Michael's Aggression Theory

During this report I will be explaining the main theoretical perspective on aggression in relation to the case study of Michael. Michael has a history of aggressive behaviour and recently was found by paramedics with multiple stab wounds, in a supposedly gang related incident. Psychologists over years of research have conjured up theoretical explanations to understanding where aggression comes from and why there is aggressive behaviour. Their explanations come from ethology, psychodynamics, cognitive and learning theories which argue the nature-nurture debate as causes. The theories I will be discussing will try to understand and explain why Michael’s behaviour through his life was so aggressive. ‘Aggression is the behaviour which harms or

He argued that aggression is “innate”, a fight or flight response, which is present in all animals and living creatures. For the need of survival and future existence by instinctive and biological responses to their environment (M.Belk, 2012). Michael has the condition Klinefelter syndrome, which causes abnormal physical development, learning difficulties, making it hard to progress educationally, to socialise with peers and express one’s self (NHS, 2018). This can create a low self-esteem, cause anxiety and depression. Having difficulty expressing yourself, inability to progress in education and having trouble socialising could build frustration and cause aggressive behaviour, and from a biological perspective definitively why Michael acts aggressively from an early age up until his demise (N.Carey,

Like Lorenz, he believed aggression was innate, but he claimed that each of us have the instinct for self-destruction, the death instinct (Thanatos) and the instinct for life (Eros), and aggression is the drive that satisfies our death instinct. Both these drives need satisfaction and it is the constant battle between them that determines our behaviour, be it bad or good (K.Angelova, 2015). J Dollard combined this theory with his own idea that aggression comes from frustration, and that when we’re frustrated we aggress (L.Berkowitz, 1989). It’s possible that Michael’s instincts and innate desires from his biology and unconscious mind are in play, but Thanatos is overriding Eros because of built up frustration due to his inability to assess the consequences for his actions and drive to satisfy his own needs.

Another psychologist, Berkowitz, argued Dollard that when we are frustrated, this creates anger and we have learned to associate a cue, e.g. a gun, as a way of releasing anger. Studies have shown that when there is an aggressive cue available there are higher levels of aggression. The social learning theories are the explanations for aggression as a learnt behaviour and are not a result from innate drives. It proposes that our environment and what we observe teaches us how to respond and behave in a situation. A.