AGGRESSION

AGGRESSION

1. Biological Explanation

   • Hormones
     • Testosterone responsible for aggression
   • Limbic system
     • part of the brain that causes aggressive behaviour
     • Prefrontal cortex
       • The very front of the brain. It is involved in social and moral behaviour and controls aggression

2. Is behaviour aimed at harming others

3. Psychodynamic Explanation

   • Thanatos
     • The part of our unconscious that causes our aggressive drive
   • Case study
     • Charles whitman
       • shot 12 people from tower in a uni with high powered rifle
         • Post mortem revealed he had tumour pressing against limbic system, which causes aggressive behaviour

4. Social Learning Theory

   • Vicarious learning
     • learning by observing
   • Aggressive behaviour is caused by people seeing how others behave and copying them

5. Development of agression

   • Barker
     • To see the effect of frustration on aggressive behaviour
     • Kids kept waiting a long time before being allowed to play in a room full of toys, behaviour then observed
       • Children were more aggressive and destructive if they had to wait
         • Being frustrated leads to an increase in aggression
   • Raine
     • 41 murderers PET scanned
       • Compared to normal people
         • Activity in pre frotal cortex of murderers lower than other peoples'
           • Concluded that when pre frontal cortex not work properly then it can lead to commiting violent crimes
     • to invetigate brains of murderers

6. Ways of reduicng aggression

   • Psychosurgery
     • destroying the part of the brain that is causing the abnormal behaviour
   • Redirecting aggressive instincts into something like sports