Aggression and Violence
Quips and Quotes
We win by tenderness; we conquer by forgiveness.
Frederick Robertson
Are we innately aggressive? There is ample evidence of
the long history of human involvement in aggression and
violence. The 5 600 years of recorded human history, for
example, include 14 600 wars, a rate of more than 2.6
per year. This is the issue for this lesson.
Lesson Objectives
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How do social psychologists define aggression?
What are the various perspectives on aggression and violent behaviour?
What influence does gender have on aggression?
What are the contemporary theories of aggression?
What are the cultural influences on aggression?
What are the characteristics of peaceful societies?
Suggested Instructional
Strategies
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Discussion: The sociocultural influences on aggression
o Use the Ecological Model to discuss the various influences from the systems of
support in terms of supporting, promoting or facilitating aggressive and violent
behaviour.
Research: Aggression and violence in society
o What is violence? Aggression? How is aggression displayed in relationships,
families, schools, sports and society in general? When, and why, is aggression
accepted?
o Research road rage, air rage.
o Research aggression in sports (e.g., fighting in hockey).
o Research relationship abuse (e.g., date rape)
.
o Research the relationship between the amount of aggression and violence and
popularity of sports (e.g., attendance, television audiences).
o Research international terrorism.
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Direct
Independent
Interactive
Indirect
Experiential
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Research: Trends in juvenile violence
o Use the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website to find
the latest statistics on juvenile delinquency, violence and crime.
Jigsaw/Role Play: Theoretical perspectives on aggression and violence
o Assign one of the six major theoretical perspectives to a small group of
students.
o Based on their theoretical perspective, have students write and perform a role
play that describes and illustrates their theoretical perspective’s interpretation
of the development of aggression and violence.
Research: International terrorism
o What is terrorism?
o Who are the most prominent international terrorist groups? What are their
issues? From where do these terrorist groups operate? Why?
From both perspectives: Nature/nurture and aggression
o ○ Have students list as many examples as they can to support both the nature
(genetic inheritance) as well as the nurture (environmental influences) for the
Making Connections
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Research sexual harassment.
Novel Study: Lord of the Flies.
Resources
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Interactions : Dear Pat, “Pacifist in Pilot Butte”
Taking the Pulse of Saskatchewan
Lesson 4.5.6: Teacher Information
How do social psychologists define aggression?
Baron et al. and Richardson (1994) define anti-social behaviours as those which show a lack of feeling and concern for the welfare of
others. Aggression is one such form of anti-social behaviour. However, the term violence is used to describe an extreme form of
aggression in which a deliberate attempt is made to inflict serious personal injury on another person or damage property. One long-
standing issue in social psychology concerns the causes of interpersonal aggression. For many years, debate has centered around the
nature versus nurture controversy, that is, whether aggression as a characteristic of human beings, is biologically determined (nature)
or the product of learning and various environmental influences (nurture) (Gross and McIlveen, 1998, p. 542).
Loeber (1997) describes two forms of aggression, different in behaviour patterns, emotions, cognitions and development: overt and
covert aggression.
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Overt aggression usually involves direct confrontations. Anger is usually an important ingredient in most overt acts of
aggression. Aggressive and violent persons tend to have cognitive deficiencies that make it difficult for them to come up with nonaggressive solutions to interpersonal disputes and conflicts. Overt aggression usually begins early, especially in boys, and diminishes
with age.
Covert aggression does not involve direct confrontation but relies on concealment, dishonest or sneaky behaviour. More neutral
emotions are characteristic of covert actions. Most covert acts are facilitated by cognitive acts such as planfulness, deception and
lying. Covert aggression increases with age (Alcock et al., 1998, p. 296).
What are the various perspectives on aggression and violent behaviour?
There is ample evidence of the long history of human involvement in aggression and violence. The 5,600 years of recorded human
history, for example, include 14,600 wars, a rate of more than 2.6 per year. Perspectives on aggression and violence emerge from the
basic perspectives of psychology:
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Biological: Aggressive behaviour is basically physiological and genetic in origin. Humans are pre-programmed to aggressively defend
themselves, family and territory from intruders. Lorenz (1966) believed that aggression is an inherited instinct of both humans and
animals. According to Dollard (1939) people who are frustrated, thwarted, annoyed or threatened will behave aggressively, since
aggression is a natural, almost automatic response to frustrating circumstances (Gross and McIlveen, 1998, p. 544).
Socio-developmental influences: Social learning theorists emphasize the roles that family members, members of one's sub-culture and
symbolic models provided by the mass media play in producing conditions in which the child (1) has many opportunities to observe
aggression, (2) is reinforced for his or her own aggression, or (3) is often the object of aggression. Children learn not only how to
aggress, but also when to aggress, and against whom to aggress (Bandura, 1973). Although reinforcement is important in the
development and maintenance of aggressive behaviour, children are capable of acquiring aggressive behaviour simply by watching
someone else do it. Parents play at least four different roles in the raising of children:
o They are usually the child's first partner in social interaction and teach the child how to interpret the social environment.
o They are manager's of the child's behaviour, enforcing rules and setting standards of conduct both within and outside the home.
o They provide models for the child to imitate.
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They serve as teachers, directly supplying information, imparting values and encouraging particular attitudes and manners
(Alcock et al., 1998, p. 302).
Cognitive: Huesmann and Guerra (1997) suggests that social behaviour in general, and aggressive behaviour in particular, are controlled
largely by cognitive scripts learned and memorized through daily experiences. A script suggests what events are to happen in the
environment, how the person should behave in response to these events, and what the likely outcome of those behaviours would
be. Each script is different and unique to each person, but once established through repetition they become resistant to change.
o A revised frustration-aggression hypothesis suggests the following steps: (1) The person is blocked from obtaining an expected
goal; (2) frustration results generating anger; and (3) anger predisposes or readies the person to behave aggressively. Whether
the person actually engages in aggressive actions will depend in part on his or her learning history, interpretation of the event
and individual way of responding to frustration.
Aggression as a personality trait: Our personalities are influenced both by learning and by genetic factors (for example, newborns differ
in the degree to which they emotionally react to loud noises). The problem is that there is no single cluster of traits that describe the
aggressive person. However, there are a number of individual characteristics that have a bearing on aggressiveness:
o The lower the person's IQ the harder it may be to learn coping and conflict resolution skills. In fact, success at any endeavour
may be more difficult for children of lower intelligence, leading to more frustration and more aggression.
o Aggressive individuals often possess inflated self-esteem, and in consequence, are more likely to view the feedback they receive
from the world around them as very inadequate, given their perceived self-importance, and then react with aggression.
o In most parts of the world, most males are concerned with being properly “masculine”. Being masculine or “macho” is often
associated with being a “jock”. And indeed, organized sports may implicitly teach boys that masculinity and aggressiveness go
hand in hand.
o Authoritarianism is a personality type characterized by cognitive rigidity, prejudice, and an excessive concern for power.
o Self-control: Having weak self-control leads to obvious problems of aggressiveness.
Environmental: Aggression is a result of population density or overcrowding. Males in same-gender, over-crowded groups were more
aggressive and hostile than males in same-gender, uncrowded groups. The reverse was true for females. There is also some tentative
evidence that population density within the home may play a role in aggressive behaviour and crime (Alcock et al., 1998, p. 298-320).
Mass media: There are four scenes of violence portrayed on network television to every one scene expressing affection. On average,
American children see more than 100 000 violent episodes and some 20 000 murders on television before reaching adolescence
(Meyers, 1996). Other surveys indicate that news coverage of violence against women and children was not used to educate the public
but rather to fascinate and entertain. Television violence, in particular, has a significant effect on the frequency and type of aggressive
behaviour expressed by adults and children. Aggressive children watch more media violence, identify more with violent characters, and
believe more that the violence they observe reflects real life than non-aggressive children (Lefton et al., 2000, p. 480)
What influence does gender have on aggression?
Are males more aggressive than females? The answer depends on what kind of aggression and how much. Statistics Canada confirms
that, in this country, males are much more likely than females to be arrested and convicted for violent acts. Does this mean that large
differences actually exist between males and females with respect to overt aggression? One the one hand, males do seem to be more
likely both to instigate aggression and to be its target. On the other hand, research reveals that the size of the difference is relatively
small – compared to what is shown in crime statistics. The tendency for males to engage in aggressive actions is greater for physical
forms of aggression (hitting, kicking, use of weapons) than for other forms of aggression (yelling at people, treating them in a
condescending manner). In fact, recent findings indicate that females are more likely to engage in various indirect forms of
aggression, such as spreading rumours about another person, rejecting someone as a friend, or ignoring or avoiding a target person
(Baron et al., 1998, p. 418).
What are the contemporary theories of aggression?
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Instinct theories: According to Hobbes (1651) people are naturally competitive and hostile, interested only in their own power and
gaining advantage over others. Two theories which share Hobbe’s pessimistic views about people’s nature are those proposed by Freud
and Lorenz.
Psychoanalytic approach: According to Freud, the purpose of all instincts is to reduce tension or excitation to a minimum and,
ultimately, to totally eliminate them. For Freud, just as we need to eat, drink and express our sexual needs periodically, so we need to
express our hostile and destructive impulses periodically.
Ethological approach: Lorenz saw aggression as being instinctive, with aggressive energy needing to be released periodically if it is not to
build up to dangerously high levels. Lorenz (1966) argued that aggression is instinctive in all species because it is adaptive, that is, it
allows animals to adapt to their environment, survive in it, and successfully reproduce.
Behavioural Approach: Dollard (1939) argued that aggression would only be elicited in specific situations, in other words, aggression is
always a consequence of frustration and conversely, the existence of frustration acts as a stimulus to aggressive behaviour. Berkowitz,
however, pointed out that aggression, like any other behaviour, can be reinforced. Berkowitz proposed that frustration produces anger
rather than aggression. For Berkowitz, then, whilst we might become angry as a response to frustration, aggressive behaviour will only
be elicited when certain environmental stimuli are present.
Social Learning Theory: According to social learning theory, aggressive behaviours are learned through the reinforcement and imitation
of aggressive models. Imitation is the reproduction of learning through observation and aggressive tendencies can be strengthened
through vicarious reinforcement (seeing others being rewarded for behaving aggressively).
Cognitive Theory: According to Zillman (1982) arousal from one source can be transferred to, and energise, some other response. This
is because arousal takes time to be processed and dissipate. When we are aroused, aggression may be heightened provided that that
aroused person has some disposition to act aggressively and according to the attributions the aroused person makes.
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Social constructivist approach: Mummendey (1996) has proposed that whether or not a behaviour is aggressive or non-aggressive
depends on whether the behaviour is judged to be aggressive either by an observer or by the performer. Mummendey's research
suggests that the intention to harm, actual harm and social or cultural norm violation are the main criteria people use to label behaviour
as aggressive (Gross and McIlveen, 1998, p. 542-548).
What are the characteristics of peaceful societies?
Peaceful Aboriginal societies share several characteristics:
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they are generally small
technologically backward
live in remote or inaccessible areas
they do not idealize bravery or aggression as masculine traits
they make little distinction between masculine and feminine traits
they lack aggressive deities
they enjoy eating, drinking and sex without guilt (Alcock et al., 1998, p. 306).