adolescent conduct disorder at a school for the disadvantaged

Conduct disorder (CD), one of the disruptive behaviour disorders, is defined as a repetitive and persistent pattern of behaviour in which the basic rights of others or major age-appropriate societal rules or norms are violated. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) (American Psychiatric Association 2000) the 15 criteria for the diagnosis of CD cover aggression towards people and animals, destruction of property, deceitfulness or theft and serious violation of societal rules. Although there is no systematic epidemiological research in southern Africa, there is increasing recognition among health professionals that disruptive behaviour disorders including CD pose a serious problem (Mpofu 2003). As Pillay (1998 p. 191) observes, ‘clinicians are always receiving adverse reports from family members about adolescents with conduc