The developmental course of violence and aggression. Mechanisms of family and peer influence.

This article presents an overview of current research and thinking on the developmental course of aggression and violent behavior from early childhood through adolescence. Differing developmental trajectories are highlighted, and salient family and peer influences are described. Acquired social information processing patterns are discussed as potential mediators of the link between social experience in the family and peer group and individual differences in children's aggressive behavior. The need for developmentally sensitive models that focus on the interplay of family and peer experience, information processing patterns, and onset and chronicity of aggression is stressed.