CASE HISTORY – David age 13
David is a 13 year old Caucasian boy who has recently been admitted to a
juvenile detention facility in San Luis Obispo, California. Police reports
indicate that he and another boy were arrested for breaking and entering into
a private residence. He has also been charged with assaulting police officers
at the time of the arrest.
David grew up in an upper middle class section of San Luis Obispo. David's
father, Oliver, is a professor at a small college, and his mother, Sharon, is
a dentist who works for a large health care group. David has an older sister,
Sarah, who is 15 years old. Their family has had no prior contact with law
enforcement agencies.
Even as a small child, David seemed unable to restrain himself. He would
bound around the house, crashing into walls and objects, frequently breaking
items or destroying house plants. These activities became more pronounced
just after meals and when he was angry or disappointed. David seemed to
require very little sleep, and he would quickly become bored with most
activities. However, he would spend long hours playing computer games, and
also enjoyed playing with the family dog, Jessie. David entered a period of
low mood at the age of 11 when Jessie died.
David's parents say that David has always been an insecure child. David was
slow to complete toilet training, and his parents admit that they gently
teased him about his frequent "accidents" which continued until he was 8 or 9
years old. David seems unable to compete with his precocious older sister,
who has been very successful both socially and academically. Although Sarah
takes David's side in front of her parents, David reports that she teases him
when they are alone.
Sharon took a leave of absence for the first three years of David's life. She
then returned to work on a part-time basis and enrolled David in a high
quality day care center. David seemed to thrive in this environment and would
look forward to his twice weekly visits. Just before his fourth birthday,
however, David grew ill and had to be withdrawn from the school for more than
a month. Afterward, David seemed highly anxious about returning to the
center. Indeed, each time he did go to the center, he was highly agitated; at
the school's request, his parents withdrew him from the program. For the next
year until he began school, Sharon and Oliver arranged their schedule so that
one or the other of them was available to take care of him.
At the age of 6 years, David's parents enrolled him in a private Montessori
school, and with the help of the school psychologist, David made a fairly
smooth transition. David developed few friends at school; most children
seemed put off by his high level of energy and incessant talking. In spite of
his social isolation, however, David seemed to enjoy learning very much, and
did well in school through the fourth grade. Testing indicated an IQ score of
126. He scores particularly high on verbal abilities, though much lower on
mathematics.
Unfortunately, David did not get along with his fifth grade teacher, who was
fairly inflexible in his approach. David's grades dropped dramatically, and
since then, he has steadfastly refused to put forth an effort at school.
About this time, David began stealing small amounts of money from his
mother's purse. When his mother confronted him about it, he denied it. But
afterward, he continued stealing the money and made little effort to conceal
his actions.
David entered puberty at the age of 11, and at that time, his mischievous
behaviors became more destructive. He frequently got in fights with
classmates, and would verbally assault teachers. He was suspended from school
for defacing the school walls with obscenities. David explained himself by
telling his parents that he was unable to control his actions. In turn, his
parents disciplined him by preventing him from playing with his computer
games for a month. Separately, each parent admits to allowing David to
occasionally play with the games during this punishment period.
In middle school, David began associating with the older boys in school. His
parents suspect that he may have tried smoking cigarettes and may have
experimented with sniffing glue. He was suspended from school for fighting in
the lunch room and repeatedly threatening smaller children. He is frequently
truant from school, and his parents have caught him sneaking out of the house
late at night.
After his arrest for breaking and entering, David began to cry and told his
parents that he felt badly for what he had done. He added that he was unable
to control himself.
David is reluctantly undergoing psychiatric evaluation at the juvenile
detention facility.