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Mental illness and violence statistics
Social psychology theories of aggression
Social psychology theories of aggression
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In psychology there is much debate about the meaning of the term ‘aggression,’ as many different people have different views on how to define it, one definition comes from berkowitz 1993 and states aggression is ‘behaviour that is intended to injure someone physically or psychologically.’ Many explanations have been proposed for aggression and there is a split between the highly reductionist biological approach and the less reductionist social psychological approaches. Each of these explanations have proven extremely useful in answering certain questions surrounding aggression and helping us to gain more of an understanding of aggressive behaviour, however their limitations must also be acknowledged.
Psychologists with a biological and physiological background tend to view aggression as being singularly influenced by underlying internal systems. The genetic explanation, for example, states that genes influence elements of our biology that contribute to aggressive behaviour. The theory proposes it is a combination of structural and functional effects that contribute to an animal’s aggressive behaviour. (Renfrew 1997)
Many twin studies offer support for the genetic approach and although correlation study findings have varied, what remains constant across all studies is a greater association of aggressiveness with MZ than Dz twins, whether reared together or apart, strongly indicating a genetic contribution. McGuffin et al found MZ twins aggression levels correlated more highly at 0.87 than DZ twins at 0.72, O’Connor 1980 found a correlation of 0.72 between MZ twins whereas canter found a weak correlation of 0.14 thus suggesting other factors played a bigger role.
Correlation findings clearly show genes are an important factor howe...
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...tion were 76% better off than the control group. Internet ref The effectiveness of this treatment thus lends support to psychological theories of aggression, Jenson suggests, however, that psychosocial therapy in conjunction with medication may be more effective in treating aggression than medication alone.
In conclusion reductionist approaches can be helpful in explaining aggression, however it depends on what questions are being asked around a topic, the more meaningful a question the less it can be explained by a reductionist approach. Alone, reductionist approaches do not explain all aspects of behaviour and an integrated approach such as looking at the role of biology on aggression as well as possible social and environmental factors may be more beneficial in fully explaining what contributing factors can influence a person to engage in aggressive behaviour.
Aggression may be associated with other symptoms that are determined by the underlying disorder or illness. Ailments that influence behavior often also have psychological, cognitive, and physical symptoms. Some additional signs and symptoms may include:
...ctly related to violence, may have attributed to frustration, which in turn could lead to anger and aggressive behavior. Also, lack of socialization leads to deviant behavior and juvenile delinquency.
Nurture brings out the aggressive behaviour in humans. Mikal Gilmore’s book, Shot in the Heart, correlates with the aspect of aggressive behaviour nurture because of how he turned out unlike the other four, who did not have a this ability to kill. The nurture of a child into adulthood develops and creates the aggressive behaviour within the environment. The aggressive behaviour can be found in every human, but it is not until the cognitive development of a child that the aggressive behaviour can start to form and become overpowering. Though the basis of aggression is found in people it is not until a child is exposed to an aggressive
Aggressive individuals often act in ways that will result in having personal gain, rather than focusing what impact they have on others. Aggression is pervasive. It affects the rich as well as the poor, the upper and lower classes, it defines us. This means that most sole individuals will behave in certain ways to promote their well being, instead of how they affect others. Michael Crichton uses characters in Jurassic Park to portray the negative physical, social and intellectual impact they can have on society. This is evident in everyday life because society has molded individuals into looking out for their well being with no considerations of the impact that it has on others.
In comparison Robert Wright and Jane Ellen Stevens hold different positions on their stance about the biology of violence. Stevens writes in her article that it is her belief that violence is a direct result of biological or public health problems. Wright’s view differs as his article shows why he believes that violence is a result of external causes beyond the simple biological explanation. Whereas both authors have opposing viewpoints each presents an argument worth of consideration.
It is my opinion that this increased level of aggression does not disappear simply because the cause of the aggression has been removed. Rather this aggression remains in the sub-conscience mind waiting for the perfect opportunity to manifest itself in an action. The pent-up aggression could be released in the act of bullying, playing sports, getting into a fight with others, or it may result in the death of another child.
Aggression in psychology refers to the range of behaviours that can result in harm to one’s self, others or objects. Aggression can be expressed physically, mentally, verbally and emotionally, and can be performed for various reasons such as to express anger, to compete with others, or can be a reaction to pain. Research has shown that those who engage in aggressive behaviour define their behaviour as unplanned, although aggression may also be predatory, where it is planned and controlled.
It is a fact that a person may harm another person in a form of aggression at some point in time. When people get frustrated, they are expected to be aggressive. And when people do aggressive acts, it may be said that the aggression is brought about by prior frustration. This is the suggestion of the frustration-aggression hypothesis. (Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, & Sears, 1939). There are also existing factors that influence us to do so. Some harm others to deal with aversion, others harm because they expect rewards or have observed other people rewarded, or basically because they are obliged or expected to do so. (Fall, 2010) Expectation of rewards also involves material benefits, social approval, and attention. (Delamater & Myers, 2012) The reward to be expected by the
Aggression is a behavior that is intended to harm another who is motivated to avoid that harm. Aggression must be a behavior and not a feeling or thought. Within aggression, it has been put into different forms, physical, verbal and relational aggression. Forms of physical aggression is having the intent to physically harm another person who does not wish to be harmed. With researchers doing studies it is proven that men are much more likely than women to use physical aggression. Within the past two decades, researchers have been examining relational aggression and the long term effects of viewing relational aggression in the media on aggressive behavior during adolescence.
impairment of this gene was the cause of their aggressive behaviour. This means that the role
Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: a Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Psychological Science (2001). EBSCO. DePaul Library. 7 Mar. 2008.
Social psychologists defined “Aggression” as an intentional behavior to cause physical or mental suffering of others. We put the
A large body of evidence suggests that aggression is associated with suicidal behavior (**Mann et al., 1999; **Soloff et al., 2000; *Oquendo & Mann, 2001; *Placidi et al., 2001; **Stanley et al., 2001; *Van Heeringen, 2003; **Oquendo et al., 2004; **Dumais et al., 2005; *Sher et al., 2005; *Brodsky et al., 2006; **Zalsman et al.,
"Aggression is usually defined by behavioral scientists as behavior that is intended to harm another person. Common forms of aggression are physical (for example, punching), verbal (for example, saying or writing hurtful things to another person), and relational (for example, intentionally and publicly not inviting someone to a party to harm his social relationships).
Aggression is the human behaviour of one that is directed towards another with the intention to cause harm (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Violence is aggression with the intention to cause extreme harm (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). There are mainly two types of aggression. Firstly is hostile aggression which is an unplanned form of aggression which occurs as a reaction. Instrumental aggression on the other hand is a pre-planned form of aggression which has other goals than merely harming the victim (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). In this essay, we will view three different psychological theories of aggression. They are the biological phenomenon of aggression, aggression as a form of response to frustration and finally aggression as a learned social