Dissocial children and adolescents represent a particularly challenging psychotherapeutic clientele. On one hand, there is a high need for intervention, as their deviant behavior causes significant suffering not only for others but also for themselves. On the other hand, they typically reject therapeutic support offers. A system-theoretically based functional analysis can explain this situation and provide suggestions for systemic therapeutic practice. Accordingly, these children and adolescents do not feel sufficiently addressed in communication. They attempt to solve this self-esteem limiting problem by systematically disappointing societal normative expectations, thereby ruthlessly forcing their own addressing. This approach allows for the exploration of problem-solving strategies that are functionally equivalent.