Aggression

Aggression

1. Aggression is a form of antisocial behaviour; generally considered to be behaviour that harms, or intends to harm, someone or something.

2. Biological Causes

   • Biological Causes 1: The Brain Aggression seems to be associated with the limbic system. The limbic system is part of the central nervous system which is linked to aggression. The part of the brain responsible for controlling eating, sexual behaviour and aggression is the pre-frontal cortex. The PFC knows when instinctive behaviour is appropriate or not, so when it is not working, we cannot control our aggressive impulses. Brain disease/trauma affecting the limbic system may lead to abnormally high levels of aggression.
   • Biological Causes 2: Hormones Males are assumed to be more aggressive than females as a result of high levels of certain chemicals or hormones are thought to be linked to aggression. One of these hormones is testosterone; men have much more of this than women. High levels of testosterone are thought to cause aggression- this is supported by the finding that violent criminals have higher levels of testosterone than non-violent criminals
   • Biological Cause 3: Chromosomal Abnormality Chromosomal abnormality has been found in violent offenders- they have an extra Y chromosome. A chromosome is a part of each cell that carries genetic information from our parents. When the 23rd chromosome fails to divide, some men end up with an XYY arrangement, this has many physical effects one of which includes making men more aggressive than normal

3. Psychodynamic Explanations

   • Psychodynamic Explanations of Aggression 1: Freud’s Ideas We have an unconscious drive that causes aggressive behaviour. This is caused by an internal force or instinct that Freud called Thanatos. This drives us towards self-destruction; Thanatos builds up inside of us, creating pressure until sooner or later we cannot control it- resulting in aggression. We protect ourselves from self-destruction using ego-defence mechanisms. Displacement- being aggressive to other people. Sublimation- channelling our aggression into other acceptable activities
     • Psychological cause 1: Frustration Aggression Hypothesis Dollard (1939) argued Freud was wrong to suggest than an aggressive instinct will suddenly spill over into aggressive behaviour for no reason. We needs something to trigger it off- as well as having an aggressive instinct we need something to frustrate us in order to release the aggressive behaviour
   • Psychological Explanations of Aggression 2: Social Learning Theory Social Learning Theory suggests that aggressive behaviour, like all other types of behaviour is caused by observing others being aggressive and imitating this.
     • The Principles of Social Learning Theory Observation- seeing how people behave. When people enter new situations we look to others for how to act. Imitation- we then copy the behaviour of others. For children, there are lots of new situations, so they are more likely than adults to copy what they see- even if it is aggressive Vicarious Learning- we can learn simply by watching (not just through direct reinforcement) what is even more effective is that if a child see’s someone get reinforced for their behaviour- they are more motivated to imitate it. So if a person is rewarded for being aggressive a child may imitate that behaviour.
     • Role Models- Children are more likely to imitate role models if they are similar (age, sex etc.), attractive, powerful or caring Monitoring- we judge our own behaviour. Reinforcement can also come from the inside form of pride and self-satisfaction. This will then strengthen the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated because we feel good about ourselves. Punishment- one implication of children copying behaviour is that punishment (verbal or physical) can have the opposite effect of which it is intended. As parents are role models, children are more likely to imitate what they do, so parents can actually be (unintentionally) teaching their children how to be aggressive.
     • The Principles of Social Learning Theory and Aggression We learn to be aggressive through observation and imitation of the models around us. We are more likely to imitate those who are successful (vicarious learning). Our behaviour may then be reinforced when we behave aggressively.

4. Key Studies

   • Key Study: Raine (1997) – Development of Aggression: Biological
     • A-to investigate the brains of murderers M- Researchers gave 41 murderers in California a PET scan and compared them with a matched paired group of non-murderers. R- There were some differences, for example, activity in the PFC was lower than in non-murderers C- When the PFC is not working normally, it can lead to people committing violent crimes
       • Ignores other possible factors that could have caused the difference between murderers and non-murderers eg. social background, role models etc.
       • Difficult to generalise findings
   • Key Study: Barker (1941)- Development of Aggression: Frustration Aggression Hypothesis
     • A-to see the effect of frustration on aggressive behaviour Children were kept waiting for a long time before being able to play in a room full of attractive toys. Their behaviour was then observed R- the children were more aggressive and destructive than other children who had not been frustrated by being kept waiting C- Being frustrated does lead to an increase in aggression.
       • It is difficult to standardise “frustration”- what is frustrating for one person may not be for another
       • Lacks mundane realism as the situation was artificially created
       • Sample- would adults respond in the same way as children
   • Key Study: Bandura (1963) – Development of Aggression: Social Learning Theory
     • A-to test that children could learn to become aggressive through imitating another person behaving aggressively. M-children aged between 3-5 years saw an adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll. Children then played with the doll whilst observers watched their behaviour R-One of the findings was the children showed imitation of a sane-sex model and boys performed more acts of aggression than girls. Participants of a female gender had 19% imitation of a female model and 9% imitation of a male model. Participants of a male gender had 17% imitation of a female model and 38% of a male model. Observations show that after children saw a model being punished, low levels of imitative behaviour were present. In contrast, high levels of aggression were produced in children who saw the model praised C-All children had learned the behaviour but they were more likely to imitate same-sex models or reinforced models.
       • Lacks mundane realism- children may not have responded in the same way to a person rather than a doll
       • Sample- generalisability, would adults behave the same way

5. Reducing Aggression

   • Biological
     • Drugs: -Drugs work by stimulating the PFC -Ritalin is one drug which has been found to reduce aggression- it stimulates the PFC which allows control of aggressive instincts caused by the limbic system
       • Problems of negative side effects
       • Possibility of addiction
     • Psychosurgery: -A way of reducing aggression by destroying or removing part of the brain which may not be functioning properly and therefore causing aggression -A probe is inserted to a precise location and is then heated up at the end to kill the nerves -Usually directed to amygdala and limbic system
       • Long term and irreversible damage to the brain
       • Negative side effects such as memory loss
   • Psychodymanic
     • Sublimation and Catharsis- Freud’s Ideas Doing something physically exerting or watching someone else engage is aggression directly or indirectly relieve built up aggressive energies (let of steam) in a safe and acceptable way. This reduces the likelihood of further aggressive behaviour. For example, participating in or watching sport
       • Gives the person ownership and power to change as they can direct their aggressive urges elsewhere
       • Watching aggression can subsequently lead to aggression
     • Avoid situations that cause frustration- Frustration Aggression Hypothesis The best way to reduce aggression is to avoid the initial cause of frustration and therefore the aggression that follows.
       • Proposes the idea that anger can be controlled before the event
       • You can’t always control the event that make you frustrated eg. your football team losing
   • Social Learning Theory
     • Punishment- According to SLT letting people observe aggressive models receive punishment when they show violent behaviour or observing non-aggressive models reduces aggressive behaviour
       • Research supports the idea that observing aggression being punished can reduce aggressive behaviour
       • Difficult to remove all the reinforcements, as it can come from several sources
     • Changing Models Changing the models people are exposed to- non aggressive models = non aggressive behaviour
       • Difficult to change all the models people are exposed to