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Case studies for the reason for aggression in children
Case studies for the reason for aggression in children
Social psychology aggression theory
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Social Factors of Childhood Aggression
Researchers have found several social factors that attribute to childhood aggression. Some of these factors include mother infant relationships, neighborhood structure, family structure, and peer influences.
If infants have an insecure attachment with their mothers, which is defined as the child’s overdependence on, or lack of interest in the caregiver, and a child’s lack of confidence, then they are more likely to have behavioral problems. In the case of boys, these problems are often of an aggressive nature.
Many studies have found that a single parent often raises aggressive children. Single parenthood is often associated with neighborhood type, which is another factor in predicting childhood aggression. This is because single parents are more likely to live in less advantaged neighborhoods. Aggressiveness in boys and girls is often seen in large urban areas. Studies show that children who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to experience stressful life events that lead to aggressive behavior. The association of single parenthood and neighborhood type helps to explain the discrepancy found in the degree of aggression. For example, if an aggressive child is reared in a single parent home, but is raised in an advantaged neighborhood, the degree of aggression will be less than that of a child raised in a single parent home that is also raised in a less advantaged neighborhood. Also, “divorced families that have achieved stability may show less conflict than married families, and authoritative parenting in single parent families may outweigh the effects of family structure” (Hetherington, 1992). Additional risks associated with family structure include low parental interest in boys’ education, a parent that has been convicted of a crime, parental discipline that is too harsh, and authoritarian parenting. Authoritarian parenting is defined as a style of child rearing where standards for proper behavior are high and when the child misbehaves, his misconduct is very strictly punished.
As children age, their play style changes.
The concept of infant-mother attachment is as important to the child as the birth itself. The effect this relationship has on a child shall affect that child for its entire life. A secure attachment to the mother or a primary caregiver is imperative for a child’s development. Ainsworth’s study shows that a mother is responsive to her infant’s behavioral cues which will develop into a strong infant-mother attachment. This will result in a child who can easily, without stress, be separated from his mother and without any anxiety. Of course the study shows a child with a weak infant-mother relationship will lead to mistrust, anxiety, and will never really be that close with the mother. Without the right help, this child may harbor these ill feelings for life.
One reason is there are several stereotypes: sexual/physical abuse, hereditary factors and exposure to violence at home. Second reason that leads to violent behavior is physical neglect by parents. Third reason is juveniles was incarcerated for acts of violence such as: fighting peers or their parents, hitting teachers or instructors, bringing weapon to school to scare his peers and etc. All these come from mistreatment to their children when they was younger. When that happen all children start going crazy and not listening to their parent or anyone that been in their shoes before they was born to even see this happen.
First is that social integration into family has a stronger negative effect on the risk of youth violence in neighborhoods with higher proportions of single-parent families. Secondly, social integration into family has a weaker effect on the risk of youth violence in neighborhoods with higher proportions of single-parent families (Knoester & Haynie, 2005). Essentially, for those adolescents living in neighborhoods with higher proportions of single-parent families social integration into family does not have much effect in deterring violent
Through the well-studied idea of maternal-infant attachment there has been important insight into a child’s development. Mary Ainsworth found through her “Strange Situation” experiment that there are three distinct types of attachment that infants form; anxious avoidant, secure, and anxious resistant (O’Gorman, 2013). Later a fourth attachment style known as, disorganized attachment, was identified (CITE). Secure attachment is linked to maternal sensitivity just as insecure attachment is linked to maternal rejection or unpredictable maternal response to an infant’s desires and needs (Kinsvatter, Desmond, Yanikoski, & Stahl, 2013). Infants are “at risk” of developing an insecure attachment to their mother when they are placed in alternative care before nine months of age (Stifter, Coulehan, & Fish, 1993). This is concerning in that we see there are negative effec...
Of the sample studied eighty- six percent of maltreated children classified as having insecure attachment at twelve months were classified as at a previous age. In fact, the insecure attachment helps to determine the toddlers functioning and supports the value of the insecure attachment model to increasing our knowledge of children’s mental disorders (Barnet, Ganiban, & Cicchetti, 1989).
Childhood aggression is a very important part in the process of growing up for a child because this is a behavior that the child goes through and it might be a bad behavior for some but in reality this behavior can also be a normal one. The aggression can come from different factors such as the parent being aggressive with the child like playing wrestling or throwing him around. The second factor would be that the child is seeing a lot of violence at home like parents arguing or dad hitting mom while screaming. The third factor can come off their social experiences like at school when they see other kids being rough with other kids. Seeing how other children behave in school can influence their behavior. For example, if another child is playing
Every night on the news there are reports about murders, wars, and rapes. But the news isn't the only place where people encounter violent or aggressive behavior. Driving home from work, people get cut off and cussed at on a daily basis. At school, children fight over who will be the first in the lunch line. On the street, people get pushed out of the way if they are not walking fast enough. The list could go on and on and on. The point is that humans exhibit aggressive behavior on a regular basis. However, does anyone know why people display these behaviors? Why do certain people seem more aggressive? Is there just one thing that controls when and how aggressive someone becomes? These are all questions that researchers have been addressing for many years. In fact there has been quite a debate over what causes people to be aggressive. However, in order to try to understand where aggression may stem from, you must understand how aggression is defined as well as all of the possibilities that may cause it.
This pattern is also referred to as ambivalent attachment pattern. This pattern of attachment can be observed by the use of two parameters. One of the parameters is the child exploring ability and will. In this attachment pattern, the child does not explore much even when the caregiver is around the child. The other parameter is the behaviour of the child towards strangers. The child extremely gets worried in the presence of strangers and becomes highly distressed compared to a child with secure attachment. Resistant attachment in a child develops because of lack predictable response by the caregiver and is always seen as a strategic pattern for a child to maintain the availability of the caregiver through the display of helplessness and anger by a child. When a child displays anxious attachment patterns, it is an indication that the child has experienced an abusive childhood experience from the caregiver. Research has indicated that children who have anxious-resistance attachment always find it difficult to develop and maintain intimate relationships in their adult lives (Newton,
Over the past half century, violence in the United States has increased dramatically. Children who were raised in a tough, low-income neighborhood often fail to escape exposure to violence. They may witness homicides, assaults, and some may even have had a friend who had been killed. According to recent research, these children have higher violence rates than those kids who grew up in a non-violent neighborhood.
During the first few stages of both theories, we see challenges in the development of the child and we also see challenges that a child might face during some, if not all forms of attachment theory. For example, a parent ignoring the child and speaking to them in a negative manner during insecure-avoidant attachment can be challenging for a child and lead to insecurities and the feeling of not being loved and/or wanted. Additionally, the theme of independence is seen throughout both theories and can also be related specifically to insecure-avoidant attachment where the child does not focus his or her attention on the parents but instead looks to the outside world for assistance. Both theories, as well as attachment theory, has an impact on childhood
Now ways to help prevent or at least acknowledge were some aggressive behavior comes from. In the “BoBo” doll experiment we saw that children act out aggression as they see it. So it’s safe to say that a front line to reduce aggressive behavior comes from the home. Studies have shown that more aggressive children have physically punitive parents or guardians in their active life, disciplining with aggressive acts such as screaming, slapping, and beating. The culture also has a great deal of influence when it comes to aggressive behavior. In adolescent ages those who observed violent act with guns are twice as likely to become violent as they grow.
Violence within families often reflects behaviours learned by children from their parents. A theory is that violent behaviour is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2). The majority of Americans are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime(Kandel, Pg. 4). Surveys suggested that almost all American parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regared as an appropriate child rearing technique. Another survey also suggested that some psychologists belive physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool(Kandel, Pg. 2). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment(Kandel, Pg. 1). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behaviour in children.
There are research findings that have proven children in poverty are more likely to display higher rates of disruptive behavior (Roy & Raver, 2014). For the reason that parents who live in poverty are at higher risk in losing their jobs, working multiple jobs, poor health care, and unsafe neighborhoods, it is difficult for parents to have quality and efficient childcare and healthy parenting styles. Disregarding gender, challenging behaviors have been apparent
When a topic such as this one has an extensive supply of fluctuations, it is impractical to tie these complications to only being raised by a single parent family. This article by Robert L. Maginnis, “Single-parent families cause juvenile crime,” states, "Children from single-parent families are more likely to have behavioural problems because they tend to lack economic security and adequate time with parents." This statement that suggests criminals are the output of single-parent juvenility is illogical. What the writer must grasp is that it is challenging for a single parent to care for a child by themselves for multiple reasons. A single-parent is required to work full time to be able to provide support for themselves and their child. They must also be able to have a chance to offer a sufficient amount of emotional time for the comfort and happiness of their child. However, even though this may suggest is impossible, it can be
Friendships are the closest relationships that children have with individuals of their own age (Berndt) and establishing positive relationships with peers is seen as a vitally important developmental task during childhood (Sroufe and Rutter, 1984). Piaget (1932/1965) argued that close peer relationships were essential for the development of morality and the influence exercised on children by their peers has long been recognised. Bronfenbrenner (1970) argued that peer pressure leads to antisocial behaviour by adolescents, including the expression of aggressive behaviours. Aggression is an important behaviour to consider because it is known to have a negative impact on development. Childhood aggression reliably predicts aggressive behaviour in adolescence (Cairns et al, 1989) and has emerged as the strongest risk factor for delinquency, crime and substance abuse during adolescence and adulthood (Patterson et al, 1991). If research can shed light on the causes and moderators of childhood aggression it may be possible to develop effective interventions that reduce the aggressive child’s risk of falling into long term antisocial behaviour. While research on the link between peer relationships and aggressive behaviour among children has often been inconsistent, even contradictory, it has emerged that where aggressive children form friendships, the friendships are likely to be forged with those children who also display aggressive behaviour. However, the precise nature of the relationship between friendship and aggression remains unclear. It is possible that aggressive children actively seek out aggressive peers and that the friendship develops as a result of the similar levels of aggression. It is also possible that children learn aggre...