Psych 596E Biopsychology Seminar:
The Evolution of Aggressive and Violent Behavior
Fall Semester 2011
Lecture: Mondays, 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M., PSY 317B
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:30 A.M. - 11:00 A.M., PSY 440
Professor: Aurelio José Figueredo, Ph.D.; Telephone: 621-7444
Email: ajf@u.arizona.edu; Web: www.u.arizona.edu/~ajf
Required Textbooks:
The Origin of War: The Evolution of a Male-Coalitional Reproductive Strategy by Johan Matheus Gerardus
van der Dennen, Groningen: Origin Press, 2 Volumes, 1995 (ISBN-10: 9074528066; ISBN-13:
9789074528061) http://rint.rechten.rug.nl/rth/dennen/dennen6.htm
The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression (Paperback) by Daniel J. Flannery (Editor),
Alexander T. Vazsonyi (Editor), and Irwin D. Waldman (Editor), New York: Cambridge University Press, 1st
Edition, 2007 (ISBN-10: 052160785X; ISBN-13: 978-0521607858)
Course Description:
This course will consist of two major parts. The first section describes the evolution and development of
aggressive and violent behavior from the standpoint of human ethology and evolutionary psychology
(formerly “sociobiology”), to provide the student with a solid foundation in both the accumulated knowledge
and theoretical perspectives of that particular approach. The second section describes and surveys the
new directions and avenues for research that are becoming available in the study of aggressive and violent
behavior across the wider array of social and behavioral sciences. A major objective of this course will be
to reevaluate the significance of this empirical information coming from these “standard social sciences” in
terms of the ethological and evolutionary metatheoretical framework reviewed in the first section.
During the second section of the course, each student will select a chapter from the second required text,
The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression, and summarize and critique that material
orally for the class. After receiving feedback and discussion from the group, each student may then
elaborate upon the material contained in the selected chapter for the final term paper. As explained above,
the student will be required to examine the conventional “standard social science” wisdom from an
ethological and evolutionary perspective, as informed by the material in the first required text, The Origin of
War: The Evolution of a Male-Coalitional Reproductive Strategy. Each student must conduct this
theoretical reexamination supplemented by additional library research reviewing any relevant scientific
findings that are not included in the required texts.
The objective is to provide the student with a working corpus of knowledge and heuristics with which to
evaluate and pursue the diversity of available avenues of research in the area of aggressive and violent
behavior.
Grading:
There will be one Written Midterm Paper, to be formatted in APA Style, and one Oral Formal Class
Presentation, which will count as the Final Term Paper. Corrected PPTs or PDFs for the Formal Class
Presentation must be submitted electronically no more than one week after the class presentation, and
must include a list of APA style references on the final slide(s). After any corrections, these will be posted
to the entire class as study guides. Initially, an average will be computed for the course, with the Midterm
Paper and the Formal Class Presentation being weighted equally. However, provided both tasks have
been completed on schedule, no one will receive a letter grade that is lower than that of the Formal Class
Presentation, for which the corrected PPT or PDF serves as the Final Term Paper. The Final Term Paper
can therefore enhance the grades of late or gradual improvers if it is higher than the preceding
performance without disproportionately influencing the grades of early or consistent performers.
Chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Chapter
part i:
1
2
3
part ii
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
part iii:
11
PSYCHOLOGY 596E READINGS FOR FALL 2011
The Origin of War: The Evolution of a Male-Coalitional Reproductive Strategy
The Origin of War: Introduction
The Concept and Characteristics of War in Primitive Societies
Nonhuman Intergroup Agonistic Behavior and `Warfare'
Biological and Ecological Theories of the Origin and Evolution of War
Cultural Theories and Proximate-Level Explanations of Primitive War
Of Badges, Bonds and Boundaries: Ethnocentrism, Xenophobia and War
The Politics of Peace in Primitive Societies: The Adaptive Rationale behind Corroboree and Calumet
By Way of Summary: An Evolutionario
The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression
general perspectives
Understanding Violence
Patrick H. Tolan
Origins of Violent Behavior over the Life Span
David P. Farrington
A Review of Research on the Taxonomy of Life-Course Persistent Versus Adolescence-Limited Antisocial Behavior
Terrie E. Moffitt
biological bases of violence
Behavior-Genetics of Criminality and Aggression
Soo Hyun Rhee and Irwin D. Waldman
The Genetics of Aggression in Mice
Stephen C. Maxson and Andrew Canastar
The Psychophysiology of Aggression: Autonomic, Electrocortical, and Neuro-Imaging Findings
Christopher J. Patrick and Edelyn Verona
Biosocial Bases of Violence
Angela Scarpa and Adrian Raine
Neurobiology of Impulsive Aggression: Focus on Serotonin and the Orbitofrontal Cortex
Royce Lee and Emil F. Coccaro
The Neuropsychology of Violence
Jean R. S´eguin, Patrick Sylvers, and Scott O. Lilienfeld
The Interaction of Nature and Nurture in Antisocial Behavior
Kenneth A. Dodge and Michelle R. Sherrill
individual factors and violence
Relational Aggression and Gender: An Overview
Nicki R. Crick, Jamie M. Ostrov, and Yoshito Kawabata
12
13
14
15
16
part iv:
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
part v:
27
28
Personality Dispositions and the Development of Violence and Conduct Problems
Benjamin B. Lahey and Irwin D. Waldman
Personality and Violence: The Unifying Role of Structural Models of Personality
Daniel M. Blonigen and Robert F. Krueger
Exposure to Violence, Mental Health, and Violent Behavior
Daniel J. Flannery, Mark I. Singer, Manfred van Dulmen, Jeff M. Kretschmar, and Lara M. Belliston
Social-Cognitive Processes in the Development of Antisocial and Violent Behavior
Gregory S. Pettit and Jacquelyn Mize
School Violence
Gary D. Gottfredson and Denise C. Gottfredson
interpersonal factors and violent behavio r
Peers and Violence: A Two-Sided Developmental Perspective
Frank Vitaro, Michel Boivin, and Richard E. Tremblay
Youth Gangs and Violent Behavior
Scott H. Decker
Family Violence
Richard J. Gelles
Youth Violence Across Ethnic and National Groups: Comparisons of Rates and Developmental Processes
Alexander T. Vazsonyi, Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo, and Li Huang
Adolescent Dating Abuse Perpetration: A Review of Findings, Methodological Limitations, and Suggestions for
Future Research
Vangie A. Foshee and Rebecca A. Matthew
Social Networks and Violent Behavior
Dorothy L. Espelage, Stanley Wasserman, and Mark S. Fleisher
Public Health and Violence: Moving Forward in a Global Context
Linda L. Dahlberg
Cross-National Research on Violent Victimization
Johan van Wilsem
Violent Juvenile Delinquency: Changes, Consequences, and Implications
James C. Howell and Megan Q. Howell
Strain Theory and Violent Behavior
Robert S. Agnew
contextual factors and violent behavior
Self-Control Theory and Criminal Violence
Michael R. Gottfredson
Why Observing Violence Increases the Risk of Violent Behavior by the Observer
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
part vi:
37
38
39
part vii
40
41
L. Rowell Huesmann and Lucyna Kirwil
Violence and Culture in the United States
Mark Warr
Terrorism as a Form of Violence
Kevin J. Strom and Cynthia Irvin
Therapeutic Treatment Approaches to Violent Behavior
Richard E. Heyman and Amy M. Smith Slep
Psychopharmacology of Violence
Markus J. P. Kruesi
Social Learning and Violent Behavior
Gary F. Jensen
Substance Use and Violent Behavior
Jeff M. Kretschmar and Daniel J. Flannery
Poverty/Socioeconomic Status and Exposure to Violence in the Lives of Children and Adolescents
Holly Foster, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, and Anne Martin
Social Contagion of Violence
Jeffrey Fagan, Deanna L. Wilkinson, and Garth Davies
methods for studying violent behavior
Studying Aggression with Structural Equation Modeling
Noel A. Card and Todd D. Little
Overview of a Semi-Parametric, Group-Based Approach for Analyzing Trajectories of Development
Daniel S. Nagin
Relocating Violence: Practice and Power in an Emerging Field of Qualitative Research
Bowen Paulle
looking toward the future
Violent Behavior and the Science of Prevention
Albert D. Farrell and Monique Vulin-Reynolds
New Directions in Research on Violence: Bridging Science, Practice, and Policy
Daniel J. Flannery, Alexander T. Vazsonyi, and Irwin D. Waldman