ABSTRACT
Disruptive behaviour disorders are understood and grouped in different ways. For example, two types of behaviour patterns have been suggested, 'anti-social' and 'defiant/disrespectful'. The chapter emphasises the importance of support for staff educating the students with disruptive behaviour disorders. For teachers and others, educating students with disruptive behaviour disorders can at times feel deskilling, impossibly stressful and unrewarding. The importance of strong support for those working with students with disruptive behaviour disorders is therefore probably self-evident. As classified under the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association), oppositional defiant disorder involves a pattern of 'angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behaviour, or vindictiveness'. Among the main classifications of disruptive behaviour disorders in DSM-5 are oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Gender differences are evident. In boys, conduct disorder tends to be associated with fighting, stealing, school discipline problems and vandalism. For girls it may implicate truancy, lying, substance abuse, running away and prostitution.
