Contemporary review of childhood antisocial behaviour in school settings

The immediate and long-term prognosis for children who display early-onset
antisocial behaviour and who are at-risk of disengagement from school is often extremely
poor across multiple indices of adjustment, including a significantly increased risk of
violence and criminality as adults. Implementing effective programs to redirect the
trajectory of antisocial behaviour toward better outcomes for these children is therefore
an important priority. The school setting is one of the most important socialization
contexts of childhood. It is a place where antisocial behaviour often plays out and where
prevention and intervention efforts are often focused. Given the important role of the
school in understanding childhood antisocial behaviour, this chapter presents an overview
of the contemporary literature on the nature, scope, impact and etiology of childhood
antisocial behaviour, with an emphasis on the school context. Efforts undertaken in
schools to prevent and/or redirect the trajectory of these children are reviewed.