Chapter 7: Early Childhood Aggression: Changing Paradigms

In the playground she says that she is not going to be our friend, she leaves us alone and goes to find other classmates. Later on, when they are playing London Bridge she asks us to leave the game. (Interview with 5-year old girl from low socioeconomic background, p. 4)

During the last few decades, aggression has become one of most relevant phenomena for child psychology to study. The common perception of an increase in aggressive conducts and its consequences for numerous societies has contributed to the conception of aggression as a social problem. From this view, the last couple of years have been characterized for the development of a large number of studies and intervention programs on the topic of aggression and other closely related phenomena such as bullying.