Escalation of Violence

The dramatic escalation of violence committed by and against people is shocking (Eron et al., 1994). Although according to Federal Bureau of Investigation, the murder rate in the year 2009 dropped almost 7.2 percent in comparison of the murder rate of 2008. Similarly crime rate of crimes like rape and assault had been decreased up to 4.2 percent each and crime rates of robbery and burglary fell by 1.7 percent and 4.2 percent respectively (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009) but still the violence among the youth has increased sharply.

There is no simple explanation for the presence of aggression, nor is there any obvious, easy way to reduce it. The fundamental basis of violence is absolutely clear: the human capacity for aggression.

Cognitive Neo-association analysis:

Major social psychologists believe that people are motivated by a desire for cognitive consistency- a state of mind in which one’s beliefs, attitudes, and behavior are all compatible with each other. Cognitive consistency theories seem to presuppose that people are generally logical but it is also true that a powerful motive to maintain cognitive consistency can give rise to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behavior. People don’t always feel they also think. What is the role of their thought in their criminal or violent behavior?

The cognitive- Neo-association analysis emphasizes how feelings and thoughts interact. Negative effect automatically stimulates various thoughts, memories, expressive motor reactions, and physiological responses associated with both of two basic tendencies: fight and flight. These associations give rise to rudimentary emotional expression of anger and fear. Situational cues can intensify or weaken such automatic associations.

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...effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior and any potential sex differences, a difference was found between the two sexes. Male and female undergraduate students were asked to play both a violent and a nonviolent video game. With each game, the students were allowed to select the severity of punishment for the player who lost (a computer). Both males and females set higher punishments while playing violent video games. However, males set much higher punishment levels than females while playing the violent video game. This could be because men are more aggressive than women in general and are also more sensitive to aggressive cues. Other characteristics that could affect increased aggression are the level of development and maturity, the experience with the video game or games, and the ability to understand fantasy vs. reality.