Product Description

Every child has an off day when nothing seems to go right, but for some, angry outbursts, frustration, and resentment are the norm. When a child's anger threatens to jeopardize his school and social life and introduces an element of strain into the family dynamics that affects every member, it's time for a parent to ask: When is angry too angry?

Child psychologist Dr. Tim Murphy has addressed this very question with hundreds of families, helping them to understand both the causes and the repercussions of childhood anger and to devise effective strategies for defusing the time bomb in their midst. Whether it's a toddler staging a tantrum, a grade-schooler unable to make friends, or a sulking preteen who greets every adult request with antagonism, parents of angry children are baffled by both the depth and the root of their child's unhappiness. And when small social problems and household disputes regularly escalate into full-fledged battles, it's nearly impossible for parents to distance themselves enough from the situation to find a perspective that will remedy it.

With simple, direct techniques, Dr. Murphy shows it is possible to help an angry child understand what triggers his outbursts and develop new approaches for coping with potentially explosive situations. Identifying the ten telling characteristics of an angry child, Dr. Murphy provides examples from his clinical experience to help adults guide their children to more appropriate responses. Dr. Murphy also alerts readers to parenting styles that work best for these volatile children, explaining how a parent's own behavior can sometimes escalate a child's meltdowns. He pinpoints the moments when anger moves from a normal emotional expression to an extreme one, indicative of a larger problem. In a special chapter devoted to winning daily battles, Dr. Murphy offers advice on situations in which an angry child's temper is most likely to flare.

The Angry Child is destined to be a classic. With real solutions for the concerns of millions of parents, Dr. Murphy offers answers and hope for the families and educators of unhappy children of all ages.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #175278 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-10
• Released on: 2002-09-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Booklist
Will a hard-to-handle six-year-old make headlines later for shooting up a school? It is unlikely, but parents need to know how to deal with an angry child--how to help the child manage anger and aggression, and how to recognize the signs of serious problems. Psychologist, child development expert, and Pennsylvania state senator Murphy offers "easy-to-follow strategies for coping with all the conflicts, both large and small, that arise each day." He explores the sources and expressions of anger among children and examines how parents themselves handle anger. He presents case studies and provides guidelines to show when anger is appropriate and when it is excessive. He outlines the four stages of anger--the buildup, the spark, the explosion, and the aftermath--and how to avoid anger by, among other strategies, choosing battles carefully, using distractions, and knowing a child's limitations. He clearly distinguishes between healthy, normal anger and the tensions, tantrums, and fights with which an angry child can tax the entire household. A useful resource for parents and teachers. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Author
As co-authors of this book, Dr. Murphy and I are honored to have won the National Parenting Publications Award and to see how this subject has resonated within schools, homes, and communities. We've seen our book recommended by healthcare professionals, school principals, nurses, counselors, and teachers, and we've seen countless families helped with everyday as well as extraordinary anger problems. Thanks readers for being such faithful supporters, and recommending "The Angry Child" to others!

-- Dr. Tim Murphy and Loriann Hoff Oberlin

From the Inside Flap
Every child has an off day when nothing seems to go right, but for some, angry outbursts, frustration, and resentment are the norm. When a child's anger threatens to jeopardize his school and social life and introduces an element of strain into the family dynamics that affects every member, it's time for a parent to ask: When is angry too angry?

Child psychologist Dr. Tim Murphy has addressed this very question with hundreds of families, helping them to understand both the causes and the repercussions of childhood anger and to devise effective strategies for defusing the time bomb in their midst. Whether it's a toddler staging a tantrum, a grade-schooler unable to make friends, or a sulking preteen who greets every adult request with antagonism, parents of angry children are baffled by both the depth and the root of their child's unhappiness. And when small social problems and household disputes regularly escalate into full-fledged battles, it's nearly impossible for parents to distance themselves enough from the situation to find a perspective that will remedy it.

With simple, direct techniques, Dr. Murphy shows it is possible to help an angry child understand what triggers his outbursts and develop new approaches for coping with potentially explosive situations. Identifying the ten telling characteristics of an angry child, Dr. Murphy provides examples from his clinical experience to help adults guide their children to more appropriate responses. Dr. Murphy also alerts readers to parenting styles that work best for these volatile children, explaining how a parent's own behavior can sometimes escalate a child's meltdowns. He pinpoints the moments when anger moves from a normal emotional expression to an extreme one, indicative of a larger problem. In a special chapter devoted to winning daily battles, Dr. Murphy offers advice on situations in which an angry child's temper is most likely to flare.

The Angry Child is destined to be a classic. With real solutions for the concerns of millions of parents, Dr. Murphy offers answers and hope for the families and educators of unhappy children of all ages.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Great guide for frustrated parents
I recommend The Angry Child to patients in my psychotherapy practice because it offers easy to apply techniques to solve a child's anger problem. It teaches parents how to set up their children for success and tolerate frustration better. Parents learn how to spot the stages of anger with effective methods of intervention at each stage. It contains discipline techniques that make sense, and actually work to correct problem behaviors. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to help an angry child improve his or her behavior.
Dr. G. Simmons

The Angry Child: Regaining Control When Your Child is Out of Control
This book has good advice, but the words on the page are really small and I could not read but a few pages at a time before I had to set it down.

great advice
Thanks for such a handy resource parents can learn from. I find Congressman Murphy, being a psychologist, has some helpful insights for parents, especially when he says the answers rest in everyone's houses, not state houses or within the federal government. In fact, he said the same things recently in a television interview.

I'd recommend this book for its common-sense discipline strategies and perspectives into the types of family and their actions that can unwittingly keep the turmoil going in a home. I've read plenty of books on out-of-sorts children. This one, by far, ranks high on my list.