Movie Review
November 1, 2012

The Good Son After watching The Good Son, it seems that Henry has symptoms similar to the DSM-IV-TR standards for conduct disorder (American Psychiatric Association., 2000, p. 68-69). We see that Henry bullies and threatens his cousin, Mark. He also provokes a physical fight with Mark (Page & Ruben 1993). He uses dangerous weapons and uses them to inflict physical cruelty to animals (American Psychiatric Association., 2000, p. 68-69). We see this as Henry comes out with his “new invention.” It is similar to a crossbow. He uses his “invention” to kill a dog (Page & Ruben, 1993). He deliberately destroys others’ property as seen in the scene where both Henry and Mark are throwing rocks at the windows in the empty warehouse (Page & Ruben, 1993). He frequently manipulates others. He also steals items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim as shown when the mother finds the rubber ducky in the shed (Page & Ruben, 1993). Our first impression of Henry comes when Mark first arrives at his aunt and uncle’s house. Henry is still upstairs and we hear a scream. Not a scream of terror or fright, but more of a playful scream in attempts to startle others. The camera shifts to Henry who is hanging upside down with a white, handmade mask on. After his father tells him to come down, we see Henry still in his mask, with a plaid shirt tucked into his pants with a belt running down the stairs. When he gets to the bottom, he lifts his mask to reveal his face under shaggy blonde hair. He is a child, no more than twelve years old. He offers Mark an identical mask so they can be “brothers”. From our first impression, we gather that Henry is a typical boy who has a silly side. He is dressed well and nothing is alarming about the interaction. He even comes across as nice when he offers Mark another mask. He is making eye contact and has typical inflection in his voice. He seems excited about the idea of having a friend stay at his house (Page & Ruben, 1993).
The movie does a great job of gradually building the abnormality of Henry’s behavior. We are struck in the first interaction as thinking something may be off about Henry, but we are unable to put our finger on it. Then comes the dinner scene where the family is eating lobster. We see that Henry kicks Mark under the table for no apparent reason. But when Mark retaliates, we don’t think twice about it. A few seconds later, however, Henry is taking a lot of aggression out on the lobster trying to crack the shell. Moving forward a few minutes, we are at the tree house scene. Henry intimidates Mark into climbing up by asking “You’re not afraid of heights are you?” (Page & Ruben, 1993). While climbing up, Mark breaks a branch and is holding on by Henry’s hand. Henry has this half smirk on his face and says “If I let you go, do you think you could fly?” very nonchalantly (Page & Ruben, 1993). It only elevates from there. He continues to cause harm to animals, as well as his sister.
Henry’s affect is extremely flat. He seems calm during all situations not fazed by any consequence of his behavior. His voice does not rise and stays at a consistent tempo. He also makes eye contact and keeps it to the point of uncomfort. However, when looking at him, he looks like any other twelve year old boy. He dresses in appropriate clothing and has a playful energy about his movements like when he is running.
My DSM diagnosis for Henry is severe conduct disorder. Henry has a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others are violated (American Psychiatric Association., 2000, p. 68-69). The DSM states that this disorder is manifested by three (or more) of the criterion in one year and one criterion in the past six months (American Psychiatric Association., 2000, p. 68-69). In the course of the movie, Henry manifests seven. Henry often bullies, threatens and intimidates others. He initiates physical fights. He has used a weapon that can cause serious physical harm to others. He has been physically cruel to people and animals. He has deliberately destroyed others’ property. He often lies to avoid obligations. He has stolen items of nontrivial value without confronting a victim.
Henry never mentions having a disorder throughout the movie. However, after dropping Mr. Highway over an overpass, causing a multi-car accident, Henry says: “I feel sorry for you, Mark. You just don’t know how to have fun. It’s because you are scared all the time. I know. I used to be scared too. That was before I found out. That once you realize you can do anything, you’re free. You could fly. Nobody can touch you. Nobody.” (Page & Ruben, 1993). I felt that this quote best explains Henry’s lack of regard for consequences.
Common comorbidities with conduct disorder are ADHD and depression (Cromer, 2010, p. 559-560). ADHD is said to precede and cause conduct disorder. Depression, however, is said to be preceded by conduct disorder (Cromer, 2010, p. 559-560). Conduct disorder is lined to genetic and biological factors, especially in cases marked by destructive behaviors. It has also been linked to drug abuse, poverty, traumatic events, and exposure to violent peers or community violence. However, it is mostly tied to a troubled parent-child relationship, inadequate parenting, family conflict, marital conflict, and family hostility. As many as ten percent of children, three-quarters of them boys, qualify for this diagnosis (Cromer, 2010, p.561).
There are quite a few treatments for conduct disorder; not one alone is the absolute answer. However, it is said that treatments are most effective before the age of thirteen because aggressive behaviors get “locked in” with age. There are a few sociocultural treatments. Family intervention is aimed toward children in the preschool age. It teaches parents to work with their child positively, set appropriate limits, act consistently, be fair in their discipline decisions, and establish more appropriate expectations regarding the child. Meanwhile, the children are learning social skills (Cromer, 2010, p. 562). Once the child becomes school age, parent management training is a family intervention treatment often used. Parents are taught effective ways to deal with their children and both parents and children participate in behavior oriented family therapy (Cromer, 2010, p. 562). Other options are residential treatments like treatment foster care that is court ordered, or programs at school (Cromer, 2010, p. 562). Another kind of treatment is child focused treatment. This uses CBT to teach problem solving and skills training by modeling, role playing, systematic rewards, constructive thinking and positive social behaviors (Cromer, 2010, p. 563). Also, Anger Coping and Coping Power Program are used. These are group sessions that teach children anger management, view situations in perspective, problem solving, awareness of their emotions, building social skills, set goals and handle peer pressure (Cromer, 2010, p. 563). The last treatment the textbook mentions is prevention. Programs like Scared Straight are examples of prevention therapy (Cromer, 2010, p. 563). According to my research, the movie did a great job portraying Henry’s conduct disorder. It was very realistic. I think the movie could have done a better job of promoting awareness. The adults in the movie seemed ignorant to Henry’s behavior. If Henry was suffering from conduct disorder, there would have been more signs along the way so that the parents would not have seemed so surprised. They would have had phone calls from school and parent teacher conferences about his behavior or social skills. These behaviors, however, could have been excused by the traumatic death of Henry’s brother. The overall message this movie sends to the public is not a positive one. Basically, the message was that the only way to stop Henry, and his behaviors, was through his demise. It is a harmful message to the general public regarding mental health awareness. There is already such a negative stigma around mental illness that saying that someone is crazy and that they need to die can’t help improve that stigma. As I learned through my research, there are many treatments to help conduct disorder. Death is not the answer.

References
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Quick reference to the diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV-TR. Arlington: American Psychiatric Association.
Comer, R. J. (2010). Abnormal Psychology (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Page, M. A. (Producer), & Ruben, J. (Director). (1993). The Good Son. [Motion Picture]. United States of America: 20th Century Fox.