Nineteen-year-old Robert Hawkins, who opened fire in an Omaha, Nebraska mall this week, spent most of his life moving and out of the foster care system. Psychologist warn that a lack of parental involvement in a child's life can make a child feel like he has no one to turn to, and affects how teens respond to negative attention. A lack of healthy emotional bonding with a parent hinders a child's ability to view people as more than just objects.

"[Psychologist Dr. Louis] Mortillaro said some warning signs for potential violent outbursts in children include feelings of not fitting in, kids who are teased constantly, those who are sent to the office for harming classmates or animals and those who are not afraid to act on their violent tendencies"

Parents are encouraged to develop appropriate, healthy emotional bonds with their kids, even if the parents are separated, divorced or never married at all.

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Labels: influences, parental_involvement, violence