John N. Constantino on Breaking the Cycle of Violence Editorial Services April 1997 John Constantino is an assistant professor of psychiatry and an instructor of pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. We know that genetic vulnerabilities, harsh, inconsistent parenting, and socio-environmental inequity drive the cycle. What many people do not seem to realize is that these factors have their easiest access and cruelest impact on young children. Stable patterns of violent behavior often begin early in childhood, and are very difficult to change once they start. Most people who will become violent criminals have begun to manifest abnormally aggressive behavior well before age 10, and in the United States, the steady rise in adult antisocial behavior over recent decades is entirely explainable on the basis of increases in the prevalence of child conduct problems.
Violent behavior has to be prevented before it starts.
Important components of these programs have included parent education, efforts to model and promote positive social interactions between parents and their babies, referral to existing resources during times of crisis, and human companionship. St. Louis boasts the headquarters of an internationally recognized home visitation program called Parents As Teachers, which has resulted in significantly enhanced problem solving abilities and social development in children who were enrolled from the time of birth. Unfortunately, thus far, the program has not been given adequate funding to implement it widely among socially disadvantaged families who might benefit from it most. A recent large longitudinal study of European infants followed from birth to adulthood showed that the strongest environmental predictor of violent criminality at age 18 was maternal rejection at one year of age. Perhaps it is because the fruits of an early intervention program cannot be seen until long after the term of office of a politician who legislates one into existence.