Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children

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Are you looking for a really clear, well-written and well-informed book about violence in children? Then this is the book to read.

Jonathan Kellerman is a psychologist who has become a well-know novelist, specializing in crime stories. He knows kids like these, from professional experience. He has strong opinions, and he expresses them clearly. He is not afraid to talk about evil. He can use a formal diagnostic term, but also stay in touch with lived, human experience.

Kellerman discusses antisocial children in general and some of the famous cases of violent outbursts of children (such as the school shootings) in particular. He speculates on causes; he describes possible treatments. He distinguishes between organized serial killers (psychopaths who systematically perform cruel acts because it thrills them and because they can) and disorganized serial killers (mentally ill and often retarded individuals who kill because they are hearing voices and/or having hallucinations that drive them to it). He also discusses the increase in feigned psychosis among psychopaths who don’t want to pay the ultimate price for their crimes.

Those of us who hope to make a difference in the lives of individual children and in our society’s treatment of abused and neglected children need to take a hard look at the forces that shape childhood violence. We must make informed decisions about interventions that can increase the odds that our kids, at such high risk for adult antisocial behaviors, get every opportunity to become compassionate, law-abiding and well-adjusted adults.

This is another must-read book.

—Libby Colman, Ph.D.