Causes of Aggressive Behavior According to the Theories of Aggression
According to the psychoanalytical model of aggression, Sigmund Freud holds to the concept of death instinct when he implies that aggressiveness could be a negative outward deflection of the actual instinct. Aggression is an interactional and reactive phenomenon which lacks an instinctual basis (Bjørkly, 2016) which is a view held by other psychoanalytical scholars. Moreover, there is a broad acceptance of the Rorschach method used in the diagnostic assessment of psychiatric patients. The attachment theory views the human being as being social animals who interact to be able to survive, whereby the first relationships with parental figures have exclusive characteristics. It is characteristic of a child who follows the guidance of a caregiver when in distress. Should this be contrary to the child’s expectation, the child will naturally seek a different way of expressing disappointment and could decide to inhibit this by exaggerating the situation or by amplifying it.
Furthermore, the attachment theory tends to assume that the character developed by a child at a young or tender age, will appear again in their life as adults depending on how the stimuli were attended to, as a result of the childhood memories that a child tends to associate with a distressful situation (Bjørkly, 2016). In such a case, the cause of aggressiveness would be attributed to the degree of attention given to a distressful situation one is engaged in. The psychoanalytic understanding of aggression has shifted from a psychiatrically and medically dominated view into a more social interactionist perspective on the treatment of etiology of aggression. This approach looks at aggressiveness as a product of internal forces such as the fear that comes with death instinct, which propels actions from the offended or aggrieved party in retaliation. So far, the attachment theory is the one held by most of the studies into aggressive behavior, since it tends to bring out the instinct aspect towards aggressive behavior.
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The theory of aggressive in itself follows the hypothesis that when one's goals are interfered with, frustration always happens to be the resultant effect. It is the specific reason behind their aggressiveness to try and balance the void that exists between their goals and actions. Aggression is, therefore, firstly brought about by the degree of frustration that someone faces or is exposed to. Secondly, the extent of the interference, which occurs when the realization of a goal and thirdly, the number of responses that cause frustration in a given situation as experienced by an individual. It is, therefore, right to say that according to frustration-aggression theorists, the force of aggression depends on the degree of the drive reduction. Psychologists hold that some dominant, aggressive responses could be reduced via punishment. This is a view which is firmly held by the drive theory (Bjørkly, 2016).
Possible Effects of Prejudice, Discrimination, and Aggression of Offenders and Their Social Relationships
In the contest of psychology, vengeance and forgiveness tend to complement each other based on the aftermath of the action (Jones & Maguire, n.d). Forgiveness gives a more economical and reliable risk reduction strategy than when vengeance is applied since it does not depend on monitoring and maintaining the retaliation power. Tracking in the long-term could prove expensive and fallible regardless of the means of doing it, whether by using prisons or community supervision. To punish or to forgive requires a significant investment in sustained economic and social investment. This case is unlike in forgiveness, which reduces chances of future exploitation risk since the hostilities are dealt with and as such does not depend on maintaining and monitoring power. The current system of retributive justice does not offer the offenders a chance to learn from their mistakes by exposing them to punishment. Instead, it makes them even stronger in committing the heinous crime since they get used to the system. Forgiveness could follow the path of restorative justice, which aims at a healing process and reconciliation through forgiveness.
Vengeance has negative results in the sociopolitical context and economic climate because it tends to create a cycle of perpetual revenge (Lacey & Pickard, 2015). Most of the offenders who face a prison sentence undergo punishment at the hands of other inmates, parole officers, and other stakeholders in the correctional facilities that the pain endured are hard to heal. The kind of treatment, therefore, is not constructive towards the healing and rehabilitation effort and process. Instead, it brings about resentment and bitterness towards authorities and society as a whole. With this kind of situation, the revenge cycle is compounded by the fact that there are no changes in the socio-politico-economic context in which the justice system operates. Most of the lawbreakers come from underprivileged backgrounds having undergone suffering in their early childhood, which was reinforced by the harsh economic status as adults.
Criminals with such a background tend to come from psychosocial adversity as children such as sexual abuse, domestic violence, bereavement, physical harm, or institutional care that was below expectations of a normal childhood. Some of these offenders could have been affected by psychological issues such as having come from a minority community and further being exposed to drug or substance abuse. Most of these offenders feel as though they are outcasts in society, making it hard for them to change because they think prejudiced (Lacey & Pickard, 2015).
Potential organizational issues that may arise due to prejudice, discrimination or aggression
Prejudice could be caused by an individual undermining the help they receive from a therapist. In organizations or the workplace environment, women could be prejudiced against as a result of their gender. Whenever individuals feel that they are considered a minority group, they tend to register the presence of prejudice. Other forms of prejudice include racist prejudice, sexist prejudices, and also ageist prejudices where the old and young people are targeted. Whenever these kinds of prejudices occur in an organization, the performance of employees is likely to be affected, and this could lead to a reduction in productivity as a result of apathy. Prejudice in organizations could lead to emotional distress, especially when an individual is from a specific background. It could be a foreign religion, ethnic group, gender, handicapped, or different nationality, which in essence leads to counterproductive results at the end of the day.
Possible methods to prevent issues related to these concepts from recurring.
Altering perceptions could be one possible way of preventing prejudiced attitudes and actions from recurring. The second approach is by minimizing the experiences that result from discrimination, either from society orfrom a situation that an individual belongs, an individual changes perception and would be compelled to act otherwise. Finally, it could be minimized when an individual feels that the immediate environment understands he/or she. It is imperative that colleagues in a workplace environment are supposed to find the root cause of prejudice and address it immediately before it affects the overall performance of the organization.
References
Bjørkly, S. (2016). Psychological theories of aggression: principles and application to practice. In Violence in Mental Health Settings (pp. 27-46). Springer, New York, NY.DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-33965-8_2
Jones, T., & Maguire, M. (n.d). CRIME, COMMUNITY SAFETY AND THE POLICING OF MARGINALISED POPULATIONS: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH. Retrieved from: http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/ssaj22.pdf
Lacey, N., & Pickard, H. (2015). To blame or to forgive? Reconciling punishment and forgiveness in criminal justice. Oxford journal of legal studies , 35 (4), 665-696. doi:10.1093/ojls/gqv012
