Words, Actions and 'Acting Out': Their Role in the Pathology of Violent Children

An effort to treat and to resocialize children who present problems of violent behaviour has necessitated close attention to the relationship between words, actions and acting out. Theoretical contributions by several authors have focused our attention on the importance of the transitional object stage of development during which the child moves from a pleasure to a reality orientation and to a reliance on secondary-process thinking. Two modes of implementing the successful negotiation of this transition have been examined for their implications for this particular pathological population: The concept of 'action as tool' in self-definition and the concept of 'language as tool' in the same task. Violent children seem to be prematurely encouraged in the discovery of action as a tool in the exploration of the real world, and in the confirmation of the self as defined by their bodies in action. Some observations are reported in order to illustrate the claim that the mothers of violent children while encouraging action in their children do not provide the maternal function of protecting, monitoring and circumscribing the young child's actions. As a consequence, the child hurts himself and develops considerable fear of his physical environment; he angers other adults and older siblings by his actions and thus develops considerable fear and guilt in regard to his human environment.

Other observations are reported to support the contention that these mothers do not encourage the development of 'language as tool' in self-definition. Words do not achieve a function in describing inner reality. Parents may discourage the use of words to mirror and control outer reality.