Violent behaviour in young people is one part of a number of maladaptive behaviours, usually originating from difficult family and social contexts. To understand the development of violent behaviour among youth, we must look at the big picture. This article reports the results of a qualitative study whose goal was to define the specificity of psychosocial profiles and the needs of students with serious behaviour problems, who also experienced physical, psychological or sexual abuse within their families. An exhaustive analysis was made of the clinical files of 12 boys and 11 girls who received youth protection services, ranging in age from 9 to 17 years old. The 23 files were studied in order to document the simultaneous evolution of behaviour problems, abusive parental practices, the family context, the school context and youth protection interventions (reporting cases, evaluations, measures taken, placements). The qualitative analysis, done respecting the chronology of the life path of each child, brought to light three type profiles of children who were both victims of abuse and had serious behaviour problems: The Undesirable, The Explosive and The Delinquent. Each of these types is described and put in perspective in relation to attachment theories, trauma and socialization, respectively, allowing the suggestion of differential intervention paths to the school milieu for these different types of students in difficulty.