different view. Overlaps with social disadvantage are strong, but by no means complete; in addition, the long-term legacy of childhood conduct problems lies not only in continuing antisocial behaviours but in problems with interpersonal functioning and increased psychiatric risk. Conduct disorders are defined both socially and individually, and are influenced by both individual and social risks. Only a multifaceted approach will do them justice. That is the aim of this book.

Specifically, the volume aims both to inform and to equip the reader. The task of informing is in many ways straightforward. The chapters that follow – all written by leading experts in their fields – cover a wide spectrum of conceptual and empirical approaches, and synthesize and review current literature in their fields. The opening contributions set current debates in context, providing an historical perspective on changing societal responses to ‘bad behaviour’ in childhood, setting out links between normal and abnormal social development, and detailing current understandings of the neural and biosocial bases of aggression and antisocial behaviour. An overview of epidemiological findings then forms the backdrop to a series of chapters examining the broad spectrum of causal factors implicated in the genesis of childhood conduct problems: genetic and environmental, psychological and neuropsychological, social and interactional.