HUMAN AGGRESSION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In unit 4, we discussed behaviour modification. The unit also served to introduce us to other units in this course. You can now explain what is meant by behaviour modification and list and explain its major methods. We are now going to discuss another very interesting and very applicable unit: human aggression. We will now consider the important part of the human condition. Let us take a look at what other content you should learn in this unit as specified in the objectives below.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
define the concept of aggression;

1. explain theories of aggression; 
2. describe additional determinants of aggression; and 
3. discuss how aggression may be managed. 

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1 The Word Aggression

Semantically speaking, the word ‘aggression’ or the phrase ‘aggressive behaviour’ may arouse different, wide or varied connotative meanings to different individuals, though the denotative meaning of the word, according to the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, is simply ‘unprovoked attack’. To students of the science of behaviour, that denotative meaning of the word is not satisfactory since under aggressive behaviour, psychologists list a great variety of behaviour. Such behaviour may be both verbal and non-verbal where the apparent cause creating aggressive behaviour may or may not be present.


Freud and others argued that aggression is a primary instinct in the living species who have survived through the ages during evolution. There is some evidence as to show how pacifism, a supposed contrasting type of behaviour, has led to complete extermination of species including members of the human race. The primitives of Tasmania were renowned for their isolation and pacifist life style. Today they have been exterminated from the face of this earth. Another human race, the Veddas of Sri Lanka is nearing extinction and complete extermination due to their complete isolation and pacifist life style. Traditionally, an example can be quoted from the story depicted in the puppet theatre of the NTA Jos, Nigeria where the members of a town are all the time conspiring to get ‘the innocent man’ exterminated for his isolation and love for peace. We can cite many of such instances to show that pacifism leads to extermination of the species while aggression contributes towards survival.


Martin Luther King, Anwar Sadat, Mahatma Ghandi, Murtala Mohammed, Dele Giwa, Kudirat Abiola, Alfred Rewane, and Bola Ige all died by the assassins’ bullets and all were known for their love for peace and goodwill. It is on record that King trained his followers (most of them workers and students) in the tactics of non-violence. He made them sign non-violence pledges and made them watch plays where the white man’s police brutalized the African-Americans without the latter raising a finger. We know also how Sadat tried to settle the Middle East crises peacefully through diplomatic maneuvers.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1

From your personal experience, identify any three individuals known for their love of peace and avoidance of violence. Well done. Let us continue our discussion by looking at aggression from a psychological standpoint.


Psychologically speaking, aggression has been defined as a sequence of behaviour ‘the goal response to which is the injury of the person toward whom it is directed’ (Dollard, et. al. 1939:7). Most subsequent theorizing and research into aggressive behaviour have adopted injurious intent as an essential aspect of aggression. But we know that aggression serves more than the infliction of injury. Aggression is a normal component of sexuality, as indeed it is of any activity in which human beings express themselves. The failure of a love-relation is inevitably accompanied by hostility, as the pathetic records of divorce courts bear witness.


In point of tact, there are different types of aggression some of which are examine below:

Instrumental Aggression: This is aimed at securing extraneous (external) rewards other than the victim’s suffering. The Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) is a classic example of instrumental aggression -it was ‘used’ as an instrument for maintaining national unity and national cohesion by the Federal Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon. Any act of war is instrumental aggression.
Hostile Aggression: The sole aim of this is to inflict injury on others. Physical assertiveness is more likely to be defined as aggression if preformed by a female than by a male because such behaviour departs more widely from common expectations of appropriate female conduct. On the other hand similar assertiveness by boys in a delinquent gang would be underrated with respect to aggressiveness.
Displaced Aggression: This means aggressive behaviour directed against some object than the one actually causing the feelings. It is a defence mechanism and it is common in everyday affairs.

SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2

Which type(s) of aggressive is (are) widely manifested in Nigeria?

Now, let us go on with our discussion.

3.2 Theories of Aggression

Some psychologists still hold that aggression stems from biological or genetic causes, and should be viewed as a natural aspect of human behaviour (Johnson, 1972). Reports from the mass medial print and electronic of murder, and brutal assaults tend to suggest that violence is purely a random event one which strikes innocent victims from out of the blue without warning or even apparent cause. It is relevant for you to note that in some instances, this is certainly true. When armed robbers go on a
shooting spree during which they gun down total strangers, or when street- corner gangs attack and brutally beat innocent pedestrians on the streets of large cities, violence does indeed seem to be both pointless and random. It is to be noted that aggression does not occur in a social, vacuum: rather, it springs from specific conditions which pave the way for its occurrence. In the occurrence of aggression; three factors which have often been implicated are frustration, physical or verbal attack, and exposure to the actions of highly aggressive models.

Frustration-Aggression Theory

The most striking point that you must take note of with respect to the frustration aggression theory is that it sees the source of violence in a person’s relationship to his social environment. It states that aggressive behaviour of which violent conduct is a major form, results when purposeful activities are interrupted. The classical proponents of this theory often cite an example of a boy being prevented by his mother from getting an ice cream cone after the ice cream vendor’s bell has been heard and the boy is on his way to buy it.


You must note that the frustration aggression theory is frequently criticized for not explaining the circumstances under which frustration leads to aggression and under which it does not. Some children regress rather than aggress; for example, when toys are taken from them, they wet their pants rather than attack other children. In fact, the theory does not differentiate between aggression that is violent and aggression that is not (which may take the form of personal insult rather than physical assault):We also know that aggression may be evoked by other factors other than by frustration, for example, by boredom or by disrupting physiological and non- purposeful activities, such as sleep.


The frustration aggression theory is often cited to suggest that if people’s aspirations are kept from outpacing the opportunities available to them, violence will be less common than in our own frustrating world, where everyone is encouraged to strive for economic and social success but the avenues are not equally available to all. Taking the case of Hitler and Germany and the accusation of causing World War II, the British called it ‘unprovoked attack’. Germany was frustrated by the treaty of 1919 which stripped her of all powers. She became frustrated and took to aggression. Yates (1967) puts it that ‘an individual strongly motivated to reach a goal will be instigated to aggression and aggressive forms of behaviour if the goal is unattainable and the barrier to the goal is held constant in each case’.
In the trial of Adolf Hitler, Hitler’s defence counsel argued that Hitler should not be sentenced for causing World War II. He went further to say that war was a biological necessity and an indispensable regulator of mankind. He said, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’.


I can see that you are enjoying our discussion. Remember I told you that this unit was very interesting and applicable, let us continue.
We know that not all forms of aggression result from frustration. For example, soldiers often inflict greater harm and suffering on others in time of war when ordered to do so by their superiors, even in the total absence of frustration. Hired assassins (as has been witnessed in Nigeria from 1988) cold-bloodedly murder persons they have never met even on days when they are in particularly fine spirits, simply because they are paid to do so. Such cases indicate that aggression may stem from many factors besides frustration, and occur in total absence of frustration.


Then after watching non aggressive shows (Liebert & Schewartzberg, 1977). We can conclude that the high level of violence prevailing in many popular television shows has adverse effects upon the persons who view them, though not all experimental findings support this conclusion (Manning & Taylor, 1975). But the weight of existing evidence does seem to suggest that exposure to televised violence may weaken children’s restraints against attacking or harming others.

Let us now consider other sources of aggression.

3.3 Additional Determination of Aggression

Many individuals can readily be induced to inflict pain and discomfort on others by the command of an authority figure. Among the many other factors that can influence aggression are uncomfortable heat, heightened physiological arousal, exposure to unpleasant noise, crowding, and even darkness. Obviously, it is reasonable for us to conclude that aggression springs from many different sources, and is influenced by many different conditions. The occasional emotive outbursts in the national dailies by some Nigerians are certainly aggressive in connotations but they are also beneficial to the mental health of those individuals who by catharsis tend to release their emotion of anger and frustration. This point is worth taking notice of as it shows how different the Nigerian culture is from the Western culture where the training is to suppress or even repress emotions.
Alhassan (1981) writes that overcrowding is an environmental condition often involved as an aversive instigator of aggression. There are certain features of density groupings that could facilitate aggressive prowess. At the familiar level, children who live in cramped quarters are likely to spend more time on neighbourhood streets, than those residing in spacious households. To the extent that neighbourhood influences foster antisocial styles of life, the probability of developing aggressive conduct is thereby increased. Besides, note that parents who have to cope with many children in congested quarters are often forced to punitive measures to halt squabbles between family members who repeatedly get in one another’s way.


At the broader social level, the immense logistic problems of servicing hordes of people inevitably create annoyances. Crowding heightens competitiveness for services and desired resources as is commonly seen on Lagos, Ibadan, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Abuja and Kano streets where people really struggle every moment they are to catch a bus of the Lagos State Transport Service and those of other cities and towns: it is always exasperating. Dense1y crowded conditions not only increase the likelihood of interpersonal friction, but also pollute and otherwise intensify the aversive qualities of the physical environment. In addition to the irritants of crowded living, they foster a sense of anonymity and impersonality conducive to inconsiderate behaviour. Remember that the psychological consequences of overcrowding are difficult to isolate because it is usually associated with, among other factors, poverty, ethnicity, unemployment, and inadequate law enforcement, which compound the causes. At this stage, we need to ask a relevant question. What can we do to control aggression? Think about this. Let us go on.

3.4 Management of Aggression

It has often been suggested that neither punishing aggressors for their violent acts or merely threatening to do so may be a highly effective means of preventing these persons from engaging in such activities: For example, Walters (1966:69), a noted child psychologist, states that ‘it is only the continual expectation of retaliation by the recipient or other members of society that prevents many individuals from more freely expressing aggression’. It is apparent that punishment is sometimes quite effective in deterring aggression.


In addition, several experiments conducted with children indicate that the frequency or intensity of such behaviour can often be sharply reduced by even such wild forms of punishment as social disapproval (Brown & Elliot,

1965). Notwithstanding such findings, there are strong grounds for doubting that punishment will always serve as an effective deterrent to human violence as treatment often produces only a temporary suppression of punished acts. Individuals on the receiving end of punishment may interpret such disciplinary actions as attacks against them. It is to be remembered that aggression often breeds aggression and this may 1ead to an increase rather than a reduction in the overall level of violence. Direct punishment may often fail to reduce the likelihood of overt aggression: indeed, in some cases, it may actually tend to enhance such behaviour (Baron, 1973a).


As a practical system for controlling and making use of the competitive aggression which is so evident in political controversy, democracy still seems to be the best system yet devised in spite of its apparent drawbacks. Although slow and uncertain in operation, democracy has the decided advantage over other political systems of providing an opposition which not only acts as a check on government, but also asserts that political opponent, in countries where free speech is allowed, may be apparently friendly though bitterly antagonistic in reality.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, you have learnt an important part of the human condition. You also have learnt about the word aggression, the concept of aggression, and theories of aggression. You also learnt how the situation of aggression could be managed.

5.0 SUMMARY

What you have learnt in this unit concerns human aggression.
You also learnt theories of aggression.
In addition, you learnt additional determinants of aggression.
Finally, you learnt Strategies for managing aggression.

6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1.  Define the concept of aggression 
2. . List three types of aggression 
3.  State one weakness of the frustration aggression theory 
4. . Four other factors that can influence aggression are: