With all children, but particularly with young children, treatment must involve the entire family whenever possible. This family focus must include a realistic response to any evidence of domestic violence. Successful treatment also must enlist extended family and community support systems to supplement the work of professionals. Family preservation usually is the front line for child welfare services, but its rate of success is higher with relatively passive abused or neglected children than with aggressive ones, according to Fraser's research. Today's educators need new sets of skills not only to deal with violent youngsters but to create a nonviolent culture for all their students.
Treatment is expensive, and the best treatment is very expensive.
But violent youngsters need intensive training to learn new interaction strategies. The cognitive-behavioral work that is most successful in bringing children to adopt new responses to stimuli probably works best in a residential environment. Because of experiences they've had in the past, and perhaps because of individual processing defects, violent children perceive hostility even when it isn't there. They need to develop the ability to solve problems without resorting to force or coercion, to gain new information processing and communication skills. Children, especially young children, learn best in nurturing environments.