CHAPTER
10
AGGRESSION AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Earlier psychological theories (such as Freud’s)
depicted aggression as the outburst of powerful
inner forces. Recent theories have considered
aggression as a kind of strategic behaviour that
people use to influence others, get what they
want and defend certain ideas that they see as
under attack.
DEFINING AGGRESSION, VIOLENCE AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Aggression: any behaviour intended to harm another person who is motivated to avoid the harm.
this definition includes 3 important features:
1. Aggression is a behaviour – you can see it. Aggression is not an emotion
such as anger. Aggression is not though, such as mentally rehearsing a
murder.
2. Aggression is deliberate and intentional (not accidental) and the intent is
to harm.
3. The victim wants to avoid the harm.
Different forms of aggression:
Displaced aggression any behaviour that intentionally harms a substitute target
rather than provocateur.
Direct aggression any behaviour that intentionally harms another person who is
physically present.
Indirect aggression any behaviour that intentionally harms another person who is
physically absent.
, Reactive aggression ‘hot’, impulsive, angry behaviour motivated by a desire to harm
(aka hostile someone.
aggression)
Proactive aggression ‘cold’, premeditated, calculated harmful behaviour that is a
(aka instrumental means to some practical or material end
aggression)
Bullying persistent aggression by a perpetrator against a victim for the
purpose of establishing a power relationship over the victim.
the use of the internet (e.g. email, social network sites, blogs) to
Cyberbullying bully others.
Violence aggression that has as its goal extreme physical harm, such as
injury or death.
Antisocial behaviour behaviour that either damages interpersonal relationships or is
culturally undesirable.
IS THE WORLD MORE OR LESS VIOLENT NOW THAN IN THE PAST?
The world is less violent now than in the past. Quantitative studies of body
counts (proportion of skeletons with axe and arrowhead wounds) suggest that
prehistoric societies were far more violent than our own.
Although one can kill a lot more people
with a bomb than with an axe, the death
rates per battle were much higher in the
past and more recent data shows that
violence has declined over time.
The fact that aggression and violence re decreasing
over time is consistent with the theme: Nature says
yes and Culture says no.
, One of the main goal is culture is reduce aggression. Culture offers
other, better ways of settling conflict: negotiation, property rights,
money, courts of law, compromise, religious and moral rules etc.
IS AGGRESSION INNATE OR LEARNED?
If aggression comes from frustration, exploitation and
injustice, then if ones designed a perfect society,
there would be no aggression. (e.g. if people were
only aggressive because of injustice, then eliminating
injustice would eliminate aggression)
On the other hand, if people are naturally, innately
aggressive, then no amount of social engineering will be able to get rid of to. (no
matter how well a society is designed, people will still be aggressive). Perfect
social harmony would not be possible - if people are inherently aggressive, then
aggression will always be with us, and society or culture needs to find ways of
living with it, such as by passing laws to punish wrongful aggression.
INSTINCT THEORIES
Charles Darwin: views aggressive behaviour as an evolutionary adaptation that
enables creatures to survive better.
Fighting is loosely linked to mating, the aggressive instinct helped
ensure that only the strongest individuals would pass on their genes
to future generations.
Sigmund Freud: argued that human motivational forces (sex and aggression) are
based on instincts.
Instinct: an innate (inborn biologically programme) tendency to seek a particular
goal, such as food, water or sex
Freud proposed the drive for sensory and sexual gratification as the primary
human instinct:
Eros: in Freudian theory, the constructive, life-giving instinct
He also proposed that humans also have a destructive, death instinct:
